12 Deer Strikes In 1 North Fork Week: Town Officials Speak On 'Crisis'

NORTH FORK, NY — The burgeoning deer population has long sparked concerns in Southold Town — with residents crying out for help as they say the escalating presence of deer has sparked health, environmental and safety concerns. And now, with 12 deer strikes in a single week across town, according to the Southold Police Department's blotter, officials are rallying to find a solution.

When asked about whether the deer strikes last week, which were reported in all corners of Southold Town, represented a larger number than usual, Southold Town Police Chief Steve Grattan replied: "Yes, 12 deer strikes are a lot for one week."

He added that the total number of accidents involving deer in 2024 was 227, up from 207 in 2023.

"Deer accidents are more common during mating season, which is typically during the fall," Grattan said, adding, "Drivers should be cautious at peak times of activity, which is generally dawn and dusk. They should also avoid distracted driving."

Southold Town Supervisor Al Krupski said while the town still has a robust deer management program: "There are a lot of deer— and there's a lot of traffic."

A deer management pilot program proposed for Southold was signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2023; that program was designed to combat and help reduce the impact of the region's deer population in the Town of Southold, and serve as the model, in an effort to expand the program throughout the East End of Long Island, officials said.

The plan allowed for the New York State Department of Environmental Protection and Southold Town to allow deer culling by professionals in controlled circumstances, New York State Senator Anthony Palumbo said at the time.

That cull, however, never happened, Krupski said. "State law didn't provide us with much relief. The cull never took place."

Southold Town Councilman Greg Doroski, who serves as the town board liaison to the deer management committee, said the DEC told town officials that rifles could not be used by trained professionals on Long Island, due to a prohibition in the state code.

Seeking solutions, Doroski said the deer committee "is now putting together our own pilot" program. The goal, he said, is to focus efforts on one or two specific, large parcels in Southold Town.

"We're going to try and employ some nuisance strategies farmers are allowed to use," he said. Those strategies include baiting and putting out water, as well as erecting deer fencing to move deer in certain directions — and allow for hunters to embark upon a "mini-cull."

Once the town is able to discern how many more deer might be harvested from those parcels, Doroski said next steps might include expanding the pilot throughout town.

The program would not be put into place until 2026, he said.

Southold Town has been dealt with constraints in its efforts to curb escalating deer concerns, Doroski said.

"The bigger issue is, it gets to be a little political. We have in the state assembly, representatives from New York City, telling us what we can and cannot do in regard to hunting. They have no understanding of the problems in this community."

Specifically, Doroski said, Deborah Glick, chair of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Conservation, "has a different position. She basically gutted" all the plans put in place for the deer management program, he said — even though the DEC, which he said regulates hunting, had been initially optimistic about the plan.

With the issue now having to go back before the state legislature, Doroski said the aim with the pilot is to "take destiny into our own hands ,and try to manage the herd more aggressively."

Civic association surveys, along with a number of public forums, have seen large crowds crying out for relief, he said. "Everyone understands the scope and scale of the deer and tick problem in Southold Town. Everyone has hit a deer or knows someone who has. It's an economic, medical, and public safety crisis."

The supervisor, Doroski said, has pointed out that deer who have been hit by cars suffer terribly. "It's inhumane," he said.

Speaking of the deer management program that was poised to take effect last year, Doroski said, "We had high hopes, but state law, especially on these things, trumps local law. We have our hands tied behind our backs and this is impacting people of our community."

Doroski said the town has asked Glick to come out for a meeting but so far, that has not happened. Glick could not immediately be reached for comment.

"If you look at the deer issue on the North Fork, by and large, there is widespread support of hunting," Doroski said. "Ten years ago, that support was not as widespread. Some were thinking deer were still cute animals — but they are vermin. It's like the rat issue in New York. We need to get rid of them."

For years, many protested the idea of a cull. In 2013, more than 2,500 outraged deer advocates signed a petition demanding politicians immediately stop efforts to institute a sharpshooter program aimed at culling the deer herd on the East End.

The online petition urged elected officials on all East End town and village boards, put the brakes on a plan by the Long Island Farm Bureau and United States Department of Agriculture to hire federal sharpshooters to "inhumanely" slaughter 5,000 deer in Suffolk County.

The petition went on to say that public officials should instead institute a humane, sustainable, and non-lethal deer management plan based on science, rather than anecdotal, or highly charged emotional accounts.

A controversial cull, which ultimately did take place in Southold, ended in 2014, with more than 4,000 lbs. of venison donated.

This week, Doroski said individuals interested in securing some venison can receive a whole deer, harvested from Southold Town; so far this year, more than 2,000 lbs. of deer meat have been donated to food pantries, he said.

Hunting alone, Doroski said, is not enough to stem the issues sparked by the ever-growing herd.

"If you look at the amount of deer harvested and the number of deer strikes, with not every strike reported, you think that would be enough to control the herd," Doroski said. "It's not."

The number of strikes is concerning, Krupski said. "It's a big safety issue."