CLEVELAND (AP) — State data indicates more deer hunting between 2015 and 2017 helped decrease collisions between vehicles and deer around Ohio.

The Plain Dealer in Cleveland reports the Ohio Division of Wildlife says hunters have harvested about 186,000 deer statewide during that time period. Accidents involving vehicles and deer peaked in Ohio in 2015 at over 21,000 collisions, but that number had dropped by more than 2,600 by last year.

Some northeastern Ohio communities where the deer population had grown problematically have allowed or expanded bow hunting to thin the herds.

Strongsville’s public safety director, Charles Goss, says allowing bow-hunting had a nearly immediate effect in helping to reduce deer-vehicle collisions. Goss says the program is so popular that Strongsville is considering potential hunting on public lands and industrial properties.

Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com