PHOTO: ADOBE STOCK

Sharpshooters will be used, starting the week of Feb. 10, in a pilot program to further reduce the deer populations in Pittsburgh’s Frick and Riverview parks.

The marksmen will hunt overnight when the parks are closed, between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

The latest deer-culling archery program harvested 199 deer in Frick (69 deer), Emerald View (47), Schenley (47), Riverview (19), and Highland (17) parks. That four-month program with 50 bowhunters and in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture concluded on Jan. 25. No public safety incidents were reported.

While the number culled was effective in stemming population growth of the white-tail deer herds, it wasn’t enough to reduce the size of the herds, according to city officials. The city’s large deer population has caused an increase in vehicle-deer collisions, spread of lyme disease and the overeating of native plant species.

“In consultation with our partners at the USDA, we have decided to introduce a pilot targeted harvesting program in hopes of shrinking our deer population,” Lee Schmidt, the city’s director of Pittsburgh Public Safety.

USDA-contracted sharpshooters are needed only when archery programs alone can’t reduce the herds, officials said.

The marksmen are trained to hit a one-inch target at 100 yards multiple times.

All the harvested deer in this phase of the program will be donated to food pantries. Of the deer culled by the bowhunters, 92 were donated to local food banks, which provided 3,680 pounds of venison and 14,720 meals to residents.