Will Hilton Head community let sharpshooters kill dozens of deer? Some feel ‘betrayed’
Update: On Jan. 21, Palmetto Dunes’ board of directors voted in favor of the deer cull. It will be performed by March 1.
One year after immense backlash canceled a deer cull, a Hilton Head Island community is planning a controlled kill of nearly double the number of deer it planned to kill last year inside its gates.
Palmetto Dunes, a mid-island oceanfront community of hundreds of rentals and three golf courses, told property owners it would discuss the deer cull at its Thursday board meeting. If the cull is approved, the property owners association plans to hire a sharpshooter to kill 40 deer by March 1 to control the animal population.
Residents who want to comment on the issue are allowed to attend the board meeting, but will not be allowed to make comments until after the meeting is adjourned.
The pursuit of a deer cull by Palmetto Dunes comes after a year of surveys and educational meetings to discuss the purpose of deer culling, in which residents say leadership didn’t act on any of their concerns.
Culling is the act of selectively shooting wildlife to reduce their population. The practice was upheld in a 2001 state Supreme Court decision that allowed the culling of deer in Sea Pines on Hilton Head.
Last year, Palmetto Dunes told residents it planned to cull 25 deer to cut down on vegetative destruction, car accidents and the potential spread of Lyme disease, although community CEO Andrew Schumacher said Palmetto Dunes did not have a high rate of accidents or Lyme disease. He said the cull is “proactive.”
A community survey conducted by the POA showed that 72% of respondents said they enjoyed seeing deer in the community, but 58% agreed that the best course of action if there are too many deer is to cull them. The survey listed the prices of each option: $2,000 per deer to spay or neuter the animal or $100 per deer to cull them.
In materials circulated to residents and the media in 2020, Palmetto Dunes management said a cull of 25 deer would cost $4,375.
On an island known for its nature-blending beauty and environmentally conscious development, deer culling represents a difficult predicament for powerful POAs: Is it worth it to kill deer and deal with the blowback if you think it will improve residents’ and visitors’ quality of life?
Deer culling on Hilton Head
In its materials published online in support of the deer cull, Palmetto Dunes included a roundup of deer cull numbers in other communities. The culls in Sea Pines, Leamington, Indigo Run and Hilton Head Plantation occurred in 2020 with little commentary from residents.
According to the survey, Sea Pines killed 40 deer last year; Leamington, which is neighbors with Palmetto Dunes, killed 30; Hilton Head Plantation killed 25; Indigo Run has removed 416 deer since 2004.
Beaufort County has had a deer-culling program in place since 2000, according to previous reporting from The Island Packet. Between 2000 and 2016, 5,030 deer were killed in Beaufort County’s gated communities.
State wildlife officials, general managers on Hilton Head and biologists consider the program a success, and said in 2016 that culling significantly reduced the number of deer-car collisions and complaints from residents about damaged landscaping.
How does culling work?
Before any community can cull, it must first survey its deer population.
Palmetto Dunes in partnership with Green Pond-based Folk Land Management conducted these surveys in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 and August 2020.
The 2020 survey showed that Palmetto Dunes has 2.3 acres per deer, which indicates a high density of deer. Most communities, Folk Land Management says, take action when they reach five to 10 acres per deer. In the survey of other communities, Sea Pines reported 15 acres per deer, Palmetto Hall reported 16 and Hilton Head Plantation reported 20 acres per deer.
The surveyor recommended removing 40 deer in Palmetto Dunes. DNR must review the survey and findings and approve depredation permits and tags for deer culling.
When culling actually happens, sharpshooters use pickup trucks or stands near open areas and take aim at nearby deer with the help of spotlights, The Island Packet has previously reported.
The culling areas are often baited with corn or other food to attract deer, or are known hotspots for deer activity. Some shooters remain stationary, while others travel around the neighborhood.
The shooters also must use sound-suppressed rifles, which require a federal permit that can take six to eight months to obtain.
Deer can be shot only between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. Meat from the culled deer is processed and must be donated to a local food bank.
S.C. Department of Natural Resources does not allow the relocation of deer, and tranquilized deer meat cannot be donated to food banks.
‘They have all the power’
Resident Doreen DeSa, who spearheaded the effort in 2020 to stop the cull, said Tuesday she feels that the latest effort by the board of directors betrays its promise made last year to listen to residents.
“I feel betrayed, I feel they did just stall this,” DeSa said. “This is a very bad form of a (community) government, they have all the power and the residents have none.”
DeSa and others have written to The Island Packet expressing worries about sharpshooters patrolling their community, and she points to the 2 p.m. board meetings and comment policy as signs that the board is limiting resident input on the cull and other matters.
Schumacher denounced that Tuesday, saying this week’s meeting is “a meeting of the board, not a meeting of the membership.”
Still, he sees the proposed cull as action needed after years of collecting data.
“I realize this is a very sensitive issue, but I think were at a point where, compared to our peers, we have a lot higher density (of deer) than they do. What do we do now?” he said. “It’s time.”
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 1:23 PM.
