An excess of mule deer in the city of Casper and south to the mountain may be addressed with changes to a long closed deer hunt area.

The Casper Game and Fish Department wants to discuss that possibility with the public later next month.

"We're talking about Deer Hunt Area 67 which is south of Casper and kind of encompasses Casper Mountain. What we're trying to do here is shrink the boundaries of this area which has been closed to deer hunting for many years. By shrinking the boundaries it would open up more land to hunting, which would help reduce problems with nuisance deer in the Garden Creek Area and could even reduce the number coming down into the city limits of Casper."

Robin Kepple for the Casper Area Field Office says in the Garden Creek Area there's concern the presence of so many deer may attract predators like mountain lions. In town deer are famous for the destruction they can do to landscaping and gardens.

"When deer numbers get artificially high there's often an increase in disease  and a change to this hunt area could alleviate some of these problems and provide more hunt opportunity."

Kepple says hunting of other species is already allowed in hunt area 67, but it's the only area in the state closed to deer hunting.

Any change, she says, would not take place until the 2012 hunting season.

Wildlife managers urge the public to attend this meeting scheduled for May 26, 7 pm at the Casper Game and Fish office, 3030 Energy Lane.

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