Deer hunt begins Thursday at RMA

GAINESVILLE - Ten hunters will take to the woods on the campus of Riverside Military Academy (RMA) Thursday for the start of a three-day deer hunt.

Plans for the hunt were announced a couple of months ago as a way of thinning the deer, which continue to roam nearby neighborhoods.

Riverside Commandant Kevin Jarrard says the bow hunt will pose no danger to participants in Thursday's annual Turkey Trot because the two events will take place on widely-separated parts of the campus.

Col. Jarrard said the ten hunters were chosen by lottery from a "large pool" of applicants. Each hunter, on recommendation from the state Department of Natural Resources, will be allowed to take two deer... a doe first and then a buck. If any of them fail to bag their limit this week, they may return during the Christmas break to hunt again.

Jarrard says the problem of deer roaming the streets and residential areas around the school has continued.

"There have been two dead deer on the roadways adjacent to our property in the last week, a 10-point buck last Friday morning and a doe just yesterday (Tuesday)."