Pittsburgh Deer Management Program: lottery now open for archers, hunts will expand into more parks

PITTSBURGH — The City of Pittsburgh announced that it has opened its Deer Management Program selection lottery for the upcoming archery season.

The program was created to manage the overpopulation of white-tailed deer in city parks.

City officials said that after two successful years, the program is once again expanding. This will include expanding the current archery program from Frick, Riverview, Emerald View, Schenley and Highland Parks to Hays Woods, Hazelwood Greenway, Southside Park, and Seldom Seen Greenway.

“There were again zero public safety incidents that resulted from last year’s archery season,” said Director of Public Safety Lee Schmidt.

The past archery season included hunts in Frick, Riverview, Schenley, Highland, and Emerald View Parks. Nearly 200 deer were harvested. Of those, 92 deer were donated to local food banks, resulting in approximately 3,680 pounds of venison and 14,720 meals provided to residents in need.

Anyone interested in participating in this year’s program can now enter a lottery system where 65 archers will be selected, as well as 65 alternate archers.

City residents will be given priority in the lottery, but residents in surrounding counties may still apply. The lottery will remain open until 11:59 p.m. on July 20.

All selected archers must pass a criminal background check and fulfill the following criteria:

• Must be at least 18 years of age
• Have a clean criminal background check, including a clean PA Game Commission record
• Plan to purchase a 2B Antlerless Tag
• Not participating in other deer management programs

Selected archers who pass a criminal background check will then be required to attend an accuracy test on Sunday, Aug. 3 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. or Wednesday, Aug. 6 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. If that test is passed, the archer will be assigned a number and a specific location within a park where they’ll be permitted to hunt.

Additional program stipulations, according to the city:

• There is a zero-tolerance policy. Any hunter who violates the guidelines outlined by the program or commits a game-law felony will result in immediate expulsion from the program.
• There is NO hunting on Sundays.
• Every archer is required to take a doe first. This doe must be donated to a food bank program, such as Hunters Sharing the Harvest.
• Absolutely no field dressing is allowed on-site. ALL dressing must be performed at the authorized dressing location.
• Complete an online post-hunt summary within 24-hours of a successful or non-successful hunt.

For more information and to register for the lottery, click here.

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