Veteran archers hoping to be chosen as part of Warsaw’s eighth annual nuisance deer hunt will receive their notices likely by the end of this week. Warsaw Common Councilman Jeff Grose said during the council’s regular meeting Tuesday, that the city has 50 trained archers interested in taking part in this year’s controlled hunt.

The entire city of Warsaw has been labeled an urban deer zone, meaning an overpopulation of deer exists here. For the last seven years, the city has held controlled deer hunts in areas that have been designated as deer nuisance zones. Archers, all of whom have taken part in past hunts and attended two training sessions recently held by the city to sharpen their skills and get a refresher course in state laws and city rules of the controlled hunt, will be hand-chosen by the deer management committee.

Beginning Sept. 15, this year’s deer reduction effort will again focus specifically in the deer nuisance zones. The common council last night voted unanimously to approve the eight zones, which largely remain unchanged from last year. Each of the zones have both public and private areas where the city approved archers may hunt. Private landowners, however, must submit applications that will be reviewed by the Deer Task Force to assure the properties meet all qualifications for the city’s guidelines.

Because it is a controlled hunt, the season begins Sept. 15 and will continue through Jan. 31, 2014. All qualifying archers who receive their notification will be required to go to the Warsaw Police Department and register for hunting dates, times and locations. Sign up sheets will be available approximately 5 days prior to Sept. 15.

Grose noted that the archers are also community minded and, beyond exercising extreme caution while hunting, many of them even donate the deer to local charities for the meat. “The archers pay for the tags and those who don’t keep the venison for themselves do donate it,” he said.

Each huntsman is permitted to take part in the Earn a Buck program. In short, the first deer killed must be a doe. After that, a hunter is allowed to shoot a buck. The next two kills must be doe, and then another buck can be taken. “It’s a little more restrictive that what the state allows, but it works here,” Grose said.

Last year, just over 50 deer were taken in the city’s controlled hunt. That number was less than the nearly 80 deer that were taken in the first years of the program. “That means it’s working,” said Grose, who has been instrumental in establishing the controlled hunts and the nuisance deer zones. “We were told when we started this that the results would be seen in 5 to 7 years. I think the numbers are proof it’s working.”