Open space and environment

Deer management

Montgomery has culled deer on township open space since 2001. A 2025 drone survey counted about 93 deer per square mile. In fall 2026 a resident asked the Board of Health to press for fewer deer; the Board discussed it without voting, and no new deer study has been funded.

Checked against the primary record on . Every figure on this page is sourced at the foot of the article.

No study funded; 2026-27 hunt under way Last moved

What happens next

The hunt runs until February 20, 2027. The Board of Health next meets December 9, 2026; the Township Committee meets November 12, December 3 and December 17, 2026.

Montgomery has run a deer management program on township land since 2001, when a township-wide infrared survey estimated about 88 deer per square mile, against roughly 10 the township considers sustainable. Each spring the Township Committee passes a resolution naming the parks and open spaces where permitted hunters may cull deer, and on which dates. The 2026-27 season runs from September 12, 2026 to February 20, 2027 on 15 main properties plus provisional tracts, and a new bow-only “Dutchtown” tract was added on September 3, 2026.

The township gives three reasons for the program: tick-borne disease, deer-vehicle crashes (an average of 105 a year over 15 years) and damage to forests. A drone survey paid for by a state grant counted 3,017 deer in February and March 2025, about 93 per square mile; a 2021 count had found 69. The Wildlife Committee’s chair noted that the surveys used different vendors and methods. Township hunters took 236 deer in 2024-25 and 204 in 2025-26.

In September 2026 the Committee’s liaison to the Wildlife Committee reported concerns about a growing deer population and ticks. He said the increase had not been verified by a study and that, with no grant money this year, a study “may have to wait until next year.” On October 14 the Board of Health discussed a resident’s email asking it to urge the Committee to reduce the deer population. Members asked for tick-borne disease and collision data, the drone-survey figures, and a look at what other towns do. The Board did not vote.

Not yet known: whether a survey or study will be funded for 2027, and whether the Committee will change the program. The survey’s written report and the Board of Health’s October 14 minutes have not been posted. Residents can comment at either body’s meetings, and can request the survey report and harvest records from the Township Clerk under OPRA.

How the deer program works

Timeline

Each dated event on this issue, oldest first, linked to the full sourced entry.

  1. Milestone Montgomery starts a managed deer hunt on township open spaceThe township's deer management program began in 2001, after a township-wide infrared survey estimated about 88 deer per square mile, against roughly 10 that the township calls sustainable. Permitted hunters cull deer on designated township parks and open space each season.
  2. Resolved A state-funded drone survey counts Montgomery's deer at nightRaritan Valley Community College flew thermal-camera drones over the whole township between mid-February and March 2, 2025 to estimate the deer population. A $14,874 NJDEP Community-Based Deer Management grant paid for it. It was the first count since 2021.
  3. Resolved Drone survey finds about 93 deer per square mile, up from 69 in 2021The township's Open Space and Stewardship Director and the Wildlife Committee chair presented the deer program to the Township Committee. The 2025 drone survey counted 3,017 deer, about 93 per square mile. The Committee voted 4-0 to require hunters to take two antlerless deer to keep their tract.
  4. Resolved Committee sets the 2026-27 deer hunt: September 12 to February 20 on township landResolution #26-4-141, passed 5-0, names the township parks and open spaces open to permitted deer hunters for 2026-27 and sets the season from September 12, 2026 to February 20, 2027. A week earlier, the Environmental Commission heard that the 2025-26 season had ended with 204 deer, fewer than in previous years.
  5. Active A new bow-only "Dutchtown" tract; a deer study waits for fundingThe Committee voted 5-0 to add a bow-only hunting tract on newly donated Dutchtown land and one more permit at "Opatut." Committee Member Martin reported concerns about a growing deer population and ticks. He said the increase "hasn't been verified through any kind of study" and that, with no grant money this year, a study "may have to wait until next year."
  6. Active Deer: a resident asks the Board of Health to press for fewer deer; no new study is fundedA resident's letter asked the Board of Health to urge the Township Committee to reduce Montgomery's deer population, citing tick-borne illness and collisions. The Board discussed it without voting and sent the concern to the Committee through its liaison, with requests for data and for a look at what other towns do. A Committee member had said in September that a study is being looked into for 2027, but that there is no grant money for one this year.

Explainers

  • Deer in Montgomery: How the Township's Hunt Works and What the 2025 Count Found

    Since 2001 Montgomery has opened township parks and open space to permitted hunters to cull deer. A 2025 drone survey counted 3,017 deer, about 93 per square mile, against 69 in a 2021 count made a different way. In the fall of 2026 a Committee member reported concerns about a growing herd and ticks, and a resident asked the Board of Health to press for fewer deer. This explains how the program works, what the record shows, what is still unknown, and how residents can take part.

Documents

The township's own records on this issue. Each links to the official copy.

Meetings

  • Township Committee — October 15, 2026

    A short meeting. The district's state legislators presented fiscal 2027 funding for closing the Cherry Valley sewage plant. The Mayor said a Cherry Valley cell tower can go up only once a carrier signs a lease, and none has. The Board of Health's deer discussion was reported. A Route 518 resident said the Montgomery Promenade developer has not honoured the neighbours' agreements on screening and fencing. There was no legal update in public.

  • Board of Health — October 14, 2026

    The Board of Health discussed a resident's email asking it to urge the Township Committee to reduce the deer population, citing tick-borne illness and collisions. Members were sceptical that culling or contraception would work, took no vote, and left the concern and requests for data with the Committee liaison. The 2025 annual report showed Lyme disease as the largest share of reported communicable disease.

Sources for this overview

  1. Township Committee minutes, August 21, 2025 (2025 deer survey results)
  2. Montgomery Township Deer Management Program
  3. Township Committee meeting video, September 3, 2026: Wildlife Committee report
  4. Board of Health meeting video, October 14, 2026
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