This is why it is so difficult to find permission to hunt on private land in my area.



Couple to hunter: 'Leave without your dead deer'

By Noelle Frampton
STAFF WRITER NEWS-TIMES


REDDING -- There is a dead deer lying about 40 yards beyond Lynn Gorfinkle's back deck.

It has been there, with a fatal arrow wound in its side, since Oct. 2. And it will remain there indefinitely, she said.

The carcass of the young spike buck could have gone home with the hunter, who shot it on nearby property and tracked it to the Gorfinkles' 3.5 acres on Fire Hill Road, but Mike and Lynn Gorfinkle were having none of that.

"If someone's going to eat that deer, I want it to be natural predators," she said. "Not some hunter."

The hunter knocked on the door and asked permission to remove the deer from the property, where it had finally collapsed, she said.

"My husband told him to just go away, he couldn't have the deer," she said. "We don't think he should benefit from his lack of judgment ... shooting that close to a suburban back yard. I will never go out there so casually again. It impairs the enjoyment of your own property when you feel you have to look over your shoulder or wear fluorescent orange or something. We wouldn't even have known he was hunting back there unless he'd come to the door."

The Gorfinkles believe the whitetailed deer came from a 270-acre tract of land off the Simpaug Turnpike, where they've heard shooting before. They have denied other hunters access to that property via their driveway -- they don't like the idea of hunters in proximity.

They expressed concerns about hunting to the town's first selectman ,and are looking into whether the property is, as they've been told, state-owned and whether hunting is allowed there.



A former Fairfield resident, Lynn Gorfinkle has been a regular attendee at meetings of Fairfield's Deer Management Committee. She and others have been critical of the group's study of how to control the town's deer population, which they feel is biased against in favor of hunting.

The Fairfield report is scheduled to be released and voted on by the committee by the end of the month.

As a crow flies, the Gorfinkles now live slightly more than a mile from the 460-acre Bennett's Pond State Park, where fall archery hunting is allowed by the state Department of Environmental Protection for those with valid licenses and permits.

The state's archery season runs from Sept. 15 through Jan. 31 on most lands where hunting is permitted. On certain private properties, it is allowed year-round. Unlike firearm hunters, bow hunters aren't required to stay a specific distance away from dwellings because arrows don't travel as far as bullets.

Firearm hunting accidents involving human injuries are rare and bow-hunting accidents even rarer, said Dennis Schain, DEP spokesman. "I've been here four years and have never heard of such a thing," he said.

According to the DEP, a total of 1,747 deer kills had been reported as of Thursday by archery hunters in the state, 1,433 of them on private land and 314 on state land.

Gorfinkle, the CEO of Animal Rights Alliance in Redding, said she snapped photographs of the deer where it fell as it died, then flipped it over and took more to document the cause of death: a lethal lung puncture.

"It was a crime scene, in my opinion, the minute that it was shot," she said.

The interaction between the Gorfinkles and the hunter is just one of many recent collisions between the interests of hunting-proponents and animal-rights activists in Fairfield County.

Many area communities, and the DEP, have been promoting hunting in recent years as a way to control a burgeoning deer population.

The license and permit fees paid by hunters -- $28 per firearm hunting permit and $60 per archery permit -- plus an excise tax on hunting equipment, fund the research, management and habitat improvement projects that the DEP largely credits for the recoveries of many animal species.

Nearly five years ago, Greenwich hired sharpshooters to cull its deer herds, and last month, Stamford's Bartlett Arboretum & Gardens announced that it would hold a controlled hunt to reduce the deer population after native shrubbery and other plants were decimated by deer for years, which also caused a decline in bird species.

Early this year, Stamford ended a deer hunt on city property a day early because of complaints, and even death threats, from animal-rights activists, a city official said.

The DEP reports that the state's deer population has been rising for the past 50 years, and Fairfield County boasts the highest deer-density in the state at an average estimated 62 deer per square mile, with pockets of up to 100. This overabundance leads to more Lyme Disease, collisions with motor vehicles and overbrowsing of native plants, according to the Fairfield County Municipal Deer Management Alliance, a consortium of 18 towns and cities.

Howard Kilpatrick, a wildlife biologist who studies deer populations for the DEP, told the Stamford Advocate last month that deer numbers in Fairfield County have grown unchecked because most the land is closed to hunting, but more and more residents are allowing hunters on private land.

Not the Gorfinkles.

Lynn Gorfinkle and other animal-rights activists argue that killing deer is not the answer, and municipalities should instead allow nature to take its course to control deer. Hunting shows a lack of respect for conscious life, they say, arguing it won't end Lyme Disease or motor vehicle collisions, but instead actually prompt more breeding and faster-growing deer populations.

She had a message for this month's hapless hunter and any others who may shoot a deer that runs onto her property: They won't be retrieving their game there, ever. "So it's in his best interest to keep his shots away from my land."

Landowners have the right to refuse access to pick up game, Schain said, "but in doing so that is now that landowner's responsibility to take care of that deer. If they want to have it removed they have to do it at their own expense."

Gorfinkle told her story about the deer that died on her land to people at Monday night's meeting of the Fairfield Deer Management Committee.

Fairfield resident Nancy Rice, outreach coordinator of the non-profit Friends of Animals, listened sympathetically.

Rice wondered, what will Gorfinkle do with the deer?

Gorfinkle said she is uncertain. She may just wait for other animals to feast on the carcass, or she may cover it with dirt. Underground burial, she said, is out of the question because the animal would require too large a hole.


Redding , CT is in my service area , only two towns away.

I will be making note of this woman's name , address and phone number. The deer has been sitting since Oct 2nd. Currently the temps here have been a little cooler and it might be a few more days before the carcass starts to get ripe. I figure with the warmer weather we will be getting next week it will be just about the right temp and time for this deer to really start to stink. I hope the prevailing winds blow the odor right to her house.

I am waiting for the phone call ........."Help , it stinks like heck" " Do you remove dead deer ? "

Oh yeah , I will have a VERY special price waiting for this woman too ...... WOW

Be sure to go in the house to collect the fee with your boots doused with special "essence."

I am glad we (Iowans) have the right to go "unarmed" onto private property to track and retrieve legally havested animals and birds.

wow... what a story

gopherkiller, that's a real interesting law! Makes me wonder if we can do that.

check it out and let us know. It has been that way as long as i can remember here. It came into play alot pheasant hunting, the bird drops on the neighbor so we leave the shotgun on our side and go get the bird-legal. Also comes into play alot like in this situation, bowhunting. leave the bow behind and track the deer and retrieve. We also have a fairly new law that makes it illegal to interfere with a hunt or trapping activities.

If I knocked on the door and that face answered.... I'd probably still be running.

If i saw here wondering aimlessly outside of her house I would assume Ron had been there and bat proofed the place....

Some info and facts about my area.

I know a lot of people are reading this news article and are completely baffled about the reactions of this woman's actions.

Let me digress.

Connecticut is a very expensive state to call home. We hold the title of the most expensive state in the country. We have held this title for many years. A lot of wealthy people live here as well as some famous people / movie stars. Redding , CT is located in Fairfield county. Fairfield county is the most expensive county in the state. The most expensive county in the most expensive state.

This woman's property ( by internet search ) is worth approx. $363,500 . Property taxes are $6,900 This is for a 1300SF , circa 1977 construction on 3.5 acres.

These figures take into account of our recent economic downturn . Property values for this property were listed at a value of $558,000 a few years ago.


Quite frankly , given the area she lives in , this is a small home that is priced at almost the bottom of the market. You will not find anything cheaper than that property in that town . Most of the homes for sale average $750,000 and up. Mostly UP !!! I would bet for her town 50% of the homes are worth in excess of 1 million.

Property here is quite fragmented in to much smaller parcels due to it's cost. There are very few large properties here. Most homes only come with an acre or less. A 'BIG' lot is one that is between one and five acres. Lots in excess of ten acres are extremely rare . Lots of over 100 acres in private hands are almost all gone.


Now keeping that all in mind , here is where the deer come into the picture.

Hunting in close quarters to residences is quite restricted due to safety reasons. Our hunting laws with firearms are severely curtailed to areas that are far away from residences. Given the cost of land here , large tracts of land are far and few. We have a lot of hunters that HAVE TO use arrows to take down game as they would never be allowed to discharge a firearm on the property that is being utilized for hunting.

Hence , we do not have many hunters due to lack of access or desire to bow hunt instead of firearms.

Do this for 30+ years with lack of hunting and you end up with PILES of deer. We have deer everywhere. There is no shortage. Deer/vehicle accidents are common here. Ever heard of Lyme Disease ? It was first found in Lyme , Connecticut. Our little gift to the world with a deer population out of control.

With no hunting pressure and lots of properties fracturing up the woods into nice edges that have extensive landscaping and plantings , This area has become a ' Deer Nirvana ' .It is not too difficult to be able to get within 10 feet of deer here as they do not fear humans too much. They frequent our yards at night eating all those fancy shrubs people paid big bucks to have a landscaper install. Companies that spray deer repellent or pesticides for ticks do a brisk business here. Paid , hired sharpshooters are becoming more popular here to cull the deer herd. They have had several hunts in the towns around my location. Wearing camo here is slightly frowned upon out in public. Some people will give you a glance and you can tell from the looks on their face they don't like hunting.

A lot of the people her who can afford to own these nice expensive homes commute to NYC for work. They kind of bring their view of the world and nature from the perspective of a NYC city dweller who lives in the concrete jungle and has very little contact with ' The Environment ' .

Over browsing here is common. I visited the Audubon center in Greenwich , CT last year. They had a controlled deer hunt in progress and signs posted everywhere. The deer were over browsing their ' bird sanctuary ' to the point where it was destroying habitat for the birds. Two points for the Audubon society to come to rational decision regarding proper deer management.

Connecticut has a large out of control deer herd. Just last year the state was changed the hunting laws to allow baiting for deer hunters in just two counties , one of them being Fairfield county. Baiting for deer may be a bit un-sportsmanlike , but it is a message from the state to hunters to get out there and fill your tags to cull the herd. Poaching here , Well , Lets just say it happens. With lack of available land or permission to hunt that land is hard to obtain. Poaching here is primarily trespassing. Our game officers are spread a bit thin because of so many ' other ' environmental needs like oil/chemical spills , water usage and wetlands , protecting salamanders or other things. Quite frankly , I think the state takes a bit of a blind eye to ' trespass' type of poaching unless they are called out to a specific address. It is a bit hard to enforce trespassers with a limited pool of conservation officers who have other duties. Plus , they need deer removed and they know it.

Baiting for deer may be a bit un-sportsmanlike

I think it is a control measure, a form of hunting, or whatever but cripes any-thing but "un-sportsmanlike". We cant bait in Iowa for deer but nothing says that you cant plant food plots for the deer and hunt them, whats the difference?????

Point here is please watch the wording you choose to publish to the public. The antis are wacthing, cut and pasting, and you may very well have to answer the questiion one day, Cragar, you are trying to get this bill passed to save baiting traps for raccoon and in this post by you, you stated that baiting is unsportsman like... you see it all the time...

sorry to rant but that word just jumped out at me.

Maybe a bit un-sportsman like , maybe not.

What it is a overall failure of restrictions on hunting. In this state if you are willing to hunt all seasons and methods of hunting you are allowed to take quite a few deer.

IE : firearm ( shotgun) , firearm ( center-fire ) , firearm ( muzzle-loader )Bowhunting , private land , public land , public land -lottery , replacement doe tags , and all the combinations above , A hunter may take about 12 deer per person.

That is a lot for one person. Problem is nobody will let you hunt their property or it is too small.

The only control method then is to try to over harvest deer in areas still open to hunting to drop the population and prevent over browsing.

Connecticut is also one of the few states that ban all Sunday hunting. ( old blue law ) For those that only have the weekend to hunt due to work/family conflicts this effectively cuts the hunting season in half. We have been working hard to repeal this arcane law and the state is on our side , just got to convince the voters.

The state set new provisions in the laws to make better use of a small population of hunters with less time to hunt. In these same two counties that allow deer baiting you are also allowed to harvest more animals plus the season extends an extra month in those two counties.

I view this as more of a removal of restrictions to make hunters more effective than trying to make it un-sportsman like.

That was a real interesting piece on Connecticut, Craig. We live and work in a similar setting here in Mequon. I think the city fathers may have learned a thing or two from your area.
We still have farms and the zoning regulations tend to favor larger parcels. (5 to 10 acres) We have been a city for 50 years and I'm proud to say, we still have gun hunting. Some of the regulations have actually been relaxed. I just can't shoot out of my bedroom window anymore, like I did when I was a kid.

Some other thoughts ,

Due to the type of people who live here with large incomes to afford property we have fewer people who hunt in Connecticut. A lot of these higher wage earners are doctors , lawyers , wall streeters , CEO's and the like. People in these categories tend to have less hunters in their midst than the working class wage earner. If these types of people do like to hunt and some of them do , They are more apt to jump on a plane to a remote Canadian province for that world record trophy animal.




Neat story , I know the people who hold the record for the #1 record buck taken by bow hunting and the #6-7 ? record buck taken by bow hunting in the state. This is a father and son several years apart on the same property.

This was real easy to take both of these record bucks.

They live on an old estate 2 towns away. This estate is a beautiful piece of land bordering a small lake. The estate is 88 acres , a HUGE piece of land for this area. They live on the property as caretakers in a small cottage near the main house.

This is the only property of this size for miles. It has a flourishing game population. It is closed to outsiders.

All year as they work the grounds they get to see all the deer on the property and will almost be able to name each one as they see them everyday.

Come hunting season , they know exactly which one is the one they want to harvest and exactly where he will be at any point of the day.

Nice to have your own private hunting preserve , I would keep everybody out too.

Had that happen few yrs ago.shot a buck thru the lungs ,good shot,but ran alitle farther then i thought it would,well it fell and died in a ajacent pasture,land owner would not let us remove it.he saw us following the trail scross the field and met us by by the deer, so i contacted a conservation officer"game warden"he met us out there,told the landower that he was ceasing the animal,than he turned it over to me!!!!

fair is fair

If I were as ugly as that woman I'd probably bond with animals too! When your own kind rejects you, what can a person do?