Hunters could have two more weeks to hunt for deer in Polk County next year. County commissioners have recommended extending the deer season until Dec. 24.
The Polk County Board of Commissioners met Monday, Oct. 3 and approved a resolution asking the state to change Polk’s hunting season classification from conservative to moderate.
The change would make Polk’s gun season the same as that in Rutherford and Cleveland counties, which means gun season would end Dec. 24 instead of Dec. 10.
The change would have to be approved by the North Carolina Wildlife Commission and could not be official until next year’s hunting season.
Polk County Commissioner Ted Owens recommended the change, saying Polk County has “plenty of deer.”
Owens said in Polk County, you’re lucky if you don’t get hit by a deer, and as he understands it there are approximately 15,000 accidents annually in North Carolina as a result of deer collisions.
Polk is currently in the same classification for deer hunting season as Mitchell, Avery, Caldwell, McDowell and Burke counties, which Owens said he doesn’t understand when he looks at the map (see box right).  He said it would make more sense to be like neighboring Rutherford or Henderson county. Rutherford and Cleveland are classified as moderate season, while Henderson, Transylvania, Buncombe, Haywood and Madison counties are classified as introductory season, with a small portion on the Buncombe/Henderson border in the maximum season.
The county’s meeting room was packed with local hunters, and a few of them made comments.
Former Wildlife Resource Officer John Blanton said Polk County had 905 deer checked in by hunters last year and that number does not include deer taken by motor vehicles or deprivation permits.
Rickie McFalls said he’d like the county to sign off and let people have longer to hunt, “because my insurance is going to keep going up if my wife keeps hitting deer.”
Rob McComas said many Polk residents refer to deer as a nuisance because they eat shrubs and flowers. He also mentioned  disease caused by overpopulation. He said Polk County is known as the place to hunt by hunters in other parts of the state and those hunters stay in hotels, eat in restaurants and get gasoline here.
“The only risk is a decrease in the deer population and I think that is highly unlikely,” McComas said. “Most deer hunters want to see deer, so they are not going to go out and try to deplete the population.”
The western deer season, including all classifications, allows archery hunting beginning Sept. 12, 2011 to Oct. 1 and Oct. 17 – Nov. 19. Muzzleloader season is Oct. 3 – 15 and gun season runs Nov. 21 – Dec. 10.
If Polk County changes to a moderate season like Rutherford and Cleveland counties, either sex of deer can be taken from Nov. 21 – 26 and from Dec. 19 – 24. Currently, hunters in Polk County can only kill either sex from Dec. 5 – 10. Bucks can be killed by hunters during the entire season. Bow hunters can kill either sex during archery season, but must abide by gun hunter rules during gun hunting season.
Commissioners approved the resolution unanimously and said they would send the recommendation to the N.C. Wildlife Resource Commission as well as Rep. David Guice and Sen. Tom Apodaca.
The county also briefly discussed a new law concerning hunting only with written permission on private land. State law now requires hunters receive written permission from private land-owners to hunt on their land if the property is posted or boundaries marked with purple paint.