ORIGINAL: BOWFANATIC

In defense of atlas (kind of) , I know firsthand that deer destroying a yard is a genuine excuse. We have many suburban areas around here that hold pockets of deer that feed on anything planted in yards , shrubs , flowers , etc. etc.
It has gotten so out of hand that the DNR started having "special" hunts in these areas to remove the deer.

Here's where the "kind of" statement above comes in. Some of these property owners were putting out feed (corn etc.) to attract the deer because they enjoyed watching them. Problem was , when they finished the bait piles they would move on to the shrubs , flowers , etc. The DNR truly thought these deer had no place to go and that's why they stayed in the area. When enough of the neighbors got together with a petition to stop these few neighbors from feeding the deer and approached the DNR with their situation , a new light was shed on the subject. The neighbors who were putting out feed were forced to stop. Within six months the deer vacated the area and haven't returned. Onced winter approached they simply ran out of enough nutritional food to meet their dietary needs and they moved on. The closest block of woods to that area was where I grew up , roughly nine miles away. Don't think just because their surrounded by a concrete jungle they wont travel to a better habitat. I know you probably enjoy watching them (I know I do) , but do yourself and your neighbors a favor and stop feeding them and they will move on. If there is a patch of woods big enough to sustain them right by your property that is off limits to hunting , then your in a different situation and that should be handled the same way it's handled around here every year.
Have all the neighbors who are sick and tired of losing money through shrubs etc. get a petition up and approach your DNR , and chances are something will be done about it.