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MORGANTOWN - The 16th season of Morgantown's Urban Archery Hunt opens Saturday.
Program organizer Rick Bebout recently told Morgantown City Council that 94 hunters will participate utilizing predetermined hunting sites on 42 properties citywide made up of a combination of public and private property.
The split season runs Sept. 5 through Dec. 31st before reopening Jan. 11 through Jan. 31.
The hunt was initiated in 2011 in an effort to reduce the deer population in the urban area.
In the years since, the urban hunt has resulted in 1,539 deer harvested off property within the city's footprint and more than 15,000 pounds of venison donated to local feeding programs.
"We are 163 pounds shy of reaching our all-time mark of eight tons of donated venison, and I would imagine we'll have that by 10 o'clock Saturday, Sept. 5 if the weather cooperates," Bebout said.
He said initial hunter assignments have been communicated to the city manager's office and the WVU Police Department.
"And the season hasn't even started, but we've already worked with WVU and Morgantown police to identify two illegal hunting sites, which have been removed and turned over to those agencies," Bebout said.
Last year's hunt saw 125 deer, including 25 antlered bucks, harvested off 28 properties.
The largest deer totals were taken from the WVU Agronomy Farm (14) and WVU Dairy Farm (13). WVU's Core Arboretum and BOPARC's White Park were next on the list with nine each.
Westover’s third annual urban archery hunt will be held at the same time as Morgantown’s.
In other Morgantown news, the second round of funding awards has been announced through the city's Morgantown MOSAIC initiative.
The program was initiated to increase civic pride by providing 50% matching grants for small-to medium-sized projects spearheaded by the city's various neighborhoods.
Last week it was announced that $500 would be awarded to create a permanent neighborhood information hub in Greenmont.
"It would be a kiosk that would sit at the Arch Street islands, and one side of the kiosk is intended to house community news and announcements that would be maintained and monitored by the neighborhood association," Community Development Services Coordinator Caitlyn Lewis said. "The other side would be a history side that highlights Greenmont's heritage through photos, stories, and historical information."
The city's Neighborhood Coordinating Council – which includes representatives from the various neighborhood associations – serves as the selection board, working with city staff to vet and rank projects for inclusion in the competitive grant process.
In May, the body selected three neighborhood projects to receive matching funds - a Woodburn Gateway landscaping project ($500); a Greenmont Neighborhood sign project ($2,000); and an Oak Grove Cemetery restoration project ($2,000).