Deer Trouble in Lakeway
Managing overabundant deer populations is an ongoing issue in many areas across the US. Such programs are almost always controversial. Now, a Central Texas woman is facing charges for interfering with one such program in Lakeway, Texas. And it was all captured on video.
In the video, which was taken on March 8, you can see several white-tailed deer captured under a drop net, with some of them bleating. Now months later, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) has charged Ashlea Beck, who also took the video, with criminal mischief and harassment after she freed two of the deer by cutting the net with household scissors.
Beck’s Deer Trapping Video
How Can Deer be Trapped?
Lakeway, located just northwest of Austin, has been managing white-tailed deer for over 20 years. The City of Lakeway maintains a permit by TPWD to reduce the the number of deer living within the city.
Whitetail deer are removed annually by trappers working under the City’s Trap, Transport and Process (TTP) Permit authorized by TPWD. Entities possessing a TTP are allowed to trap and transport deer to commercial processing facility, where deer are dispatched, processed and donated to local charities — a must under permit rules.
The permit allows the City of Lakeway to address excessive deer numbers in an area where hunting as a means of reducing the deer population is not considered feasible. According to the TPWD web site, TTP permits are available to municipalities, political subdivisions, and certain qualified individuals.
Lakeway’s Deer Trapping in the News
At one point in the video, you can hear her ask the workers, “Why are you doing this?”
Angry with what she saw, Beck cut part of the net and released two deer.
“I think they should do it away from kids, away from families,” Beck told KVUE in an interview on March 14.
Months later, Texas Parks and Wildlife has charged Beck with criminal mischief and harassment. A TPWD spokesperson sent KVUE the following statement:
“Ms. Beck interfered with lawful efforts to trap and remove white-tailed deer, causing damage to private property in the process. It is a violation of the Sportsman’s Rights Act to intentionally interfere with another person lawfully engaged in the process of hunting or catching wildlife, or intentionally harass, drive, or disturb any wildlife for the purpose of disrupting lawful hunting.”
Citizen Advocates for Animals of Lakeway president Rita Cross told KVUE she thinks Beck’s punishment is too harsh.
“She was in shock, she was trying to protect her kids and the deer, and she released two of them when she cut the net,” Cross said.
Cross thought TPWD would give Beck a warning or a fine.