Check it out--huge buck back in there as well as tons of does! I'll find out more.
Bob
Rockleigh OKs limited bow hunt
Sunday, October 10, 2004
By PETER J. SAMPSON
STAFF WRITER
ROCKLEIGH - Limited bow hunting will soon be permitted on municipal land under a state-approved wildlife management program to control the deer population.
The Borough Council adopted a measure last week that will open the woodlands behind Borough Hall to no more than nine hunters at a time during the state's three bow hunting seasons.
"It's not an open hunt," Mayor Frank Langella insisted Friday. "There is no hunting in Rockleigh. It's a wildlife management program."
The borough has never before permitted hunting on its public lands, but an increasing number of auto collisions with deer and damage to gardens and shrubs prompted officials to try to thin the herds.
The aim is to use a limited number of "volunteers" to cull the herds, Langella said. A handful of borough residents who have state hunting licenses, police officers, and firefighters will be issued special municipal permits, tags and parking permits for the hunt, he said.
But one councilman is fearful the move could lead to tragedy.
"There's a good chance that a stray arrow could end up in someone's property," said Councilman Ernest April. He pointed out that the borough's 84-acre preserve is a narrow tract and today's bows are extremely powerful and shoot arrows with scalpel-like tips.
"Also, it's impossible to close off the woods completely because there's many access routes through Norwood, Alpine and Closter," April said. The Rockleigh preserve borders a 134-acre tract in Alpine that was once the Boy Scouts of America camp.
"If some kids are out in the woods and they're not aware the woods are closed and wander in from the Alpine Boy Scout camp, it could be a disaster," April said.
"I think it poses too much potential liability for the borough of Rockleigh, but everyone else seemed to be much in favor of it," he said.
April, who voted to introduce the ordinance in September, was out of town when the council unanimously adopted it Monday. Although the public hearing was advertised, Borough Administrator Lou-Anne Horsey said no residents attended and no objections were voiced.
"I frequently have small herds of deer in my back yard and males locking antlers. It's all part of the wildlife. This is why you live in Rockleigh. So, I don't really see the need for it," said April, whose property borders the borough tract.
"I was certainly the voice in the wilderness in this one," April said. He added that he regretted voting to introduce the measure.
The mayor and other officials, however, said all care will be taken to protect residents.
Maps issued to hunters will have boundaries clearly marked and there will be no shooting within 500 feet of homes, Langella said. The hunting will be done from tree stands with the archers shooting down to prevent arrows from traveling far distances, he added.
"Anyone caught in the woods poaching" or carrying firearms will be prosecuted, the mayor said.
Norwood Police Chief Edward Giannotti, whose department polices tiny Rockleigh, said he doesn't anticipate any problems. He said the hiking trails will be closed and posted, only a limited number of hunters will be issued permits and the state is supervising the program.
"They have a deer problem and they have to find a way to correct it," Giannotti said.
Susan Martka, a biologist with the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife who discussed management options with borough officials, said hunters in this region of the state can take an unlimited number of does and fawn and one antlered buck for each of the three bow seasons that run from Sept. 11 to Feb. 19.
She said the state doesn't know how many deer are in the area, without conducting an expensive infrared flyover. "If they see a reduction in the number of deer-car accidents, they would know they are moving in the right direction," she said.
The ordinance establishes the Rockleigh Wildlife Management Commission, a seven-member body that will include the mayor, a council member and three residents who are licensed hunters to oversee the program.
The commission will prepare and monitor an annual wildlife management plan that aims to maintain "a healthy balance and diversity in the local ecology, while providing for the health and safety of borough residents, and the protection of property."
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Hunting the wilds of NW Jersey..
I just talked with the mayor of Rockleigh on the phone. He told me that the hunt is limited to those that are in mutral aid ( law enforcement all feilds, firefighters, emts, etc ) and that are also residents of Rockleigh. So out of this I'm 1 for 2, which isn't good enough. LOL
Hunt was cancelled due to "public outcry"! Bowhuntercop called the Mayor and he was onboard but for residents only so this is a real shame that it has already been killled.
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Hunting the wilds of NW Jersey..
Rockleigh OKs limited bow hunt --
