The deer culling program in Woodside Plantation can resume after the property owners association submitted a revised wildlife management plan that was approved by the city of Aiken.
The city reviewed and approved the updated plan containing the proposed areas to complete the deer management exercise that was submitted by the Woodside Plantation Property Owners Association, according to a statement released Tuesday from Aiken City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh.
Bedenbaugh, Aiken Department of Public Safety Chief Charles Barranco and the city’s wildlife manager looked at 18 proposed locations and approved 14 of them.
All 18 sites were deemed to be safe, but four sites were eliminated from consideration out of caution and respect for homeowners, according to the release.
The locations of the shooting areas and the proximity of shooting zones to the inhabited property were "paramount in our review," Bedenbaugh said.
Also, the city is satisfied with the planned efforts that will be made to clean up culling areas and will closely monitor that process.
City of Aiken officials met with Charlie Call, the president of the Woodside Plantation Property Owners Association, on Friday to discuss several safety issues concerning the deer cull, such as the locations of shooting zones, proximity of shooting zones to inhabited properties and post-cull cleanup.
The meeting came about after Andrea Gregory, City Council member for District 5, visited Woodside residents Feb. 11 to address blood left behind by deer that had been killed by sharpshooters. Gregory requested the culling stop until an agreement between parties could take place.
Officials participating in the Friday meeting included Call, Bedenbaugh, Barranco, Gregory, City Council member for District 4 Ed Girardeau, Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon and City Wildlife Manager Paul Johns.
The contractor conducting the deer cull participated in the meeting via telephone, Bedenbaugh said.
The current S.C. Department of Natural Resources permit obtained by the Woodside Plantation Property Owners Association to conduct the cull allows deer to be harvested until March 1.
Culling can be done in the Woodside area from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. on "specific days" Sunday through Thursday.
Call said the current deer cull will not continue past Feb. 27.
The culling has resulted in 60 deer being harvested as of Feb. 11, Bedenbaugh said.
The issue has been controversial with residents voicing opinions on both sides during public meetings, on social media and in letters to the editor.
On Monday, the Woodside Plantation Property Owners Association met with residents during its monthly meeting.
Woodside resident Terry McGrath presented pictures to the board of two pools of blood left behind from recent deer killings as well as a picture of a bullet hole in a tree outside a golf cart path.
Her concern is that hunters who do not live in Woodside will be able to enter the gated community and hunt on the premises "regardless if there is an ordinance in place or not," McGrath said.
"The problem is (the board) can't protect us. You can't stop (hunters) from coming in here," McGrath said.
Call clarified during the meeting that the bullet had been determined by Aiken Public Safety to not be from a hired sharpshooter due to the size of the ammunition and the angle of entry into the tree.
Call said that having the specified times for sharpshooters will better help Woodside and Aiken Public Safety determine when unauthorized hunting is being conducted.
Anyone who shoots firearms within the Aiken City Limits will be in violation of the "discharging a firearm ordinance," Bedenbaugh said.
Call said Monday that the board has been having "informal conversations" on the possibility of ongoing deer culling after February.
Once the March 1 permit expires, the property owners association has the option to apply for another S.C. Department of Natural Resources permit to continue culling deer under the guidelines of the City of Aiken’s ordinance with oversight from the city’s wildlife manager and city approval.
Woodside residents also may have a second chance to vote to approve or reject an ongoing deer herd management program during the Woodside board members election in September.
Information, such as the "full accounting of costs," will be added to the ballot, along with better clarification of what the new vote would mean, Call said.
"If it's rejected by the community, it's rejected by the community," Call said.
The cost for the current permit work and the implementation of the deer herd management program is $200 per deer removed, Call said.
"The total cost of the implementation of the deer herd management program should not exceed $26,250," Call wrote in a Feb. 5 email to Woodside residents.
All harvested deer have been processed and the meat donated to charities, as the S.C. Department of Natural Resources permit requires.
