Should Columbus cull the city’s deer population? City surveying residents about the animals

Columbus wants to hear from its residents about their white-tailed neighbors.

The city wants to know what residents have observed about the local deer population and whether the city should take steps to reduce it. People can weigh in by taking a new online survey at columbus.gov/deersurvey. The anonymous survey takes less than ten minutes to complete.

The Columbus City Council and the city Department of Neighborhoods are partnering on the project to study the city’s white-tailed deer population. Councilmember Nancy Day-Achauer announced the survey at the June 9 council meeting.

More local deer news: Worthington family dog attacked by deer as city updates control efforts

The survey asks residents if they’ve noticed property damage or aggression from deer. The survey also asks residents if they would support certain lethal and non-lethal methods to manage the deer population.

The lethal options being considered are either to hire professional sharpshooters to reduce the deer population or permit hunters who can pass an archery skill test to bowhunt deer.

The non-lethal methods mentioned are:

• Institute a city ban on feeding deer. If the city makes it illegal to feed deer, violators would first receive a warning letter and if it continues, civil penalties could follow, according to the survey.

• Birth control could be injected into the deer, but it would be costly. It averages about $5,000 per deer annually to inject birth control vaccines into a deer, according to the survey.

• Sterilization surgery on female deer to prevent them from having any fawns in the future would cost around $1,200 per deer, according to the survey.

• Relocating deer to another place, which is currently banned in Ohio because most deer do not survive relocation and this method can spread disease. The survey mentions this method, but doesn’t ask if residents would support it.

Columbus is not the only central Ohio city thinking about whether to cull deer. Worthington is working with a city Deer Task Force to institute a deer sharpshooting program in early 2026, The Dispatch has previously reported.

Government and Politics Reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@dispatch.com. Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus surveying residents on deer, whether city should cull…