Southold Deer Meat Draws Hungry Families and Butchers

Since Oct. 1, hunters have killed 118 deer in the third year of Southold Town’s which will end Dec. 31.

And though the number of deer is smaller than last year’s so far, demand for the venison produced has increased, as has interest in processing the meat, says Jeff Standish, coordinator of the deer-management program.

At Southold Town Board’s work session on Tuesday, Standish passed around a picture of a man who had driven from miles west on Long Island in order to pick up a deer from the town. He put the carcass in the back seat of his car.

“This is a good indication that the program is well-received,” said Southold Town Councilman Vincent Orlando.

Standish added that two local butchers have reached out to him during the last two weeks with interest in helping to process meat as the program moves forward. Council man Al Krupski said that though he was enthused about creating an affordable food source, he said that the program is probably not making a dent in herd reduction.

“We have to start looking into creating incentives for hunters — paying for arrows and such,” he said. “We’re not meeting our goals.”

Standish explained that once the deer know that hunters are in the area, they know how to get out of those 14 parcels of town land that have been set aside as hunting grounds. Standish and land preservation specialist Laura Klahre said they will continue to work with Suffolk County to get