TEGA CAY, S.C. — Tega Cay city leaders have decided to move forward with a plan to kill some of the overwhelming deer population in the city.
WCNC Charlotte has been following this story for nearly a year. The city's intention to hire sharpshooters didn’t sit well with a lot of residents. After months of no action on the plan, at the most recent Tega Cay city council meeting, Mayor Chris Gray stated the plan will start in October.
Mary Ickert, who was originally fearful of the plan, is now a co-chair of the newly-formed Tega Cay Wildlife Conservation. She said she’s still concerned by the acceleration.
"Many of us were blindsided by that reaction from a city that says we are looking into it, then saying it’s going to happen fast," Ickert said.
A report by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources shows in the five square miles making up Tega Cay, over 800 deer were spotted. The department said the number for a healthy population is down to just 97.
City Councilman Scott Shirley said the city is moving forward with the sharpshooter plan with one contractor and a team of two to three shooters.
To get down to that goal of 97, the city would have to eliminate around 800 deer. The city has to obtain a permit from the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, which would allow the city to eliminate 80 deer -- that’s for the entire permit, not each individual shooter. They can reapply for another permit the following year.
The cost falls on the city budget, made up of tax-payer dollars; for the first 80 deer on this permit, it could cost roughly $16,000.
A decade ago, the city of Tega Cay made a similar move with coyotes -- the natural predator for deer.
Ickert’s co-chair of the Conservation, Ruthie Smith, calls the current plan unsafe and inhumane.
"We’ve talked with several agencies and cities that have been successful in non-lethal deep removal," Smith said.
Shirley said realistically the shooting will start in January, leaving Ickert and Smith hopeful for a different solution.
A new report on the deer population is expected this month. If it shows a population decline, city leaders said the city won’t use the sharpshooters.
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.