By Steve Browne
Valley City Times-Record

Plans to begin bow hunting of deer on the Valley City Town and Country Club grounds are proceeding.
At the last meeting, Valley City Administrator Jon Cameron asked Valley City Police Chief Dean Ross to contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and inquire about its deer eradication service. Cameron also asked Barnes County Sheriff Gene Bjerke to find out whether hunting regulations forbidding shooting within 440 yards of an occupied dwelling apply to a hunt on the golf course.
Ross reported the USDA would shoot deer at the airport but not in city parks, and would not harvest the deer.
Perry Kapaun president of the Barnes County Wildlife Federation, said, “USDA just shoots, it doesn't utilize, and we're against that.”
Bjerke said the 440-yard rule does not apply if the hunter has permission to be on the land adjacent to a residence not on the land being hunted.
All participants agreed a buffer zone should be marked between the houses near the golf course and the area hunted.
Barnes County Commissioner Rodger Berntson addressed the meeting on behalf of the county commission.  “We'll work with you and allow you to hunt on any county property within reason. Of course we're not going to let anyone hunt behind the highway department.”
Berntson pointed out in any given season, only 30 percent of bow hunts are successful, hunters prefer trophy bucks, and deer in any herd are mostly does.
Todd Christiansen, Town and Country Club manager, said he hadn't seen a buck on the club grounds yet.
“We'd better be politically correct and call does 'antlerless deer,'” Berntson joked.
Berntson also said he didn't see a serious safety problem with bows due to their relatively short range, and that bow hunters tend to be very observant of hunting safety.
Ross agreed, and said officials in Bismarck have found this to be true in their urban bow hunts. He added that while Fargo requires a proficiency test for hunting within city limits, Bismarck does not.
An issue brought up at the meeting was retrieval of deer off the club grounds. Ross said he hadn't heard concerns from residents in the adjacent subdivision, but Paul Metcalf, owner of the farm on the heights above the golf course, should be asked if he objects.
Berntson said right of retrieval is in the game regulations, but added that this could possibly conflict with trespassing laws if a property owner objected.
Berntson brought up the issue of baiting deer to attract them to locations it is safe and convenient to shoot. He said it is legal at present, but that might change after the next legislative session.
Valley City Mayor Mary Lee Nielson asked to address the meeting, and pointed out the ravine near the airport west of  Ninth Ave. N.W. is owned by the city and might make an ideal place to hunt.
    Cameron said at the end of the meeting that arrangements to institute regular hunting inside city limits to control deer population appear to be proceeding smoothly, and if all continues to go well, might start by Dec. 1.