YOUNGSTOWN — Last week had the lowest number of deer harvested by hunters in Mill Creek MetroParks since the MetroParks deer reduction plan began Oct 1.

Five deer were killed for the week that ended Saturday. All five were harvested by bow hunters.

It brings the total number of deer harvested through hunting to 91 through bow hunting and 30 more by sharpshooters employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

When Nick Derico, MetroParks natural resources manager, was asked if he knew a reason for the lower number, he said he suspected it was because of the high temperatures last week. That probably reduced “deer movement and / or hunter effort,” he said.

However, he said it is “hard to say with any level of certainty” what the reason is. He added, “We will continue to learn more as the season goes on.”

When he was asked whether deer have now been harvested from all of the various parks in the system, he said they have.

During the first several weeks of the hunts, deer were harvested from Hitchcock Woods and Huntington Woods in Boardman and the following parks in Canfield — Vickers Nature Preserve, MetroParks Farm, Collier Preserve, Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary and Sawmill Creek Sanctuary.

Derico said after last week, deer also have been harvested from Springfield Forest in Springfield Township and Hawkins Marsh in Smith Township — a total of nine parks.

The largest number of deer — 25 — has been harvested from the Huntington Woods preserve in Boardman, he said.

The deer harvested so far have been 11 antlered bucks, 69 does and 11 button bucks, meaning deer whose antlers have not yet protruded through the skin.

The hunting part of the removal plan is being done through an Ohio Department of Natural Resources lottery. That phase will continue through late November.

The deer reduction program has opposition from the Save the Deer of Mill Creek Park organization and others. Four people who live near the parks sued the MetroParks in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, asking that Magistrate Nicole Alexander find that the park district used a flawed method of counting the number of deer in its deer-reduction plan.

The suit is still pending.

Derico said all 30 deer removed during the USDA removal phase were antlerless, though he does not know yet how many button bucks were removed.

All 30 deer removed by USDA sharpshooters took place in mid-October over one night on the MetroParks Golf Course just north of U.S. Route 224 in Boardman.

Geoff Westerfield, assistant wildlife manager supervisor for the ODNR Division of Wildlife, said Monday no additional sharpshooting has taken place since then. He said the MetroParks has not requested permission to remove additional deer through sharpshooters.

“They were going to assess the area for a few weeks after getting the original 30 and see where they were sitting with allocated funds remaining before making another request,” he said. “It sounds like it will be another week or two of assessments before they make a decision.”

erunyan@vindy.com