STAFFORD.deer Photo by George Stafford A deer with an apparent broken leg stands with two fawns Thursday near a woodlot in Fredonia. The deer overpopulation issue in the village has retreated out of the public eye and back into the woods this summer.

The Fredonia deer issue has evidently retreated to the woods.

Back in May, villagers debated what, if anything, to do about the overpopulation of deer in the village. Fredonia Trustee Jon Espersen brought it up at a Board of Trustees meeting and subsequently investigated methods for culling the herd, reporting back at the next meeting.

He said most villages in the state that addressed deer problems wound up resorting to bow hunting. Some of the villages created a database of available bow hunters that homeowners could access.

Espersen never directly advocated bow hunting in the village — but the response was pointed. Many took to social media to decry the idea.

“I’m almost sorry I ever looked into it,” he told the OBSERVER recently, reminding that “no one on the board mentioned bringing in hunters.”

Espersen continued, “I got eviscerated for just pointing out that bow hunting is legal inside the village following DEC guidelines. The hate mail was incredible so no, I won’t be bringing that (up) at any future meeting.”