The Skylake Property Owner's Association Board, in violation of its governing documents and Board ratified policies, has approved the allocation of $5,000 from our assessments for federal USDA sharpshooters to use firearms to kill deer, a species living on Skylake land for centuries. The deer will be baited and then shot by the sharpshooters utilizing night vision equipment to slaughter the deer in the dead of night.  Skylake’s deer population has never been accurately quantified by an independent, professional scientific study. 

At the September 15, 2025 Board meeting, the USDA states twice that he has only been in the neighborhood once and makes no claims to know deer population numbers.  The DNR states even though he has never seen any numbers , he can tell driving around even without a survey.  Yet, in the April 9, 2025 Natural Resource Committee (NRC) meeting minutes DNR advised, "...the deer population needs to be reduced by a half or even two thirds.”  If the NRC’s own estimate of approximately 400 deer is accurate (based on their own admission at the November 1, 2025 NRC meeting of a flawed camera study), that recommendation translates to the USDA killing roughly 200 to 267 deer within Skylake.

The cull is scheduled up to 4 nights from January 2026 - March 2026 when does are pregnant with fawns.

A HEALTHY DOE IN SKYLAKE ENJOYS THE STREAM NEAR THE BARN WITH HER FAWN DURING SUMMER 2025

WHAT OWNERS CAN DO:

1. Sign this petition 
2. Attend and Speak at the December 15, 2025 Board Meeting, 6pm @ Clubhouse
3. Email the Board of Directors & the Natural Resource Committee asking to STOP the killing of Skylake Deer  (Scroll to bottom for email information)
4. Share this with your neighbors and family 

SKYLAKE’S IDENTITY:

Skylake’s identity as a protected wildlife sanctuary and nature preserve is proudly declared through signage and marketing.  Entrance signs welcome visitors with “Welcome to Skylake Nature Preserve – No Hunting,” “Enjoy Our Wildlife,” and “Certified Wildlife Sanctuary,” while perimeter signs state, “Skylake Game Preserve – No Trespassing,” sending a clear message to area hunters that wildlife is safeguarded within our borders. 

• A Skylake marketing brochure on the POA website and used by local realtors reinforces this commitment by stating Skylake’s position: “Skylake is a private residential nature preserve… Wildlife is protected by the designation of the area as a preserve.”
  
  
• Allocating $5,000 of owners' assessments to deer culling in a nature preserve—absent any scientific evidence of its necessity or effectiveness—represents a clear waste of resources, particularly when Skylake’s water systems, roads, bridge and fire hazard reductions (to name a few) are in urgent need.

SKYLAKE’S COVENANTS:

• Skylake’s Covenants state: Section 11. Use Restrictions (i) Firearms and Fireworks
  “The display or discharge of firearms or fireworks on the Properties is prohibited; provided, however, that the display of lawful firearms on the Properties is permitted by law enforcement officers and also is permitted for the limited purpose of transporting the firearms across the Common Property to or from the dwelling on the Owner's Lot. The term ‘firearms’ includes "B-B" guns, pellet guns, and other firearms of all types, regardless of size.”
  
  
• Skylake covenants prohibit firearm discharge, even BB guns.  It defies logic and governance principles to suggest the Skylake POA Board can simply override the covenants for its own purposes and represents a serious breach of both fiduciary duty and community trust.  Board members are also residents, and it is illogical that they can violate the covenants collectively when they cannot do so separately. 
  
  
• The USDA’s Wildlife Services is a management agency, not a law enforcement body with jurisdiction over private land. Neither the DNR nor the USDA has issued a mandate for a deer cull; they have only offered a paid service, not a legally enforceable directive.

OTHER FIREARMS POLICIES:

• The Architecture and Building Committee (ABC) Rules and Regulations state, “Skylake is a wildlife preserve.  Discharging of a firearm or any form of hunting or trapping in Skylake is prohibited.”
  
  
• The Natural Resource Committee’s own Wildlife Feeding Policy adopted in 2023 states:
  • “2.1 Skylake POA’s natural environment and its surroundings provide an excellent habitat for all types of wildlife. The term “natural environment” implies nature taking its own course without human interference.”
    
    
  • “2.5 Firearms (including Bows and Arrows) are prohibited from being discharged in Skylake and on personal property…Fines may apply if you shoot, wound or kill an animal.”

DECLINING DEER POPULATIONS IN NORTH GEORGIA:

• A 2022 University of Georgia study reveals that deer populations in the North Georgia mountains have plummeted by nearly two-thirds (67%) over recent decades.  This 2023 study further supports the concern regarding deer population sustainability.
  
  
• The Georgia DNR banned antlerless harvests on public lands in 2019–2020 and, in the Georgia Hunting and Fishing Regulations 2025-2026, closed all Chattahoochee National Forest land east of I-75 to doe and fawn hunting—antlered bucks only.
  
  
• This protective buffer surrounding Skylake underscores a regional effort to rebuild a recovering herd, making local culling both unnecessary and counterproductive.
  
  
• Many owners have expressed concern that Skylake’s deer herd appears to be less populated than in past years or decades.

KILLING MUST BE BASED ON SCIENCE, NOT SPECULATION 

• No Independent Scientific Study: Skylake’s deer population has never been accurately quantified by an independent, professional scientific study.
  
  
• DNR and USDA Silence:  Representatives from the Georgia DNR and USDA confirmed in person at and on a recording of the September 15, 2025 Board meeting, and in follow-up phone calls that no deer study had been conducted in Skylake and that they had not seen any deer population numbers.
  
  
• GM Confirmation:  In an email to two separate owners, Aaron Cosson, General Manager, also confirmed there is no deer study document.
  
  
• Baited Trail Cameras: The NRC placed four cameras on Skylake’s perimeter baiting deer from neighboring properties, skewing community counts.  Deer freely migrate in and out of Skylake’s uncontained borders from the surrounding areas and the Chattahoochee National Forest.
  
  
• NRC Admission: The NRC explained that it is impossible to determine whether camera images depict the same deer multiple times.  And, due to volunteer time constraints, manually analyzing the massive volume of photos—which capture all wildlife, not just deer—is infeasible.
  
  
• Ecological Impacts:  Remain unsubstantiated speculation as being caused by an unproven deer overpopulation.
  
  
• Counter-Evidence: If photos are the justification standard for a lethal cull, owners have circulated numerous photos and videos of healthy deer over the past year — equal or stronger visual proof against a cull.
  
  
• No Human Interference:  The NRC’s own 2023 Wildlife Feeding Policy  affirms the balance of nature taking care of itself, stating:
  “Skylake POA’s natural environment and its surroundings provide an excellent habitat for all types of wildlife. The term ‘natural environment’ implies nature taking its own course without human interference.”

DEER DISEASES DO NOT JUSTIFY DEER REDUCTION:

Despite USDA's September 15, 2025 Board Meeting statement that Skylake’s herd is likely healthy (multiple does birthing twin fawns), and and the DNR confirming there is no evidence of deer diseases in Skylake, two diseases have been speculated as supposed threats to justify the culling:

1. EHD/Blue Tongue (BT)

• Georgia DNR Flyer:
  
  
• UGA Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study:
  
  

   

2. Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)

• Georgia DNR CWD presentation (p. 17) on positive cases in Berrien/Lanier Counties:
  
  

LIABILITY & SAFETY CONCERNS:

• The risk of injury or property damage from a lethal deer cull involving firearms cannot be completely eliminated, and therefore the potential liability to owners and to property always remains.
  
  
• Skylake is surrounded within ~1.5-3 miles by National Forest, where strict safety measures are in place to protect people, property and wildlife. As outlined in the DNR’s Georgia Hunting and Fishing Regulations Guide for 2025-2026 these include:
  • “On all National Forest lands, discharging a firearm or any other implement capable of taking human life, causing injury, or damaging property, is prohibited within 150 yards of a residence, building, campsite, developed recreation site, or occupied area.”
    
    
  • “Placing, leaving, or depositing any food, bait, or garbage in a manner likely to attract or concentrate wildlife—whether for hunting or viewing purposes—is prohibited.”
    
    
  • “No night hunting.”
    
    
• While the Georgia DNR—one of the very organizations that addressed Skylake—strictly enforces safety measures on state and federally managed lands, Skylake appears to disregard these same standards, putting owners and property at risk, creating unnecessary controversy, exposing the Board to liability, and compromising the ethical treatment of wildlife.

PROPERTY OWNER RESPONSE:

The threat to Skylake's deer has led to the formation of a group of Concerned Property Owners Against Deer Killing. This group:

1. Opposes the use of lethal methods to "manage" Skylake’s deer population under the false pretense of a humane effort to prevent starvation or suffering due to overpopulation—claims that are scientifically unproven.
2. Believes the covenant and policy ban on discharging firearms and bows within Skylake should be upheld.
3. Supports allowing natural ecological processes to regulate deer numbers--except in cases where credible, science-based evidence demonstrates the presence of a proven wildlife disease that poses significant risk to human or animal health, and no non-lethal management options are viable.  
   
   

REQUESTED BOARD MORATORIUM:

1. We, the undersigned, respectfully urge the Skylake POA Board to immediately enact a moratorium on the approved deer culling program at the November 17, 2025 meeting. A moratorium reflects responsible governance, protects our natural environment, and preserves community unity.
   
   
2. If the covenants and policies are overridden to permit firearm discharge, the Board Directors and General Manager should be held personally responsible for any resulting property damage, civil claims, or criminal liability. Community insurance should not be relied upon to shield them from the consequences of authorizing firearm use within Skylake—a clear covenant/policy violation. Reckless actions taken in knowing disregard of Skylake’s governing documents and policies could void coverage under the Association’s insurance policies.
   
   
3. No special assessment, which requires a 2/3 member vote, should be suggested to be levied on owners for any proposed development of an independent wildlife management plan when the Board routinely finds and allocates funds for BOARD AGENDA PRIORITIES —most recently $20K for dirty window replacement, $50K extra for roads, funds for snow plowing, and $5K for the deer cull itself—while ending many years with a $100K+ budget surplus due to budget inflation practices. 

DEER MEETING SUMMARIES

• September 15, 2025 Board of Directors Meeting (Recording)
• September 15, 2025 Board of Directors Meeting (Summary)
• November 1, 2025 Natural Resource Committee Meeting (Summary

SEND LETTERS TO:

• Existing Skylake POA Board Directors
• 2026 Incoming Skylake POA Board Directors
• Natural Resource Committee Members
• General Manager

These email addresses can be found on the "Skylake Association Members" Facebook page.

DISCLAIMER:
This petition provides information for educational and advocacy purposes only, aimed at opposing Skylake's deer cull.  The views expressed are solely the author’s and do not reflect the views of any other individual, board, committee, or organization and do not constitute legal or financial advice.  Readers are encouraged to verify all information independently, and the author assumes no liability for actions taken based on this site's content.