A small herd of white-tailed deer roams the streets of Granite Shoals. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
The Granite Shoals deer management program will operate under new rules this fall after recent updates to the city’s ordinance governing the initiative.
The Granite Shoals Wildlife Advisory Committee’s archery-only program resumed in September 2025 after a five-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program uses trained volunteer “harvesters” to help control the city’s wild deer population using archery equipment at designated sites throughout the city.
Among the biggest changes to the program, approved by city council on June 23, are tougher qualification standards for volunteer harvesters.
The written exam has been expanded from 15 to 20 questions. The archery proficiency test was revised, requiring hunters to shoot from an elevated position 20 yards away and place one arrow inside a 2-inch inner target and a second inside a 3-inch outer target with 100 percent accuracy. Previously, the outer target measured 4 inches.
The updated ordinance will also require volunteer harvesters to donate their first three deer before keeping venison for personal use. In addition, the Granite Shoals Police Department must approve all harvest locations, and the ordinance formally incorporates the online application and electronic scheduling system introduced during last season.
The upcoming season will also see future harvests handled at the Ark of Highland Lakes meat processing facility.
Last season, 73 percent of the harvested deer were donated. During the program’s most recent distribution in June, volunteers provided about 1,100 pounds of venison to Granite Shoals residents.
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