City of Decorah officials continue to work on the rules for a deer hunt inside the Decorah city limits

(File photo of deer at a house on Division Street)

The Decorah City Council has voted in favor of setting up "Deer Management Zone Hunts" within the city to control deer populations.

The city's Public Safety Committee and members of the Decorah Park-Rec Board met at 7:00 a.m. Monday to discuss some practical issues about how that deer hunt will operate.  Plans call for the Deer Management Zone Hunt to run from September 17th until January 10th.

Monday morning the group agreed to ban deer hunting from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. during the hunt.  This is a time of day when hunters would not be out in the woods, but Park Board members wanted to assure walkers and hikers that they could use the trails during those hours without fear of encountering bow hunters.

The group also supported requiring the use of elevated stands and requiring taking and passing an archery proficiency test.  There was much discussion of which city-owned parks should be open to hunters and which should be closed, with Park Board members lobbying to ban hunting anywhere in Phelps Park.

The meeting Monday ended with several issues still unresolved.  Park Board members will meet again this week for their own discussion, while city council members are expected to discuss the issue next Monday, August 15th.