Cost of hiring sharpshooters for town

[Red Hawk]

This is a short article in an outdoor life mag.

By The Numbers:

Towns overrun by out-of-control (and usually unhunted) deer herds are increasngly hiring contract sharpshooters to thin whitetail numbers. Compared to dder hunts that raise revenues through license sales, these culles are costly affairs. The town of Watchung, NJ., retrained the services of Deer Management Systems to help reduce its deer herd.

Cost per day for sharpshooters: $300
Additition fee for each deer killed: $190
Number of deer expected to be culled in 2003: 100
Estimated size of Watchungs's deer herd: 1700
Target Deer herd: 240

[Grizzlybear]

Doesn't make much sense, does it? Considering all of us who pay for our licenses to hunt. The same thing is happening around here in some of the suburbs around DC.

But by the same token, I wouldn't trust 90% of the people 'round here with a pop-gun. There should be a hunting aptitude test for a license. Better yet, communities need to be taught the positives of hunting activity esp. in deer-overpopulated areas.

[Coastie]

Any hint at all of the cost (to the contractor) for the liability insurance they must have for a project such as this? Just curious.

[j3k2c1]

How do I become one....

[Coastie]

It varies from state to state, some even have their own people and don't hire contractors. The Feds use sharpshooters from the USFWS or they did in the past anyway. Check with your state DNR for how to get into it. Here in Georgia it's called a Nuisance control License and is considered a trapping license for the most part. When the DNR gets a call requesting assistance from a homeowner or farmer they call one of the people in the area usually on the basis of taking turns. Most of the work is for removal of Beaver, Muskrats, squirells, coyotes, foxes, skunks, snakes and bats. The only reason I know anything about it is I have been looking into it for a possible source of income when I retire. The DNR sent me a bunch of information on how to go about getting the license and that was the reason I had ask if any statement had been made as to the cost of liability insurance for these purposes.

[j3k2c1]

Thanks! I thought that it would be interesting to do later in life.

[Nomercy]

I know of one town that had a problem like this some years ago here in KS (or maybe southern Nebraska-don't recall exactly now), they looked into "Hired guns", but found the price far too steep, what they ended up doing was paying local farmers to buy/obtain Pest elimination tags, which were then assigned to certain local hunters, who were also paid. Neither the hunters nor the farmers really got rich off of it, but they made it worthwhile for doing at least. A nearby town did basically the same thing, but they also would pay for deer tags for hunters, i.e. you buy your Deer Permit (either sex tag) and the city picked up the bill on your first deer tag (antlerless only). I don't recall if they bought them for EVERYBODY who bought a either sex permit and wanted a doe tag or if they selected specific hunters, but all of it was done locally.

Like I said, no one got rich, but a little money was made, I think a farmer who bought all possible pest tags made something like $100 over the cost of the tags, transfer fees were paid and hunters got something like $20 for hunting and I think either $50 or $100 per deer harvested on the specified tags.

The best part about doing it that way was that it kept the money "in the family", instead of paying someone from the outside, it kept the money in the community, the hunters involved were consumers in the same area, so instead of money leaving the county, it all stayed right where it belonged, with the people who paid the taxes to provide it in the first place.