Sturgis Police Chief Geody Vandewater says his department will not be doing a deer harvest in Sturgis this year.
In response to complaints about the increasing number of deer within city limits, the City of Sturgis developed a Comprehensive Deer Control Plan in 2018. Each year, under strict guidelines regulated by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department, the Police Department is required to complete a Deer Population Study. Based on this study, the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department determines if the deer population should be curtailed.
VanDewater says this year’s study showed counts within the city are down compared to previous year’s which does not give the city sufficient numbers to ask the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department for tags.
VanDewater says the goal of the program is to maintain a healthy and viable urban deer population.