Sudbury Conservation Commission delays vote on 24-year bow-hunt program to Aug. 21

SUDBURY -- August 16, 2023, Sudbury Conservation Commission delays vote on 24-year bow-hunt program after three-hour hearing. Chair David Henkels said the commission will vote Monday, Aug. 21, on whether to continue, modify or end the 1999 program, which currently authorizes 22 archers across 17 town parcels with 48 on the waiting list. Conservation Coordinator Lori Capone said roughly 150 deer have been harvested through the program, 108 of them does, with archers required to donate at least two hours of land-management volunteer work. State deer biologist Martin Feehan said Wildlife Management Zone 10 averages 25 to 40 deer per square mile against a state goal of 12 to 18, and reported "zero non-hunters" injured by archery hunting statewide in nearly 60 years. Dr. Marge Peppercorn, a 50-year resident and pediatrician, called the program "unnecessary and unjustifiably cruel" and urged the commission to pursue the PZP contraceptive instead; Feehan said the state will not issue sterilization permits.