Backyard Bow Hunting
We want to keep Saddle River the safe, bucolic town we all know and love. Since September 2018, Saddle River has held seven hunting seasons with one break in 2023. Residents have spoken out against the hunt at every meeting since 2015. Why?
No baseline data, benchmarks, or scientific data regarding goals or assessment of any conflicts.
Police data studied each year showed that hunting did not lower car collisions with deer.
The local police help hunters locate wounded deer at taxpayer expense. See police reports here. Some of the 2024 police reports are here. In total, there are over 160 reports.
Wounded and dying deer wander into adjacent backyards. This has caused divisiveness, fueled ill feelings between neighbors, and created apprehension.
Endangers Families. Street locations where hunting took place during the previous hunt: Click here. Furthermore, there is no formal notification to residents living near hunting sites.
In 2020, the Environmental Commission asked for a pause on the hunt to evaluate its effectiveness. Member Vin Blehl reads this letter in 2021, reiterating the EC’s request for a thorough review.
Current and past research has debunked Lyme Disease connection to deer.
On November 8, 2016, 59% of Saddle River voters told town officials they supported effective, nonlethal, and already fully funded deer control and opposed ineffective and dangerous lethal methods.
The Facts Speak for themselves
Nonlethal deer impact management strategies are the solution when conflicts exist. What are these solutions? To see more, scroll below.
For Collisions: Signage, better lighting, stop feeding near roads, removing vegetation debris from roadsides, reducing speed limits, using inexpensive reflectors, creating wildlife crossings, and more.
Lyme Disease: Disease ecologists have long absolved deer of transmitting Lyme disease. Check out the Cary Institute’s Tick Project. Harvard’s School of Public Health warns that “killing deer is not the answer.” The whitefooted mouse and abundant acorn crops are responsible for recent spikes in infection. Opossums eat up to 5000 ticks per week; foxes and other small predators keep mice at bay.
Protecting Gardens: Rutgers University has a long list of deer-resistant plants. There are also many physical barriers, such as soap, fencing, and deterrents.
A 2018 study showed that science is not at the forefront of hunt management.
In another 2023 study, a Penn State-led Research team discovered evidence that browsing by white-tailed deer had relatively little long-term impact on two tree species in a northern forest. Let’s bring Saddle River into the 21st century by employing methods that work.
Tom Eveland, a highly respected biologist, hunter, and scientist, visited Saddle River and conducted an on-site study.
Mayor Kurpis paused the 2023 bow hunt, telling a few it was to review the data, but no formal review was ever completed. In fact, Open Public Records Act requests reveal that this review was requested by residents, promised in emails, but never carried out.
Don’t be duped. This is not a management plan. It’s a recreational sport hunt. Please demand that the Mayor & Council stop any future hunts, which typically run from mid-September through mid-February. For more information, email KeepSaddleRiverNatural@gmail.com.
Take Action Today
Please contact Mayor Albert J. Kurpis at drkurpis@saddleriver.org and the Council at Saddle River Borough Hall, 100 E. Allendale Road, Saddle River, NJ 07458, or call Borough Hall at 201‐327‐2609. Your message: You want Saddle River to end the deer hunt and implement safe, effective, and humane methods.
Attend upcoming Mayor & Council meetings. To reach the Mayor & Town Council, please visit: www.saddleriver.org/mayor_council
Require the town to use humane, non-lethal methods to manage conflicts, not the deer population. There are dozens of effective, safe, and readily available methods. See below.
The town council is there to serve the public’s interest.
Read Our Ads in the Town Journal
To keep Saddle River Natural and Bucolic, 10 ads were placed in the local newspaper, which generated a significant amount of new members and support. Ad #1, Ad #2, Ad #3, Ad #4, Ad #5, Ad #6, Ad #7, Ad #8, Ad #9, and Ad #10.
In 2025-2026, 13 new ads will be placed in the Town Journal.
For the Puzzle ad, see the answer key below.
Concerned about Lyme Disease?
Read this cutting-edge compilation that dispels and debunks the myth that deer cause Lyme Disease: https://aplnj.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/May-2021-Lyme-Disease-White-Paper.pdf
Nonlethal Deer Conflict Management
1. Early successional habitat management programs, such as prescribed burns, clear-cutting, and the planting of various crops favored by deer, must gradually stop. Such habitat management provides an ideal breeding habitat for deer by increasing the quality and quantity of available food, thereby increasing the land's carrying capacity to accommodate deer.
2. Ban deer baiting in affected townships and encourage legislators to enact legislation that bans the practice statewide. Baiting contributes to forest degeneration by concentrating deer, who in turn feed on natural vegetation, and small predators, who prey upon ground-nesting birds. Baiting spreads invasive and exotic seeds. Baiting lures deer to baited areas, causes auto-deer collisions, and increases deer reproduction. Enact local ordinances that prevent deer feeding.
3. End practices that cause deer to leave their natural habitat. Deer leave or are displaced when:
There are too many invasive plants. Develop a plan to reduce or eliminate invasives.
They are hunted. Female deer expand their range by 30% due to hunting pressure. Eliminate hunting.
Pushed out by development. Restrict or reduce development projects.
4. The installation of electric fencing as an exclusion method is effective, and most kits are inexpensive.
5. Other fencing is also effective. The following information shows that six-foot woven wire was the most consistently effective design for deterring deer throughout the study, with zero failures. https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/assistance/backyard/privatelandhabitat/woven_wire_fence_handbook_deer.pdf
6. Reduce the risk of vehicle/deer collisions by lowering speed limits in targeted areas, increasing lighting and signage, and employing the use of roadside reflectors.
7. Homeowner education regarding deer repellents and deer-resistant plants. https://njaes.rutgers.edu/deer-resistant-plants/
8. Population control programs that reduce deer fertility.
1) Immunocontraception through vaccines lowers fertility rate, is highly effective, and available. lohvnj.org/DeerFertilityControl.pdf
2) Surgical sterilization is also an effective way to lower the fertility rate, and even low numbers of sterilized females lead to success. Current projects:
3) Eliminate artificial food sources such as baiting, the planting of food plots for deer by farmers, and backyard feeding (corn, bird feeders, salt licks, etc.)
Dangerous Law:
In 2009, a New Jersey law was passed that reduced the hunting safety zone around occupied buildings from 450 feet (a football field and a half) to a mere 150 feet. Bow hunters are also not required to retrieve any razor-sharp arrows that may fall on a homeowner's property.
Should a child pick up or step on an arrow, they could become injured. To give you an idea of how sharp the arrows are, hunters use a special wrench to attach the arrow to the arrow shaft to avoid cutting themselves.
Bergen County is among the most populated counties in the state. Its people are among the most educated. Both of these are great reasons why residents have said NO to deer hunting.
Biased Agency:
Don’t be fooled by thinking the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife—which argues in favor of opening the town to deer hunting—is neutral. This agency is funded mainly by the sale of hunting, trapping, and fishing licenses.
