Bloomington High School North, Nikean, 2009, Page 8

Description:	OHDEERHave you ever looked outside to your yard andseen deer eating your plants? If it werent forpeople such as seniors Joey Arthur and JustinScott, who participate in the Crop DepredationProgram, this sight would be increasingly common.I have been hunting almost my whole life,Arthur said. Over the years, deer population haskept rising.The goal of the program is to keep deerpopulations under control and to keep deer fromdestroying crops. The program allows hunters toown a special license and also gives farmers permission to hunt deer during the off-season.The farmers can choose which hunters theywould like to maintain the deer on their property.Laws dictating how many deer can be killed inthe off-season for the program and during regular season differ. Crop Depredation hunters cankill over 250 deer in total during the off-season,but they are regulated to how many deer theycan kill in each field.During the regular season, a hunters killingsare capped at three does (females) and onebuck (males). During the regular season, huntersuse bows and arrows while off-season hunters usehigh-powered rifles.I feel that regular season hunting is a lot better, Arthur said. You get a closer (encounter)with the deer and you dont use high-poweredrifles from far away.Right before you release the bow during theseason your heart is pumping and you try to keepyour hand still even with your adrenaline rushing.Both Arthur and Scott kill several deer eachyear and are left with a lot of extra meat. Notall of it can be taken home, so they give back tothe community.I give almost all of the meat to soup kitchens. Idont need all of the deer meat and other peopledo, Scott said.Not only is hunting a hobby for these twoseniors, but it helps maintain the deer populationevery off-season.I think that deer population will be under control sometime in the near future, Arthur said. Butthere is a lot of hunting left to reach this goal.by EricKamenThis scenic view can be found onGardner Road, west of Bloomington in Greene County.Senior Aphten Goldman rides J.D., oneof her four horses.She plans to continueshowing them beforecollege starts.For junior EmilyBaugh, keeping herhorses clean is vital.It helps preventthem from gettingsick, she said.Junior MarcassaGoodwin throws haydown in her barn forher cows and horses.I actually enjoy doing it, she said.a 8 a rural living a
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomnorth/id/6784
Collection:	Bloomington High School North

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