Colchester County looking into deer hunt for this fall

Two deer were spotted at the top of Young Street in Truro on Sept. 1. Colchester County councillors are exploring the feasibility of a deer cull this fall in Bible Hill, Valley, Salmon River, Truro Heights, and Lower Truro. PHOTO BY AIDAN RAWDING /Truro News Colchester County council wants to address its deer population with a cull this season. At a public meeting on Aug. 27, council unanimously agreed that the municipality look into the feasibility of a hunt this fall in Bible Hill, Valley, Salmon River, Truro Heights, and Lower Truro. District 5 Coun. Tim Johnson put the motion on the table. “I believe it was back three or four months ago, we received a letter from the province telling us that we are not required to do pellet counts any longer to proceed with a deer cull,” said Johnson. “So I don’t see any reason for us to proceed with pellet counts when we know by living in these areas that we’ve had deer problems for several years now.” The municipality has been collecting deer pellet data since the spring of 2024. Three years of data were required by the Department of Natural Resources to consider carrying out a deer hunt. District 9 Coun. Marie Benoit supported the motion to inquire about a cull this fall. She asked what its scope and scale would be. “I just remember hearing when the Town of Truro did it … it was quite low,” said Benoit. Since 2022, Truro has carried out an annual hunt as part of its deer management program. In January 2025, some councillors called for the hunt to be moved into the urban core after harvesting only 38 deer that winter. The town is restricted in where they can safely carry out the cull. “In some conversations with Truro’s CAO, I think one of the restricting factors in Truro was there (were) very minimum locations where they could carry it out because of the setbacks that were required,” said Dan Troke, Colchester’s chief administrative officer. Truro said the municipality could determine likely numbers by speaking with professionals, as well as looking at locations and setbacks. Truro’s most recent hunt bagged a record of 88 deer. On Sept. 1, a town spokesperson said it is in early discussions with the Department of Natural Resources about this year’s deer management program. Nothing has been finalized. This is not the first time the topic of a deer cull has been brought to the Colchester County council table. According to a previous Truro News article, 77 per cent of residents in the county…