Deer hunting, which appears to have dramatically reduced car-deer road accidents in Ridgefield, will be up for debate by townspeople on June 5.

The number of deer killed by hunters in Ridgefield was at 123 in 1996, peaked at 336 in 2009, and had fallen back down to 153 in 2018, according to state figures presented to the selectmen by the town deer committee.

Over those years the count of deer roadkill from accidents with cars declined from about 150 a year early on — 149 deer in 1996, 133 in 1997, 172 in 1998, 157 in 1999, 148 in 2000 — to fewer than 20 a year recently, with 13 deer roadkills in 2015, 11 in 2016 14 in 2017, three in 2018, the committee said.

“Deer auto accidents are down to almost zero,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi said May 8 after the…