Preliminary results show that hunters took 508 deer in Duluth's annual city bowhunt. That total is down slightly from 567 in 2007 and 564 in 2006.
Of those deer, 437 (86 percent) were antlerless deer and 71 were adult bucks.
Phillip Lockett, president of the Arrowhead Bowhunters Alliance, considered the hunt a success. The alliance, a nonprofit group, conducts the city's hunt.
"I think it went fantastic, aside from the horrible weather," Lockett said.
The hunt ran from Sept. 13 to Dec. 31. The weather was warm early, then rainy, windy and unseasonably cold.
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Harvest figures are from Brian Borkholder of Hermantown, who keeps statistics on the hunt for the Arrowhead Bowhunters Alliance. Lockett expects the final tally to include about 20 more deer, which hunters haven't registered with the ABA yet.
A total of 290 hunters were registered for the hunt, and 228 were successful, according to Borkholder's records.
The most productive zone in the hunt was 16B, where 37 deer were taken. That zone is bounded by Vermilion Road, Pleasant View Road, Jean Duluth Road and Amity Creek in East Duluth. In Zone 10C, 29 deer were taken. That zone is bounded by Observation Road, Arlington Road, Palm Street, Blackman Avenue, North Fifth Avenue West and West Ninth Street.
Kevin Scharnberg, a Duluth city auditor's employee and liaison with ABA, said he has received numerous calls from residents who want deer taken near their homes.
"I think people are getting used to the hunters out there," Scharnberg said. "It's not a big issue anymore."
Lockett said the ABA received many calls from homeowners who want deer in their neighborhoods thinned.
Scharnberg and Lockett both said they hope to add some new "hotspot" hunts in the 2009 hunt. A few of those were tried with success in the 2008 hunt. In those hunts, a few highly skilled archers put forth a concerted effort to take deer in small areas, often residential.
"Certainly, there are some other areas we'd like to target next year," Lockett said.
