Clerk teams hunters with landowners
Source: Connecticut Post, by Tony Spinelli
September 18, 2007
EASTON — Town Clerk Derek Buckley is putting together a first-of-its-kind list of private landowners who will allow hunters onto their property to bag deer and other wildlife.
"We have a new state law that allows for this," Buckley said Tuesday.
The law requiring town clerks to keep records of private hunting lands is particularly meaningful in Easton, a heavily forested town where many landowners own multiple acres.
Theoretically, the owner of a farm could allow hunters on the property to help control the deer population, Buckley said.
He put out a notice this week that he is looking for property owners to voluntarily place their names on the list. Nobody had responded by Tuesday afternoon.
He said there is a need for such a list because hunters have come to his office in the past and asked if he knew of any private landowners who allowed hunting.
Now he'll be able to answer that question.
"I don't know how many will respond," Buckley said.
One of the largest landowners in Easton is the Aquarion Water Co., based in Bridgeport. However, all the public access to the land, such as the Centennial Forest, is controlled through the state Department of Environmental Protection, said Adrienne Vaughan, spokeswoman for the water company.
The DEP could not be reached for comment.
Al Warmflash, owner of Arms and Munitions in Monroe, said it makes sense to open private land for hunters, especially to help control the spread of Lyme disease from deer ticks. "I think they would allow mostly bow and shotgun. It would be limited," Warmflash said.
Deer hunting is a popular activity in Connecticut. The DEP reported last year that 11,915 deer were "harvested" in the 2005 hunting season.
Hunters purchased 60,433 deer-hunting permits that year. The individual season harvest was 2,700 deer taken by bowhunters; 7,211 by shotgunners and 756 by muzzleloading rifle. The remaining 1,248 deer were taken by private landowners.
There are three basic types of hunting. Shotguns are most prevalent, followed by muzzleloader rifles and archery.
Tony Spinelli, who covers Monroe and Easton, can be reached at 330-6361.
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