Conservation officers with Saskatchewan Environment Resource Management (SERM) will begin a program of live-trapping deer within city limits this week, as whitetail deer continue to be a problem in the region.

A group from SERM went into River Park on Sunday morning, where a herd of about 25 deer had gathered, to try and tranquilize some to move out, but they were only able to get one deer. The rest of the deer bolted up the Souris River, and SERM officials chased them beyond Nickle Lake.

Meanwhile, conservation officers have set up a live trap at Elk Park, a playground park area located on Douglas Road between Zabel Bay and Elm Crescent where a herd of 15 to 20 deer have been congregating, said officer Lindsey Leko.

The trap was put in place but left inactive for a few days, with feed set out around, so the deer could get accustomed to it being there, said Leko. The plan is to activate it tonight.

The trap is a 12-foot box trap, with guillotine-style doors that slam shut by a trip wire. If an animal is in the trap when it's checked, a door at the end is opened and the deer runs into a net. Its head will be covered to calm it down, its legs tied and it will be transported to a habitat west of the Brokenshell PFRA pasture, north of Khedive. The one deer which had been tranquilized was transported to this location.

The trap will not be activated in the daytime, and Leko is urging area residents, especially children, to stay away from the trap area due to the potential danger of the guillotine doors, and so deer are not scared away from that location. SERM officials have a goal of taking out one deer a day with this trap, and gradually reduce the number of deer in the city.

SERM is also discouraging residents from feeding the deer either in the city or out at Souris Valley, as SERM and the city have cleared out an area on Queen Street north of the Souris Valley grounds in an effort to lure deer there. The one drawback to this location is that snowmobilers go up Queen Street, he said, which does drive the deer away.

"There's a big misconception that the deer are starving; they're not. The deer we've taken out are fat and healthy. The big thing they like here is the cover," said Leko, adding SERM will resume their tranquilizing program once deer hunting season is over on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 9.

Following reports of deer jumping through store windows or doors in Weyburn, a Midale resident phoned the Weyburn Review on Wednesday to say she and her friend saw a buck jump in and out of a window of a local bar.

Verna Thompson said there were three people inside at the time, but no one was injured in the incident.

"The window is tinted, so it could probably see its reflection in the window. It just jumped through the window and right out again," she said, adding she and her friend tried to find the deer with her truck to see if it was injured, but it had escaped out of town.

She said most mornings a herd of 15 to 20 deer can be seen laying down near the grain elevator, visible from her parents' house.