Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) in Tega Cay, SC

Tega Cay, South Carolina has long been attractive to people looking to escape the city and live alongside nature, a golf course and Lake Wylie. But lately, it's also become attractive to set a new neighbors — deer, hundreds of them.

So many that the Tega Cay City Council has been looking at reducing the population either by killing some with sharpshooters, or via a proposal from a local wildlife group to shoot the deer with birth control.

At their meeting Monday night, City Council members decided: Why not try both?

Mary Ickert with the Tega Cay Wildlife Conservation Society, who had urged City Council members to take the birth control option, joined WFAE's Nick de la Canal to give her reaction to the vote.

Nick de la Canal: It's my understanding that council members last night voted to essentially hire sharpshooters to kill 80 deer — that's the limit, and then look into deploying these birth control darts maybe next spring or summer. What's your initial reaction to that decision?

Mary Ickert: Yeah, so obviously we would not prefer to have sharpshooters. You know, we've always understood that we have a lot of deer in Tega Cay, and of course, it's time to have something done.

We were hopeful that the city would implement a PZP program as a standalone, but as we learned last night they have decided to start with culling these animals first, and then hopefully work with us getting PZP up and going for the future.

De la Canal: The city estimates there are more than 1,000 deer on the peninsula. Can you give us a sense of what that looks like on the ground, and how much of a problem is it?

Ickert: That's a good question, Nick. I actually live on the peninsula myself. Me personally, never would have thought we had 1,000 deer back here. You know I definitely see deer every day. They walk through my yard. Sometimes they're in a herd of six to eight, and sometimes they're a doe with their fawns. We have plenty of neighbors though that say they see up to 50 deer in their yard on a daily basis.

De la Canal: I know people have talked about deer eating their grass and their plants and you know pooping everywhere —

Ickert: Well yeah, yeah, it's definitely — that's been a concern for many of folks here.

De la Canal: But is it also more than that too? I think there's been an increase in traffic accidents too involving deer?

Ickert: Actually that's not true. We actually just talked to the city about this. We lose about 150 and actually this year it's closer to 170 deer per year. And a lot of people assume that is through car accidents and only 6 deer this year were due to car versus deer incidents.

Most of the deer here that are sadly passing away are doing so just — mother nature. And a lot of them unfortunately are getting injured on fences. They'll try to jump over a clear fence and get a leg stuck, and sadly give in to those wounds.

De la Canal: Well, I guess kind of what I'm trying to get at is: Is it more of a problem from the humans, or the deer, or both?

Ickert: To me, and to many of us, this is a social issue. These animals breed like crazy, and with growth and humanity kind of building up all around them, they have nowhere to go.

And all of a sudden there's more and more and they're in your yards, and a lot of people look at them as nuisance(s), as pests. So it really is kind of subjective. There are plenty of people here that love the deer, have no issue with the deer, and other people are just sick and tired of them being around.

De la Canal: So your group had proposed shooting the deer with this birth control vaccine called PZP. Some residents who spoke at city council were concerned about the cost, I think. It would be significantly more expensive than shooting and killing the deer, and also that it could take a year or two before there's any impact. But why do you think it's still the best option?

Ickert: First of all, the numbers that were presented last night were skewed, if you will. At the end of the day, we know how much PZP costs, and we know that it is effective, and this whole thing started with us looking into a more humane alternative for managing these animals.

De la Canal: So the city has approved using sharpshooters at least in the short term, and just so people know, these will be trained shooters who will work in areas closed off to the public with safety in mind, but one of the council members last night also thanked you specifically for presenting birth control darts as an option.

Councilman Gus Matchunis: I was extremely skeptical that you could pull it off, and I congratulate you on what you did in a very short period of time. It was quite incredible and you opened all our eyes to something different. Because we basically thought we had one option and one option only.

De la Canal: Do you feel like your advocacy actually made a difference?

Ickert: Yeah, I mean this whole thing started off as a conversation with a neighbor friend of mine when they were entertaining the idea of culling and many of us were against it and decided to look into other alternatives. This definitely has been a lot of work for our group, but we believe in this program. We believe that this will work.

The fact that our city leaders did meet with us and listen to us and look at this option for PZP was definitely something we were very proud of.

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Corrected: December 24, 2023 at 8:27 AM EST

A previous transcription of this interview misquoted Ickhart as saying 60 deer were involved in traffic accidents. In fact, Ickhart said six deer had been involved in traffic accidents this year in Tega Cay.

TEGA CAY, S.C. — Much of the meat from deer culled in a South Carolina city will be used to address food insecurity within a local community.

This week, a sharpshooter will once again take out deer in Tega Cay. It’s part of the city’s plan to address a deer overpopulation problem there. 160 of the animals are slated to be culled.

Channel 9′s Tina Terry learned a lot of the venison from the deer is being donated to the Catawba Nation. It’s a decision the tribe’s chief said he’s also on board with. He said the meat they’ve received so far will help fight food insecurity on the reservation.

Terry visited the Catawba Nation on Tuesday. There, she saw white grocery bags filled with hundreds of pounds of deer meat that will soon help nourish people in need.

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“One of the things we’re intending to do with the meat is get it to our senior center and get it to our Boys & Girls Club, or Early Head Start,” said Hayley Brezeale, the food sovereignty coordinator for the tribe.

Brezeale said about 2,400 people call the reservation home and more than 20% of them deal with food insecurity.

“In the cases of most reservations, you’re going to see higher rates of food insecurity issues,” she said. “We have a higher average than the general population.”

“Absolutely very grateful for anything to help,” resident Angie Branham said.

Branham has lived on the reservation for 25 years. She said the venison will benefit her family greatly.

“My family does like to hunt when they have the opportunity,” she said.

“Of course with our workforce and trying to make ends meet with today’s economy, it’s tough,” she added. “So we don’t have time to go out to hunting lands.”

Brezeale said the deer meat will also help educate the community, teaching them how to cook a meat that has been a staple of indigenous people.

“We know that colonization greatly impacted our food resources,” she said.

She said her community is grateful for the donation and hopes the partnership with Tega Cay can continue.

“So really, we’d love to continue building a relationship with us and help expand on that program to be able to assist more tribal citizens,” Brezeale said.

The next round of culling will start again from dusk until dawn Tuesday night and Wednesday night.

Terry learned city staff will present non-lethal options to deal with the deer at a meeting later this month.

(WATCH BELOW: Sharpshooter to cull deer population at Tega Cay golf course)

TEGA CAY, S.C. — A sharpshooter will help the city of Tega Cay get its deer population under control this week as a plan that's been more than a year in the making gets started.

Right now, there are over 1,000 deer within the city limits.

Tega Cay City Council met on Monday to discuss details of plans to thin the herd in agreement with the USDA and what it will cost.

During Monday's meeting, city council members approved additional resources so sharpshooters can kill even more deer. The original plan had officials culling 80 deer this season, though the plan now is to cull 160 deer at the Tega Cay Golf Club over two weeks, from Jan. 22 through Feb. 5.

The lone no vote was councilman Brian Carter, who cited the financial burden.

The expected price tag is a little over $94,000. City leaders discussed an official work plan and the USDA's responsibilities during Monday's meeting.

RELATED: Tega Cay leaders approve plan to control deer population

The sharpshooting will take place from dusk until dawn and the city is asking people to stay away from the golf course during this time. Violators will be charged with trespassing.

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For months, people living in Tega Cay have been split on the issue, either pressuring the city council to deal with the problem or voicing concerns about the treatment of the deer and public safety.

"No one is walking around in anybody’s backyard with an AR-15 shooting deer," City Councilman Scott Shirley said. "That’s not anywhere close to what that would look like. It would be controlled by law enforcement and the public safety is going to be the No. 1 factor there."

The Tega Cay Wildlife Conservation Society has spoken out against the city’s “last minute notice” of the culling, saying the city dismissed a birth control darting idea to appease angry residents. But the city is moving forward with the sharpshooting plan.

The city said the deer meat will be processed and donated to food banks in the area.

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Tega Cay will be the first city in South Carolina with access to Google Fiber service.

Gov. Henry McMaster joined Google and city staff Wednesday to announce the plans. Tega Cay’s service is a first in South Carolina, but also an extension of Google Fiber in the Charlotte market. Service is available in the Charlotte and Triangle markets in North Carolina now.

The service is available in 32 markets in 17 states, including the addition of Tega Cay.

Construction on infrastructure for the Tega Cay service should begin early next year. Internet service would follow by late 2024.

In Charlotte, Google Fiber recently added 5 Gig and 8 Gig service. Other planned metro expansion areas includes Huntersville and Concord, North Carolina. Details on which Tega Cay neighborhoods will get services on what schedule aren’t yet available. According to Google Fiber, new network additions can take several years to complete.

Google Fiber offers include home Internet, Wi-Fi, television and phone service, plus business options. Rates for Tega Cay aren’t listed, but Charlotte prices range from $70 a month for 1 Gig internet to $150 a month for 8 Gig.

Tega Cay City Council unanimously approved a service agreement this week to bring in Google Fiber.

“This partnership will bring high speed Internet access, economic growth and innovation to our community,” Mayor Chris Gray said during Wednesday’s announcement. “We are committed to making Tega Cay a hub of connectivity and progress.”

Google Fiber announced plans in 2015 to bring its service to North Carolina.

“Even then,” said company southeast manager Darrel Hegar, “it was our hope that we would not only be in the Charlotte area, but we would be in South Carolina.”

Gov. Henry McMaster called the news a great step forward.

Long-time residents and new ones alike, McMaster said, will benefit as they have to be educated, kept safe and given opportunities to succeed to maintain the quality of life people in South Carolina expect.

“That’s where this comes in,” McMaster said. “That’s where Google comes in. That’s where broadband comes in. That’s where the Internet comes in. What we’ve learned is, our people have a thirst for information.”

This story was originally published October 19, 2023, 4:13 PM.

TEGA CAY, S.C. — The city of Tega Cay will use a sharpshooter to eliminate some of its deer population starting next week.

There have been more than 1,100 deer in an area that is about the size of 3.4 square miles, officials said.

On Thursday, officials with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources granted the town permission to double the number of deer that can be culled. That number must still be approved by the city council at its meeting on Monday.

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The culling process would take about two weeks at the golf course.

Not all residents support the effort.

“There’s always the possibility for an accident,” resident Heather Jones said. “Bullets don’t always follow the path they’re supposed to even with the best safety precautions.”

Contractors have been working with staff members to identify locations on the golf course, said Joey Blethen, the deputy city manager.

“The first priority is where they can safely shoot not having to worry, because there are houses around the golf course,” he said.

The city will post warning signs around the course and off-duty officers will help secure the area, Blethen said.

City leaders will have to vote to approve killing 160 deer at their meeting on Monday night.

“Our current numbers are pretty staggering and through speaking with wildlife experts, 80 is just a drop in the bucket and 160 would be more impactful to helping us manage the herd,” Blethen said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide the sharpshooter.

Chuck Caravello, who uses a leaf blower to keep the deer away from his house, said the plan is a step in the right direction.

“They eat a lot and they eat everything they can get their mouth on. So, it’s hard to have a nice lawn,” he said.

Blethen said this is the first step.

The town will investigate other options in the future including sterilization and birth control.

The culling process starts Monday and is scheduled to go through Feb. 5.

The golf course and surrounding paths will be closed to the public from dusk until dawn during that time.

City leaders said the sharpshooter will use a silencer so there won’t be any noise.

(WATCH BELOW: ‘Way overpopulated’: Tega Cay considering birth control for deer)

‘Way overpopulated’: Tega Cay considering birth control for deer