Senate votes to allow deer hunting on Sunday, bill goes to House

It is becoming likely that Delaware hunters during the upcoming fall and winter deer season will have an extra day each week to shoot a buck or a doe.

Citing damage to farms and the environment from a growing deer population, Delaware Senators on Thursday voted to eliminate the state's prohibition on Sunday hunting for the animal.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Sen. Stephanie Hansen, D-Middletown, said grazing deer often target vulnerable plant species, native to Delaware.

"They go for our native species," she said. "So one of the drivers of our local extinction is the presence of deer."

Delaware farmers also have frequently expressed their ire over deer that wander onto farms to munch on valuable crops, such as soybeans, corn and watermelons.

In February, Delaware Farm Bureau Executive Director Pam Bakerian said deer cause anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 in estimated damages annually on most farms throughout the state.

In May, Sen. Bruce Ennis, D, Smyrna, introduced Senate Bill 198 to allow Sunday hunting. There were 11 cosponsors.

After passing the Senate by a vote of 17 to 2 on Thursday, the bill proceeds to the House. Its two opponents were Sen. Gary Simpson, R-Milford and Sen. David Sokola, D-Newark.

Simpson said his vote was a difficult one, noting that many of his constituents are farmers who struggle with deer.

"But I've always been against Sunday hunting," he said. "I think animals need a break, at least one day a week from hunting pressure."

Asked if he held a religious opposition to Sunday hunting, Simpson said, "I was always brought up, we don't hunt on Sunday."

"It's a day for the Lord," he said.

Thursday's Senate vote comes just months after the Delaware Forest Service announced a new deer management program that would privately lease public land in Sussex County.

State officials said it is an effort to reduce crop damages and losses stemming from southern Delaware’s robust — and hungry — deer population.

Delaware hunters during the 2016, 2017 deer season harvested 14,742 animals. Sussex County had the highest harvest with 7,675 deer.

Despite the statewide prohibition on Sunday deer hunting, exceptions were made in those seasons with five Sundays open to deer hunting on private lands and in public wildlife areas.

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.

Delaware wildlife:

Deer on Del. 1 caused traffic-snarling dump truck wreck

Late winter is the best time for hunting spot cleanup

Middletown outdoorsmen take on DelDOT over boat landing