Arrows. Bloody sidewalk. Worthington deer poaching incident prompts Ohio investigation

It was an unusual Facebook post with pictures, an apparent case of suburban deer poaching along a quiet Worthington street.

It's common to see deer in Worthington's Colonial Hills neighborhood. And apparently hunters have taken notice of the healthy herds.

On Oct. 23, at about 5 a.m., a neighborhood resident was walking his dog when his Labrador Retriever became agitated. The dog had picked up the scent of a deer in front of them, a large buck in the sidewalk.

The man, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, pulled his dog away, fearing the animal might be dangerous. He continued their walk and returned home, about three houses away on Park Boulevard.

About 40 minutes later he noticed the whoosh of water in front of his house. He walked outside to find his hose impaled with a hunting arrow.

After hearing some commotion behind a car beside the dead deer, he looked up to see what appeared to be two people struggling with something. Then they were gone. And so was the deer.

Steve Tennant, the city's maintenance superintendent, said the area, especially near the city's eastern edge and railroad tracks has been besieged by deer.

"That neighborhood's so full of deer," said Tennant, who retired Friday after 34 years with the city. "Today, the deer are like squirrels, imbedded in people's yards. They're like pets."

And apparently hunters have taken notice.

"A year or two ago, we heard that people were coming here because of the deer and they were hunting near the tracks," he said.

Colonial Hills is comprised of 870 homes, many of them prefabricated and built during World War II to house workers in the war effort. They are closely built on small lots with plenty of vegetation for deer grazing.

Selby Park is near where the dead deer was seen. And another post on Facebook indicates that a second arrow, broken and likely having hit something, was found in the park the same day.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife is investigating.

"They believe it was illegal hunting, not necessarily by a resident," said city spokeswoman Anne Brown.

Hunting illegal in the suburbs

Gruesome images may occasionally arise where deer, people and cars intersect.

In Clintonville this week, a headless deer was found on a city street. The "trophy" of antlers was likely removed after a vehicle struck the animal. The practice of taking all or part of your roadkill is legal when a motorist gets a receipt of legal ownership issued by law enforcement.

No Columbus suburbs allow hunting within their city limits. Gahanna ended a controlled hunting policy in 2019 following an incident where an animal was shot but not immediately killed in front of a crowd of people.

Read More: Deer culling by some central Ohio cities and Metro Parks helps deter crashes

The city of Columbus permits bow hunting on private property, but only with written permission of the landowner, according to The Ohio Department of Natural Resources wildlife division.

Franklin County Metro Parks culls deer using sharpshooters after parks close. Hundreds of deer are taken annually.

Shooting has been considered the most humane method of control. But other methods include use of birth control, and trapping and relocation (currently prohibited in Ohio).

Worthington residents have had so much concern that it published a deer management report two years ago. It determined, in part, that there are no easy solutions.

"In order to decrease the size of the herd, there will need to be a commitment of staff time and financial resourcesto formulate a deer management program," the report stated.

Spokeswoman Brown said that will likely happen sometime soon.

"At some point the next month or two, the city will appoint a task force of residents and experts in wildlife management," she said.

Until then, Brown said that residents should notify police if the see suspicious behavior, especially if they're on your property.

dnarciso@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Worthington deer poaching report leads to ODNR investigation