If you trap deer, don’t do it near a Lakeway (suburban Austin) soccer mom with a cell phone. According to KXAN . . .

The city of Lakeway has been trapping deer to help control the population for nearly 20 years. However, the mom’s video is going viral that has some residents asking the city to stop.

A Lakeway homeowner shot the video when she realized deer were being trapped just feet from her back yard.

“My daughter ran in and she said, ‘Mommy, Mommy, come quick! They’re hurting the deer!’” said Ashlea Beck. “I got to my back door, and I looked over and I noticed that the net was down on the ground, and there were little bundles moving around.”

Beck says when she ran over to the net, she saw men trying to untangle several deer caught inside, so she began recording.

The screaming of the deer? How about the gentle silence of the venison loins in my freezer?

“You could hear the screaming of the deer, and, I mean, it was very evident that they were hurt by the sounds that they were making,” Beck said. “As soon as I put the phone down is when I actually got close enough to the deer, to their faces, and I saw one of them had blood filling up in its mouth. Another one had blood coming down from its eye.”

Lakeway city manager Steve Jones says trapping the deer isn’t as inhumane as Beck’s video would make it seem. He says the deer are in shock when they’re netted.

Unless you see it for yourself, you really can’t understand the overwhelming abundance of deer in the Lakeway area.

Jones says the city uses a special permit from the state to cut down on the deer population. According to Jones, trappers used to relocate the animals to ranches and even Mexico. However, as the deer population has swelled in Texas, Jones says there’s nowhere to take them anymore, and the city has no choice but to send them to a slaughter house, then give their meat to local charities.

Typical. People want to buy their dead, cut up animals in the grocery store, but don’t want to know how it got there.

“It’s not one of those things that you want to know that that’s going on in your neighborhood, much less your backyard”, Beck said.

The mother of three says she and her neighbors weren’t aware the deer were being taken to be slaughtered, rather than being caught and released.

“When I talked to the city manager, she said, “I asked him how many of them are relocated, and he said, ‘None, they’re all sent to be processed.’ And so that was when I just felt sick, because I did not realize that until that moment.”

Go ahead and get rid of the deer, just don’t do it in front of my children or me. Seriously?

Beck says she questions whether trapping and killing the deer is necessary, however she asks that if it is, that it be done away from neighborhoods.

“If it does have to go on, we ask that it be done away from families, away from homes,” she said. “I think most of us here try to reach our kids to be respectful of wildlife and animals, and for them to see that, and then for them to see that it’s no big deal, this is what we do, that’s confusing for kids.”

Jones told KXAN he wishes trapping and processing the deer wasn’t necessary. However, he says it’s imperative to keep the deer population down. During the last deer season (October 2016-March 2017), the city says there were 90 vehicle crashes involving deer–the most ever in the city of Lakeway. Prior years hovered around 30-50 crashes involving deer, respectively.

Texas Parks and Wildlife issues the trapping permits and allows municipalities to trap October through March. However, Jones says Lakeway usually only traps deer once a week January through March.

Over the past 10 years, Jones says on average, Lakeway traps about 115 deer a year. He says even though this season, the city had a permit to trap 250, the city only netted and put down 99. Jones says Lakeway’s trapping efforts just wrapped up for the year.

Deer should be treated kindly. In preparation for deer season of course.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

73 COMMENTS

    • When God made women he forgot the brain! She says it’s not good for her children to see, WRONG!!!!, it is better to teach the REALITY at a young age so they aren’t a stupid sniveling bimbo like mom when they grow up!

    • Well then, they should sponsor deer hunts like they sponsor hog hunts for the same reason. Seems like a good idea to me.

  2. Ok so instead she wants what, suppressed weapons used for kulling the herd in the city parks?

    • Open those park areas to archers (sorry, no guns – too close to residential area) and the problem would be solved in a few seasons. Just don’t talk about it too much and most of the soccer mom’s will never know about it.
      🤠

      • Thats what we did here. You can only use a Compound Bow. You have to pass a proficiency test (3 arrows in a 6 inch circle at 30 yards) and a attend a meeting (Basically communicate that we have to be respectful of the people using the park). In return were able to bow hunt the parks (which are loaded with deer). Usually you are out of there before the park users are even there in the morning. In addition we use back trails through the woods. The park goers are clueless that we are even around. Hunters are happy because we are successful, the tree lovers are happy because there trees and plants don’t get eaten. White Tails not so happy.

        • “(Basically communicate that we have to be respectful of the people using the park)” . . . plus a tighter grouping: 3 arrows in a 3″ circle at 35 yds.

          ; P

          jk

  3. “The screaming of the deer? How about the gentle silence of the venison loins in my freezer?”

    How about the gentle silence of the lambchops in my freezer?

    That woman was no Clarice Starling…

  4. Problem is the place deer eat is peoples back yards. Its a big problem where I live. There are many area’s deep in the woods that we are allowed to hunt, but deer are creatures of the edge, They browse open area’s to eat and bed in the woods close to those area’s. Us hunters just push there bedding area’s even closer to neighborhoods – deer are smart about staying in safe places. I have become a bow hunter for this reason. Everywhere we are allowed to use a gun is so far from where the deer eat you don’t see a single one. Then you drive home and see 20 of them eating in peoples back yards.
    I do favor hunting as opposed to trapping them though. If the deer a such a big problem in a area its usually because you haven’t given hunters ample time and opportunity to trim the herd.

        • With a bag of apples and a hunting knife.

          jk

          Problem could be solved by a liberal application of doe pee on all of the houses of the complainers, during the rut.

    • As you’ve said, the problem is one of “where” the deer want to be. if you provide a “safe space” near residential areas, then that’s where they’re going to be. Animals must be taught to stay away from those areas. By trapping the ones that enter these neighborhoods, they are leaving the populations that are less likely to enter neighborhoods. Therefore, the remaining deer are less likely to be involved in motor vehicle accidents. You know, the intended effect.

      • Now, that’s just silly. Even if all the deer IN the suburbs are removed, the pressure of the overpopulation of the deer as a whole is not addressed. Those outside the city will simply move in. The total size of the deer population has to be decreased, regularly and in a rational manner. The rational way to do that is to remove the barriers to those who want to hunt and harvest the excess.

        It’s like the feral cat problem the little nearby city had. It was “illegal” to shoot the things, and trapping proved to be both expensive and futile. Then people started shooting them and the problem went away for the most part. The people doing the shooting were VERY careful about it, since it was still “illegal” to shoot… but nobody much minded in the long run. Problem solved.

        Might not work in places with the average human population dumbed down and unarmed, of course… but I would think that wouldn’t be a problem in Texas, of all places. But maybe so… Sad.

        • Feral cats are a menace to wildlife and on my small acreage I perform population control whenever I see one! Too bad we can’t do the same to leftists!

        • @Rattlerjake
          “Feral cats are a menace to wildlife and on my small acreage I perform population control whenever I see one! Too bad we can’t do the same to leftists!”

          I have a small acreage, which used to have cats around, they have since disappeared(due to coyote invasion I suppose), now the ground squirrels(these thirteen line bastards can cause havoc), and rats and mice invade. Followed by badgers who dig many massive holes after them in short order, plus the added increase of food for the coyotes(who came in and removed my best friend(my min pin) from my life). If cats aren’t hurting you personally I suggest reconsidering your thoughts regarding these helpful creatures. That said, while I had cats, I put food out, and had females, which draws conflict. I certainly hope my cats did not disappear due to someone like you who feels they are pests. Cats can be great pets and nice friends on a farm. You do not actually have to shoot “EVERYTHING THAT MOVES” just because you live in a rural area.
          Also I notice you do not have replies turned on, don’t be a coward.

      • “Backyards near houses” seem to equate to “deer school zones”. They are where the deer hang out and have learned they “should” not be shot at….

  5. “Go ahead and get rid of the deer, just don’t do it in front of my children or me. Seriously?”
    Robert, i am really starting to question your reading comprehension or mental capacity. why would you make the above statement when she CLEARLY said she thought they were being RELEASED not slaughtered.

    its sad how you are EXACTLY what you preach against in the Lefties. its obvious now why you don’t have a job as an ACTUAL journalist. you are just as biased as the news websites and reporters you condemn for being biased.

    YOU ARE EXACTLY LIKE THEM. if you didn’t have double standards YOU WOULD HAVE NONE.

    • It’s your reading comprehension skills that need sharpening. That line “Go ahead and get rid of the deer, just don’t do it in front of my children or me. Seriously?”, I interpreted as a section heading for the material immediately following.

      In the next two paragraphs, pearl clutcher Beck questions whether the deer must be trapped and KILLED, but concedes that if it must be done, do the trapping elsewhere.

      Soooo……what exactly is wrong here?

      Best argument you can make is that the section header wasn’t that at all, but rather an editorial inference, which should have come after the paragraphs when vapors-getting Beck asks that the trapping and KILLING be done elsewhere.

      That still doesn’t warrant your insulting tirade, though.

    • 1) Wait until the ticks in the area get so bad you cannot go outside, a dear attacks her daughter (this happens in areas even where they’re not overpopulated) or her precious garden is decimated overnight. Then she will complain that local authorities are not doing enough to protect them. I have seen this attitude with our local feral cat problem.
      2) I have witnessed the same mentally she has with our feral cats. They feed the cats then complain that the quail that used to visit/live in the area have disappeared, that their gardens smell of cat feces, some monster tom cat chases their kids or in my case tore up one of my dogs (he was big weighed 30lbs, not saying how I know this, but a pellet rifle can be really quiet).
      When the city asked the neighborhood to set out live traps, (city supplied, would supply bait and pick up trapped animals within 1 hour when called) the 1st question asked was what would be done with the trapped cats. When the answer was adults would be tested for rabies and put down and kittens would be quarantined, then possible adoption, most of my neighbors refused. Even with the previously mentioned issues. Oh, the problem with the feral cats has been decreasing, but now they complaining about the coyotes that roam our streets at night and early morning. They do not seem to understand the connection.
      On that score, what large predators do you have in Texas, that might be visiting that neighborhood next?

  6. “Beck says she questions whether trapping and killing the deer is necessary, however she asks that if it is, that it be done away from neighborhoods.”

    Yep, because the city can just tell the deer to leave the neighborhoods and go to some place else to be trapped.

  7. So, how much is it for a hunting “license,” tags, etc.? Why not just open a free deer hunting season occasionally? Free season on does even once a year would solve the problem soon.

    I remember when the deer got so numerous in Grand Island, NY – where my son-in-law and family lived. He’d have been overjoyed to help out and fill his freezer, but oh no… the city brought in “professionals.” They killed a few dozen bucks, which did absolutely nothing for the overpopulation.

    • Because hunters running around shooting at deer in a suburb is probably no the best idea in the world.

      • The deer don’t congregate just in the urban setting. An open season in the usual hunting areas would certainly be of more help than a few critters taken out by the “professionals” anywhere.

        But, whatever happened before all the benevolent hunting “laws” and fees? Did the colonial folks go around murdering their neighbors all the time harvesting deer in the city?

        Of course not. Non-voluntary government and ever more “laws” do not create a safe, peaceful or prosperous society. In fact, it creates just such insanity as this.

        • That is a good idea. Deer drive is probably the most effective way to hunt deer. Even more so with humans. They could probably sweep them away from the houses and into the woods where the shooters are lying in wait.

        • Ha. The adults made us kids be the dogs until we got big enough to actually hunt or sit still in a stand. Its a wonder none of us got shot but different times and such. Was still pretty fun though.

    • Lakeway is completely overrun with deer and has been for years — precisely because they won’t do what biology requires to control the deer population.

      While I conceptually like Mama’s solution, the problem is that Lakeway is pretty-densely populated (think: surburbia), and they have a “no shooting within city limits” ordinance. (They also have an ordinance prohibiting businesses that sell firearms within the city limits. Go figure.)

      So, you’d be down to bow / crossbow hunting — in an area where even if you could position yourself to take a safe shot, it is highly likely that the deer won’t stay on your 1/4 – 1/2 acre suburban lot after being shot with a broadhead. And if you think the soccer moms are in a tizzy over deer being netted, can you imagine their screams if they see Bambi’s mom bleeding out in their backyard (or their neighbor field dressing a freshly-killed deer in theirs)?

      Of course, there have also been recent reports that mountain lions have returned to the area, so maybe they’ll start checking the whitetail population. Hopefully they won’t discover that soccer moms can’t run as fast as a whitetail . . . .

      • Let em overpopulate all they want. Lets see what the libs think about the deer dying in their yards from starvation and disease which is natures way of controlling populations. It’s a cruel way but maybe the Bambi lovers would learn something when they got tired of dead deer in their pools.

  8. I’ve seen written hundreds of times on TTAG that wildlife needs to be dispatched “ethically and humanely”.

    That net thing is not humane. Choot ’em.

  9. “Beck says she questions whether trapping and killing the deer is necessary, however she asks that if it is, that it be done away from neighborhoods.”

    Translation: I know nothing about the facts of the situation, but I’m going to insist you stop doing it anyway.

  11. I guess public safety and feeding the poor are less important than upper class nimbyists having to witness something unpleasant.
    Got it.

  12. most of us try to teach our kids to be respectful of wildlife and animals, and for them to see that and then for them see that it’s no big deal, well, this, this is what we do, that’s confusing to kids.

    Then explain it to them.

  16. What would happen if a common person did this I think that they would be charged for a crime. Where I’m from the wildlife conservation gave us 150 extra tags

  19. I wanted to buy a house in Lakeway last year, but the worst shack on the market was priced at $1,600,000 (although that was with the runway access). Later, I heard that the mayor of that place is at war with own citizens, a typical liberal utopia. I don’t know how RF managed to settle south of the river.

  20. Oh a net, can’t do that. Old coil bed springs and a sack of apples. If anyone has any deer trap designs contact me http,#Idont/giverafuk/DeerarethickerthenRabbits/poach.com

  21. I almost died laughing listening to her come to the realization of where the meat in the grocery store comes from.

    Hysterical!

  23. The mother is really dumb. She lives near high tension lines that create cancer in her and her children. She worried about the dear ?

  24. Well if you wanna teach the kids them explain why they are being removed damage to people’s crops. Or better yet too many deer in an area they will run out of food ,and there will be mangy deer sick and dead all over all your yard. Then you can complain about that.

    • Exactly right. This would be the correct thing to tell the child. Sorry, but this is the way our loving God handled things with the deer.

  25. Perhaps mommy would like to have some of the trapped deer relocated to her back yard? Maybe her neighbors would like to do the same? Then she can feed and care for it…and protect it from the evil man who wants to eat it.
    STUPID LIBERALS. No idea where food (meat at least) comes from. It looks soooo much nicer in the little plastic package at the grocery store…

  26. the immature and frantic wailing in the audio is clearly coming from the mom and not the daughter, and tells me all I need to know about her default emotional response. They should have arrested her for stepping on the netting to get that video and interfering with city workers. Once you go full emotional to that degree, all logic flies out the window. The restraint of the men rounding up the deer by ignoring her completely was a feat to behold.

  27. You can trap all you want just not where we can see it. We like to live in the illusion everything in the universe being A.O.K.

    And you wonder why liberals are so delusional?

  28. “I think most of us here try to reach our kids to be respectful of wildlife and animals, and for them to see that, and then for them to see that it’s no big deal, this is what we do, that’s confusing for kids…”

    If your kids are confused because of a dissonance between what you’re teaching them and real life, maybe you should re-evaluate what you’re teaching them.

    • I would use a bow and arrow. With special pemission from conservation officers and owner.of the property.

  30. Austin newbies=anti everything libtards from kommifornia bringing their fail to a good state!

    Time to build the wall around failofornia

  31. If u libtards would hunt and keep the population in ck this wouldn’t be necessary but, u think tasty animals put here for our use are gods.

  32. MANY OF THE RECENTLY-KILLED DEER USED TO SLEEP ON MY LAND. BUT NOW ONLY ONE DEER REMAINS. IT IS YOUNG. IT LOOKS DISORIENTED AND LOST. IT WILL PROBABLY DIE. AND DO NOT WORRY BECAUSE IT CANNOT REPRODUCE ON ITS OWN. YOU HAVE DECIMATED THE ENTIRE DEER POPULATION IN LAKEWAY, EXCEPT FOR THIS LONE DEER. IF YOU WANT TO KILL THIS LAST ONE, DO IT. AND THEN GO TO CHURCH. GOD LOVES YOU. YOU HYPOCRITES.

  33. Some of these idiots, who haven’t a clue what compassion or respect mean, think that killing is the only answer! They get their kicks by taking out animals, evidence of their need to show their prowess and to stroke their fragile egos! When Lakeway’s City Mgr. claims that “Bait, Trap, and Kill” is not cruel because the deer suffer from Capture Myopathy, this a perfect example of the ignorance out there! The animals go into shock and suffer greatly for many hours before they are shot by the processor! By the way, there is serious concern about the tainted meat given to the needy!

Comments are closed.