Deer cull in Woodside Plantation likely to begin this week

Feb. 5--Deer culling is set to begin in Woodside Plantation this week.

The Woodside Plantation Property Owners Association was granted a permit Dec. 30 by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources, allowing the association "to take up to 100 white-tailed deer" during the dates of Dec. 30 and March 1.

According to a letter dated Feb. 3 from Aiken City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh, "A minimum $2 million of liability insurance with the City of Aiken named as the additional insured has been obtained by the City's Wildlife Manager and by (the Woodside Plantation Property Owners Association)'s contractor to conduct wildlife management. Both parties have also obtained a City of Aiken business license."

Lowcountry Wildlife Specialists was selected to cull the deer and was insured up to $2 million through Colony Insurance Company, according to documentation provided by Bedenbaugh.

Charlie Call, president of the Woodside property owners association, said trained sharpshooters will be allowed into the Woodside area to remove deer after the association pays a $6,250 outstanding fee to the City of Aiken.

Call said culling can be done in the Woodside area from now until Feb. 27 from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. on "specific days" Sunday through Thursday.

In 2019, the Woodside community voted in favor of harvesting deer in the area as a means of thinning the herd and thus hopefully reducing damage in the neighborhood.

City Council gave final approval Nov. 11 to the culling process with the passage of an amendment that permitted the shooting of guns within city limits for authorized and regulated wildlife culls. The vote was 6-1, with Councilmember Ed Woltz being the lone dissenter.

The issue has been controversial with residents voicing opinions on both sides of the issue during public meetings and in letters to the editor.

Shooters will not be allowed to conduct management on "weekends or school holidays," said Bedenbaugh.

There will be no operations on Feb. 16 or Feb. 27 due to school being out the following day, Bedenbaugh said.

The association does not have a "specific schedule" they can discuss due to the risk of firearms involved, Call said.

"We don't want untrained people involved with the trained people hired to do the work," Call said.

According to documents presented by Bedenbaugh, City Wildlife Manager Paul Johns has confirmed the experience of the sharpshooters, identified the safe shooting zones and elevated positions ensuring shots are directed into the ground and confirmed the use of sound suppressed rifles and frangible bullets that are designed to disintegrate upon impact.

Only sharpshooters obtained by the city' s wildlife manager and by the property owners association's contractor are allowed to participate in the deer management.

Anyone else will be in violation of the "discharging a firearm ordinance," Bedenbaugh said.

"You can not discharge a firearm in the city unless you meet the specified criteria," Bedenbaugh said.

"Deer may be taken by sharpshooters with firearms from fixed locations, and from vehicles, during the day or night using spotlights," according to the permit from the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

The sharpshooters participating in the cull have up to "25 years of experience" and must follow very specific guidelines to prevent injury, Call said.

"(Shooters) will shoot in the down position to prevent the chance of ricochets," Call said.

Call said that once the deer is shot the animal will be removed for processing.

The ordinance states that edible portions of the carcasses will be distributed to charitable institutions.

The cost for the permit work and the implementation of the deer herd management program will be $200 per deer removed, Call said.

According to city documentation, "Carolina Wildlife Consultants is estimating that the cost of the Woodside Deer Removal Project should not take more than 20 hours at a cost of $150 per hour for a total not to exceed up to and no more than $3,000."

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