Archer Selection Lottery Opens for City of Pittsburgh Deer Management Program

The program is a partnership between the City of Pittsburgh and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the goal of managing the overpopulation of white-tailed deer in city parks. After a successful 2023-2024 pilot year, with archery-controlled hunts in Frick and Riverview Parks, the program is expanding in the upcoming season to also include Schenley, Highland and Emerald View Parks. 

“Thanks to the hard work of our Park Rangers, and the collaboration with the USDA, we were able to pilot a successful Deer Management Program with zero public safety incidents,” said Mayor Ed Gainey. “We are taking what we learned from our pilot program as we expand to other parks throughout the city so we can build on that success in order to be able to care for the long-term health of our beloved parks.” 

During the 2023-2024 pilot season, 108 deer were harvested in Riverview and Frick Parks. Of those, 59 deer were donated to local food banks, resulting in approximately 2,360 pounds of venison and 9,440 meals provided to residents in need.  

“There were zero public safety incidents that resulted from the pilot archery season,” said Director of Public Safety, Lee Schmidt. “We are extremely grateful to our diligent archers from last season and remain thankful to our Pittsburgh Park Rangers and the USDA for their continued management of this very needed and highly successful program.” 

Interested archers can enter into a lottery system from which 50 archers will be selected, along with 50 alternate archers. All selected archers must pass a criminal background check and fulfill the following criteria: 

• Must be at least 18 years of age 
• Be a resident of Allegheny County (priority will be given to City of Pittsburgh residents) 
• Have a clean criminal background check, including a clean PA Game Commission record 
• Plan to purchase a 2B Antlerless Tag  
• Not participating in other deer management programs 

Upon passing a criminal background check, the selected archers will be required to attend an accuracy test on Thursday, July 11 from 3-7 p.m. OR Sunday, July 14 from 9-3 p.m. If the accuracy test is passed, each hunter will be assigned a hunter ID number and a specific location within a park where they are permitted to hunt. 

Additional program stipulations: 

• There is a zero-tolerance policy. Any hunter who violates the guidelines outlined by the program or commits a game-law felony will result in immediate expulsion from the program. 
• Every archer is REQUIRED to take a doe first. This doe must be donated to a food bank program, such as Hunters Sharing the Harvest. 
• Absolutely no field dressing is allowed on-site. ALL dressing must be performed at the authorized dressing location. 
• Complete an online post-hunt summary within 24-hours of a successful or non-successful hunt. 

Lottery registration will remain open until 11:59 p.m. on June 17, 2024. For additional information and to register for the lottery, please visit: https://engage.pittsburghpa.gov/deer-management-program.