Shooting fears dismissed in Highland Park deer death

A dead deer discovered in Highland Park on Tuesday caused a stir among residents who feared the antlered buck had been shot illegally near a playground in a popular park frequented by their children.

City police examined the deer and confirmed it had been struck by a vehicle, Public Safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler said.

The incident happened in the middle of archery season and the same day City Council introduced a bill that would prohibit firearms in parks. An existing city ordinance bans hunting in city parks, but a Pennsylvania Game Commission officer said hunting is permitted in some sections of the city.

“State law would allow hunting to happen anywhere in Pennsylvania regardless of any borough or city ordinance that would restrict that,” said Wildlife Conservation Officer Douglas Bergman, one of three assigned to cover Allegheny County. “That's providing the hunting happens in a lawful manner.”

Hunters must follow state game laws, have a property owner's permission and observe safety zones that prohibit archery hunting within 50 yards of an occupied structure and firearms hunting within 150 yards of an occupied structure, he said.

They are permitted to hunt with bow and arrow, a shot gun loaded with a shell containing a slug or ball, or a muzzle loader.

It includes city greenways, mainly large tracts of hillsides across the city, Bergman said.

“Hazelwood Greenway gets hunted pretty often,” he said. “There's also a lot of hunting that happens up around Highland Park and a lot more that happens over by the (former) VA Hospital.”

Pittsburgh has an agreement with the Game Commission to permit archery hunting of deer and turkeys in a 660-acre parcel in Hays that the city bought from a developer in 2016 and intends to use as a park.

Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312, bbauder@tribweb.com or @bobbauder.