The annual urban deer bow hunt is on throughout the Quad-Cities, and deer aren’t the only targets. In Bettendorf, some neighbors are taking rhetorical aim at the hunters for infringing on property and privacy. We’re heartened to see Bettendorf Police Chief Phil Redington move forward on a citizens advisory group to help set city policy on this contentious matter. While the problem of managing deer in an urban environment is universal, the solutions are not. Different communities have differing tolerances for the vehicle and vegetation damage caused by deer, as well as the sight of camouflaged bow hunters near family homes.

In Bettendorf, the damage is a problem. Twenty-six times this year, residents called police to report deer-vehicle incidents. Residents, business owners and Scott Community College report persistent damage to trees and vegetation by herds that exceed the food sources available in city limits. Certainly those animals deserve to be treated with kindness. We believe part of that kindness includes herd management techniques that favor selective, controlled hunting over the vehicle collisions and starvation that also will trim a herd.

On that count, Bettendorf’s approach seems to be working. So far this year, bow hunters harvested 68 deer, including a couple of bucks. The number of hunting zones have doubled and seem to have trimmed the urban herd by about a third. Redington reported the deer count after last year’s hunting season at 213, down from 332 the previous year.

Consequently, homeowners have seen more hunters and perhaps some injured deer. We’ve heard one report of an arrow found near private property. These are bound to concern neighborhood residents unfamiliar with bow hunting practices. Harder to quantify are the benefits of the hunt: a reduction in vehicle accidents; improved sustainability of the remaining herd and a reduction in property damage caused by foraging deer.

Redington said Mayor Mike Freemire will appoint an advisory group of hunters, police, a Department of Natural Resources representative and neighborhood residents to figure out how — not if — urban deer will be managed.

We hope it will elevate the urban deer hunting experience and familiarize neighbors with the latest, safest urban hunting techniques. Redington expects hunters will be required to use tree stands, which anchor hunters to pre-determined sites where they’ve researched deer runs, bedding areas and lines of fire. Contemporary hunters use motion cameras and methodically scout to plan for the most effective urban hunt, just like they do in rural farm fields and woodlands.

Bettendorf’s urban hunters are getting more experience. The city requires hunters to bag three does to earn a tag entitling them to hunt a buck. Last year, six hunters qualified for a buck tag. We support this careful, collaborative approach involving local bow hunters.

One alternative? Hiring sharpshooters to dispense with this in a quicker and much more costly manner, like Iowa City is trying. We’ve not seen evidence that Bettendorf’s deer problem requires this level and expense to manage.

Neglecting the Bettendorf herd is not an option. With no management, the herd will be trimmed by vehicle collisions, disease and starvation — alternatives we’re less enthused about.

Iowa is among America’s premier deer hunting states thanks to plentiful whitetail and centuries of family tradition. We’re confident Bettendorf’s new advisory group can adapt that tradition to safely and effectively manage the city’s urban herd.