For many years hunters and groups that support hunters have been relentlessly telling the unbelievers that hunting deer is needed to keep the deer herds in check. These groups of people just will not believe the educated ones.

Now the Lansing State Journal is reporting that East Lansing City Officials last Tuesday voted to authorize the culling of the deer herds. To those who may not know what culling the herd means; that means hiring sharpshooters who would kill the deer in specialized hunts in the city parks.

By hiring that means instead of hunters paying for the chance to hunt and kill a deer, the taxpayers of East Lansing has to pay the $6,000 it will cost for this round of culling. When the cull happens the city manager would partner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services to bring in those taxpayer-paid sharpshooters who will kill the deer in specialized hunts in the city parks.

It gets even better for all those who are against hunters and hunting, the East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas said the city most likely will not budget $6,000 but closer to $20,000 in case the culling program would be needed in more areas of the city and for a longer period.

The problem with the increasing deer population comes from the fact that they are destroying gardens, vegetation, and increased vehicular crashes.

During the debate Council member Mark Meadows said:

"This is not a vote, for me, based on whether hostas are eaten…There comes a point in time where there isn't enough food for the deer, and I think controlling the population at this point in time is an appropriate way for us to go forward."

That my friends is exactly what hunters and the groups that support hunters have been saying for decades. When there is a protected species with no natural predators the herds will grow beyond them being able to sustain themselves.

Once again I reiterate the taxpayers of East Lansing have to pay for the killing of the deer instead of hunters paying for the opportunity to do so. It sounds exactly like “good government” to me.

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