City granted year-round deer permit

A permit has been approved to allow the City of Sundance to cull double the number of deer this year with no restrictions on season timing.

The city is implementing a year-round cull in response to evidence that chronic wasting disease (CWD) may be more prevalent than previously thought.

Game Warden Nate Holst attended last week's meeting of the city council to confirm that Wyoming Game & Fish has now approved the license.

This will allow Sundance to take up to 100 deer between now and the end of 2023.

Holst made the proposal last month, visiting the council to explain that last year's cull caused some concern for Game & Fish.

Most years, he said at the time, the city applies for a license to cull a certain number of deer. For 2022, the quota was 50 deer, which was subsequently filled.

Seven of those 50 deer tested positive for the always-fatal disease.

The Black Hills region used to sit at around a 2-3% rate of CWD, a rate that has now grown to 7%. Seven of 50 deer puts Sundance at a 14% prevalence rate, which is double the estimate for the rest of the region.

The council agreed that a proactive approach would be a good idea and asked Holst to pursue the license on the basis that it would allow the city to cull deer as and when this step is considered necessary.

On Tuesday, Mayor Paul Brooks noted that opinions are divided on this culling policy, but it may be necessary to stop the disease in its tracks and avoid the danger of a cross-species jump, which he said is always a concern.

"I think cleaning them up is the prudent thing to do," he said.

Holst informed the council that he did request one change to the contract: removal of the word "only" in the section that specifies who may take the deer. This means that the city will be able to contract with multiple people, as several have expressed a willingness to help perform the cull.

The city will also be putting together a new list of citizens who are interested in receiving meat from the culled deer, which will be tested for CWD before it is donated. Contact City Hall to be added to the list.