Spotting their quarry, the two Helena police officers begin to run through the darkness, the spread of stars overhead offering scant light in the moonless sky.

A flashlight illuminates a young buck. It instantly reacts, antler and hoof clanging against the trap's metal frame.

The buck lets out an almost bovine groan as the officers collapse the net-lined box trap and hold the yearling to the ground.

It protests no more.

Assistant Police Chief Mark Lerum fires a bolt into the buck's head, the crack echoing in the South Hills. The deer's legs twitch as the officers place a tub under its head to catch the blood.

The process is quick. Less than a minute transpires from Lerum's sighting of the buck to its demise. Once the officers tackle the deer, fewer than 15 seconds pass before its death.

As of Thursday, Helena police had killed 22 deer in about three weeks as part of a pilot program to reduce the Queen City's growing population of urban mule deer. The two-by-one-point yearling was their fourth buck.

A small group of officers have volunteered to take on the task, though they're on the clock while performing the work. A pair leaves each morning at 6 a.m. and drives to the city's southeast side, where six traps -- baited with a mix of grains, apples, cantaloupe, pineapple and molasses -- have been set out on residential lots.

The city has been authorized to kill up to 50 deer this fall and winter, and officials hope to wrap up the work by the end of the month. The venison is being donated to Helena Food Share for distribution to needy residents.

The project was authorized by the state Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission last year in response to a years-long effort by city officials and FWP Department staffers to find a way to control the Helena deer herd's explosive growth.

The city is home to an estimated 700 deer, a number that could more than double by 2010.

FWP commissioners rejected a more expansive proposal to kill 350 animals before compromising on the pilot project.

Thursday's operation went off without a hitch, and officials said the work has been going smoothly.

"I thought it went surprisingly well," FWP biologist Jenny Sika said. She observed the project early on and is available to advise the city when needed. "With only six traps out, this is not the success rate I would expect to see in the wild. That might speak both to the number of deer in town and their habituation to people.

"At this time, I'm not aware of a way that would be more humane," she added. "The method is quick, it's very quick, and on top of that they are using the (venison)."

Officials have also pointed to the safety precautions they've taken. The bolt gun, commonly used to kill large cattle, doesn't fire a projectile. The bolt instead retracts into the gun, which is fired with a blank cartridge. The collapsible traps also provide a measure of safety for the officers and make it easier for them to restrain the captured deer.

The work, conducted on private land by request of several property owners, has been performed in the dark, shielding landowners, neighbors and passersby from the bloodshed.

Though city commissioners have allotted $30,000 to do the work, police officials said the pilot program will end up costing much less. They've spent about $6,000 on equipment and bait. Some additional money may be spent on overtime pay.

If need be, the methods the police are using now could be revised and expanded to cull a larger number of deer, Police Chief Troy McGee said.

"Absolutely," he said. "We may have to purchase more equipment. It'd obviously take a while longer. But we're leaving that up to the City Commission and the FWP Commission."

The city has not killed any fawns in the project. Officers have released 15 fawns, including one set free Thursday morning. The young animal kicked and bucked in a cloud of dust once it saw the men approaching, but was quickly released.

Asked why fawns were being released rather than killed, McGee said he had three reasons.

"One is that we feel the public may have a harder time accepting killing fawns," he said. "They really don't provide much meat. And we felt it would be difficult for (the officers) to put down small fawns.

"We may re-evaluate that in the future," he added.

If future projects are conducted in winter months, some of those concerns may be eliminated because the fawns would be entering adulthood, Lerum said. Other reasons exist for doing the work in the winter, he said -- with less food available, it may be easier to trap and kill larger numbers of deer.

FWP officials have noted the fawns are old enough to be self-sufficient.

Sika also cited public perception as the reason to release fawns, though she noted the decision is the city's to make. Including fawns in the work is reasonable for several reasons, she said.

"From a biological standpoint, fawns don't know anything but the city at this point, so in terms of an urban deer problem, they're going to be a problem," she said. "Next year, they won't be fawns."

Reporter Larry Kline: 447-4075 or larry.kline@helenair.com