Bow-hunting of deer is a target of Fredonia village officials.

Fredonia Planning Board Chairman Brian Luce was asked to speak about Fredonia’s booming deer population at a Wednesday workshop of the Board of Trustees, The Planning Board acts as an advisory body for the trustees.

Opinions about the deer issue in the village run the entire spectrum from “Kill ’em all” to “Leave ’em alone,” and Luce seemed to be on a middle ground. He was open to bow-hunting by local archers as a possible way to cull the herd, but added that deer will be a presence in Fredonia from here on out.

Luce opened his talk by stating the deer situation “is a problem in the village” and discussing what some other Western New York localities have done. He said Celoron “went to the extreme” and baited them to get shot at night from elevated tree stands,

“They thought it was a pretty safe avenue, elevated tree stands shooting down,” he said. “Honestly I think that’s a little extreme.”

He said birth control was tried on deer in Hamburg and East Aurora “very, very vastly, with no success. ”

Luce told trustees he is “trying to put together an outline of what you can do.” However, he said, Fredonia is “getting surrounded” by solar farms, pushing them into village limits.

“Take out a thousand deer one season, there’s going to be a thousand more coming in, if not more,” Luce said. “It’s an easy life for them (in Fredonia). Up in the hills, it’s a little harder, the winter’s a little harsh — they’re going to be in the village.”

He criticized unnamed residents in the village for feeding the deer, which is illegal according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. In fact, he stated, the DEC recently ticketed someone in Fredonia for doing so.

Mayor Michael Ferguson broached the idea of bow-hunting. Luce, who has been in contact with DEC officials about the deer issue, said he did discuss bow-hunting with them. He said there is a safety zone around homes where hunting is banned, but that can be waived by the property owner.

“There’s enough archers in the area … that could take out a lot of deer in the village,” Luce said. Reaching out to bow-hunters in other areas would “be a Wild West show. You’re going to have people coming in doing the same thing we can do better.”

Luce added, “The does are the ones you want to take out, they’re having two, three fawns.”

The deer discussion ended with Trustee Ben Brauchler suggesting the setup of a deer management plan for the village. Trustee Paul Wandel agreed.