Montgomery County, PA

NORRISTOWN — The Montgomery County Parks Department is accepting applications to participate in a two-day regulated hunt of Whitetail deer in Norristown Farm Park November 30th and December 7^th.
This will be the first time a hunt is undertaken at Norristown Farm Park and is being done in consultation and at the recommendation of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Norristown Farm Park Advisory Committee.
The hunt will be modeled after other successful deer reduction hunts in Montgomery County’s Lorimer Park, Tyler State Park in Bucks County and Ridley Creek State Park in Delaware County.
For increased safety reasons, the hunt will be conducted with shotguns using single-slug loads. Shotguns using slug loads have a limited range, similar to bow-and-arrow hunting, but they have more stopping power to reduce the number of wounded deer that might flee into traffic on busy roads surrounding the Farm Park.
Counts done in December 2004 found over 400 deer in the Farm Park and it is estimated that number has climbed beyond 500 following the fawning season. A property the size of the Norristown Farm Park should sustain a herd between seven and 20, according to state wildlife biologists.
The Farm Park will be closed for the two days of the hunt, November 30^th and December 7^th. The hunt will be well publicized through the media and signs throughout the park prior to those two dates. There will be increased security throughout the park on those two dates as well to keep anyone who is not participating from entering.
The overpopulation of deer have wreaked havoc on the ecosystem at the Farm Park, totaling denuding wooded tracts of vegetation up to a level of five feet.
It has also resulted in a large number of motor vehicle accidents on roadways surrounding the Farm Park. The East Norriton and West Norriton police departments report about 40 car accidents with deer annually and the Pennsylvania Game Commission picks up over 50 additional deer carcasses a year from the park that are the result of motor vehicle accidents.
The Montgomery County Department of Parks and Heritage Services will be having a lottery to choose hunters for this event. There will be 75 hunters chosen for each day of the hunt and an additional 25 hunters as standby hunters. Applications are available to Hunters who wish to hunt on the Park starting on Monday, August 29, 2005. Hunter qualifications and further details for participation in this hunt will be available at the Norristown Farm Park Office.
For more information, please contact the Farm Park Office at 610.270.0215 or e-mail the Norristown Farm Park at jlarsen@mail.montcopa.org.
To apply, interested hunters must stop at the Norristown Farm Park Office to pick up an application and hunt information packet. After the application is completed, the applicant can either mail or drop off the application form with the required information, along with a self-addressed stamped business-size envelope to: Norristown Farm Park, 2500 Upper Farm Road, Norristown, PA 19403.
All applications must be received by the Norristown Farm Park by the close of business (4:00 PM) on Friday, September 30, 2005.

All applicants will be notified by mail whether they have been selected as a hunter, a stand-by hunter or not chosen.