YOUNGSTOWN — Sharpshooters with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday removed 40 deer from Mill Creek Park from Shields Road to U.S. Route 224 in Boardman.

Meanwhile, 10 more were killed by hunters in various parks in the first week of hunting in the MetroParks.

The deer removed by sharpshooters is about half of the number allowed under the permit approved by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife when it authorized the removal of 75 deer recently. They can be removed through March 31.

The hunting portion of the deer removal program began Sept. 29, the first day of the deer archery season in Ohio.

According to a harvest report from ODNR, hunters killed two deer Sept. 30, and there were a couple more each day through Oct. 5. The time of the deer kills were from 7:30 a.m. through 7 p.m., according to the report. All were female deer, and all were killed with either a crossbow or longbow.

Nick Derico, Mill Creek MetroParks natural resources manager, provided the number of deer taken by sharpshooters and the ODNR report. He said there had been no “issues” associated with the start of hunting in the MetroParks.

He said the following parks are open to archery hunting: Hitchcock Woods, Huntington Woods, Collier Preserve, Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary, Springfield Forest, Hawkins Marsh, Vickers Nature Preserve, Sawmill Creek Preserve and the MetroParks Farm.

Beth Shutrump, a deer supporter who spoke at a Mahoning County commissioners meeting a year ago regarding the deer reduction issue and also addressed the Boardman trustees several weeks before that, said she and others protested the deer removals that took place Monday night in Mill Creek Park.

Shutrump of Boardman, said she and others around 5:30 p.m. Monday went to the trailhead of the East Golf Hike & Bike Trail near Route 224 after hearing that the deer reductions in the park were going to happen that night.

She said she spoke with MetroParks police Chief Randy Campana there, and he ordered her and the woman with her to leave. Shutrump said she resisted. Barricades were in place to prevent the public from entering the park.

She and the other woman were escorted out of the park by about 7:30 or 8 p.m., Shutrump said. They and about eight other people walked back to Route 224 at the entrance to the park and demonstrated with signs starting at about 9 p.m., she said.

There were 204 deer removed from the MetroParks during the first year of its removal program, from Oct. 1, 2023, through the end of January. The controversial program led to a lawsuit and a request to the Mahoning County Probate Court to remove MetroParks board members.

Judge Anthony Donofrio of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ruled against the lawsuit, and a visiting judge is expected to rule on the parks commissioner issue in the coming weeks.

An appeal of Donofrio’s ruling will be heard today in the 7th District Court of Appeals.