UPTON, Mass. (AP) – State wildlife officials have agreed to move a station where hunters bring dead deer to be weighed and tagged so it won’t be within view of children who use a nearby playground.

Police Chief Thomas Stockwell had complained about the deer check-in site at George Leland VFW Post, saying kids at the playground and customers buying Christmas trees from Boy Scouts working on the same lot shouldn’t have to see the deer carcasses.

On Tuesday afternoon, Stockwell met with Thomas O’Shea, assistant director of wildlife for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, and the state agreed to move to deer check-in sight to an area in the rear of the VFW building, according to Stockwell and O’Shea.

Hunters are required to bring the deer to the checkpoints. The state uses the information gathered there to track and research the deer population.

The Upton check-in site is open once more this year, on Saturday, the last day of shotgun season.

O’Shea said there are numerous other check-in sites around the state that are visible to the public, and the state has not received complaints about any of them.

Jack Saucier, a trustee at the VFW post, said the check-in site wasn’t an issue last year, because the cold weather kept the playgrounds empty.

Saucier added children this year didn’t seem upset by the deer.

“Most of them come over, they want to touch the deer,” he said. “It’s like a learning experience.”

AP-ES-11-28-06 1614EST