A Mahoning County Magistrate has ruled against residents challenging the way Mill Creek Metroparks' has been reducing the number of deer on park property.

In an 11-page opinion filed Wednesday, Magistrate Nicole Butler ruled in favor of the park district, finding that the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife has the proper authority to approve the park's plan to hunt and kill deer.

Residents who filed the lawsuit in September challenged the park's contention that there were too many whitetail deer, challenging the plan to hold a lottery to choose hunters that would cull the deer population.

Metroparks officials expressed concerns over herd health, as well as deer causing damage to plants in the park.

Calling the park's methodology a "Deer Slaughter Plan", the lawsuit questioned the methods used by the park to calculate the deer population and characterized the details of the plan as "sketchy".

The civil suit also raised concerns about how deer hunting could threaten the safety of residents living near park property.

The magistrate's decision may be read below: