Pair Of Deer Hunts In Mercer County Start Sept. 8

The Mercer County Park Commission will conduct a pair of deer management programs on selected days from Sept. 8, 2018, through Feb. 16, 2019, Mercer County officials announced. One program is at Mercer Meadows. Mercer Meadows Deer Management Program is open only to participants who have applied and been accepted to the program.

The other is at Baldpate Mountain. This program is a method for reducing the overabundant deer herd in the greater Hopewell Valley area. The Baldpate Mountain Deer Management Program is open only to participants who have applied and been accepted to the program.

Mercer Meadows will be open to hunting on a limited number of days during the fall bow, permit bow and winter bow seasons. Hunting will take place Monday through Saturday, from 30 minutes prior to sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset, with no hunting taking place on Dec. 25.

Each entrance to the park will be posted with bright yellow signs to notify park users of the hunting program. During the Mercer Meadows hunt, the Park Commission is asking park users to kindly keep their recreating to the finished gravel paths, the Lawrence Hopewell Trail and Maidenhead Trail.

The Pole Farm section and the wooded area of Rosedale Park are included in this year's hunt. There will be no hunting near the Dog Park, picnic area or Rosedale Lake. Maps of the hunting boundaries are available on the Park Commission website.

At Baldpate Mountain, the deer management program is open for fall, permit and winter bow, six-day firearm, permit shotgun and permit muzzleloader hunting. Hunting will take place 30 minutes prior to sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset, Wednesday through Saturday from Sept. 8 through Feb. 16. There will be no hunting on Sunday.

From Sept. 8 through Dec. 4, the park will remain open for public use during hunting days, when only bow hunting is permitted. The park will be closed to the public Wednesday through Saturday from Dec. 5 to Feb. 9, when firearm hunting is permitted. No hunting will take place on Dec. 25. Each entrance and trailhead to Baldpate Mountain will be posted with a large bright orange “closed” sign as a reminder to the public that the program is taking place.

The deer management program complies with all of the hunting regulations set by the State; in addition, the Park Commission has adopted County rules for the program. All hunting must be done from an elevated tree stand; hunters are not permitted to hunt from the ground. There is no shooting across park trails.

For the second year, the Park Commission will make a conscious effort to donate harvested deer to the Hunters Helping the Hungry program. Last season, a total of 14 deer were donated, producing approximately 1,960 servings of protein.

Interested parties should visit http://mercercountyparks.org/activities/deer-management or call 609-303-0706 for program rules and regulations, application and zone maps. Applications will be given on a first-come, first-served basis starting Monday, July 16, in person or via mail at the Historic Hunt House 197 Blackwell Road, Pennington NJ 08534. Applications must be received by Friday Aug. 3.

Patch file photo