{"id":289787,"date":"2026-09-19T18:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T18:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/289787\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T18:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T18:04:08","slug":"pittsburgh-restarts-deer-management-program-expanding-archery-hunts-into-3-new-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/289787\/","title":{"rendered":"Pittsburgh restarts Deer Management Program, expanding archery hunts into 3 new parks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph\">PITTSBURGH \u2014 The City of Pittsburgh restarted its Deer Management Program on Saturday, expanding controlled archery hunts into Sheraden Park and the Spring Hill\/Garden Greenway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph\">The program is operated in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to manage white-tailed deer overpopulation in municipal parks following three previous seasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph\">According to city officials, unmanaged deer populations have led to an increase in vehicle collisions, overeating of native plant species and a loss of natural fear toward humans. The USDA recommended an integrated management approach using controlled archery after non-lethal alternatives, such as birth control and sterilization, are not legal in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph\">Sixty-five archers from Southwestern Pennsylvania were selected for the 2026\u20132027 season following background checks, wildlife violation reviews and archery accuracy assessments. The vetted participants will operate in designated zones across participating parks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph\">Archery hunting is scheduled in two phases, running from Saturday through Dec. 13 and from Dec. 26 through Jan. 24. Hunting is excluded on all Sundays, except for approved mentor hunts in Hays Woods.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph\">In addition to the two new locations, controlled archery will continue across previously established sites, including Frick, Schenley, Highland, Riverview, Emerald View, Woods, McKinley and Southside Parks, alongside the Seldom Seen and Hazelwood Greenways. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph\">The city is also expanding its hunter mentorship initiative in coordination with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, enabling vetted archers to mentor youth and adult hunters.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph\">Notice signs have been posted at park entrances and greenways to inform visitors when hunting is underway. Park visitors are advised to remain on established trails, keep dogs on leashes and give space to authorized archers. Game violations can be reported to the Pennsylvania Game Commission at 724-238-9523.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph\">Also, contracted USDA officials are scheduled to conduct targeted deer harvesting in Woods, Seldom Seen and Highland Parks during the winter and spring of 2027.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph\">Download the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpxi.com\/mobile-apps\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FREE WPXI News app<\/a> for breaking news alerts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph\">Follow Channel 11 News on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/wpxi\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WPXI\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a>. | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpxi.com\/video\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch WPXI NOW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>TOP STORIES FROM CHANNEL 11 NEWS <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 gJuxXh body-paragraph body-copyright\">\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH \u2014 The City of Pittsburgh restarted its Deer Management Program on Saturday, expanding controlled archery hunts into&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":289788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[11280,97810,19258,4591,29157,11286,120321,25024,97813,120322,89288,15896,14274,120323,10423,12933,9649,74070,120324,5091,7700,73,75,74,120325,120326,74072,11084,19551,108675,25029,15276],"class_list":["post-289787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-animal","tag-antelope","tag-antlers","tag-brown","tag-buck","tag-cute","tag-daisy","tag-deer","tag-doe","tag-ears","tag-fawn","tag-field","tag-forest","tag-fur","tag-grass","tag-green","tag-hunting","tag-mammal","tag-mustard","tag-nature","tag-park","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-red-deer","tag-stag","tag-white-tailed","tag-whitetail","tag-wild","tag-wildflowers","tag-wildlife","tag-young"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}