Contact: Maureen Wren (518) 402-8000
DEC Announces Statewide
Deer Management Meetings
Public Is Invited to Provide Comments on Proposed Changes for 2005-06 Deer Season
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Erin M. Crotty today announced a series of statewide meetings to be held during the month of February to solicit public comments on several proposed changes to future deer hunting seasons and discuss the results of the 2004 deer season in New York. The "State of the 2005 Deer Herd" meetings are similar to previous efforts held in 2000 and 2002 and will provide hunters and other members of the public the opportunity to participate in New York's long range deer management planning. Meetings are being held in all nine DEC regions, with a complete listing of dates, times, and locations attached.
"DEC's proposals reflect the changes in deer numbers, distribution, and behavior that has occurred over time in many areas of the State," Commissioner Crotty said. "It is crucial that DEC continues to provide deer hunting opportunities and practices that meet the deer management needs of the future and help address current trends like the declining number of hunters and rising deer populations that are expected to continue over the long term."
In New York State, the number of deer hunters has been declining since the late 1980s, while deer populations have mainly increased, until recent losses stemming from the harsh winter of 2002-03. Based upon input received during previous hunter outreach efforts, DEC is proposing several ways to maintain deer hunting as the primary tool for controlling deer populations on a statewide scale. They include changing the hunting season structure and providing new deer hunting opportunities, including opportunities for young hunters.
Several season changes have been proposed for the Southern Zone, including a Saturday opening day; a limited, new, early antlerless-deer-only muzzleloader season; an expansion of existing archery and muzzleloader seasons; and a pilot program in Wildlife Management Units 3C and 3J that limits harvest of antlered deer to deer with three or more antler points on one side. A more detailed description is below and can also be found at www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/wildlife/guide/2005back.html on the DEC website. Specific Deer Season Changes Under Consideration for the Southern Zone:
Early Archery Season - First Saturday in October to the day before the Regular Season (49 days).
 | For 2005 : October 1 through November 18. |
Early Special Muzzleloader Season (Antlerless Only) - Third Saturday in October for seven days.
| For 2005 : October 15 through October 21. |
| Hunting Allowed with DMP and DMAP tags only. |
| Archery season open but only for antlerless deer. |
Regular Season -Third Saturday in November for 23 days.
| For 2005 : November 19 - December 11 (includes four weekends) |
Late Archery and Muzzleloader Seasons - First day after the close of the regular season running for seven days.
| For 2005 : December 12 - December 18 (Any leftover tags are valid) |
Antler Restriction Pilot Study - WMUs 3C and 3J (all seasons)
| Limits harvest of antlered deer to those with at least three antler points on one side. |
| Smaller antlered bucks cannot be taken. |
To send written comments on the proposals, email fwwildlf@gw.dec.state.ny.us or mail to: Big Game Season Changes, NYSDEC, Bureau of Wildlife, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754. DEC will review the input provided from these meetings and from other comments, make changes to the proposals if necessary, and initiate a formal rulemaking with a 45-day comment period following publication in the New York State Register.
At the meetings, DEC wildlife biologists will also discuss results of the 2004 deer season. Preliminary estimates indicate that hunters took slightly more than 200,000 deer in the 2004 season. That represents a decline of about 20 percent from the 2003 season harvest of 253,000 deer and 35 percent from the record take of 308,000 in 2002. Other factors, such as winter mortality, hunting conditions, food availability, and deer behavior also likely combined to further decrease hunter success. The 2004 harvest is comparable to deer harvests of the late 1990s.
In response to lower deer harvests in 2003, DEC wildlife biologists took action to reduce deer harvest in 2004 by reducing Deer Management Permit numbers by 17 percent. Preliminary harvest estimates indicate that a decreased deer population will result in further substantial reductions in Deer Management Permits for approximately 60 percent of the Wildlife Management Units for the 2005-06 season. Final, detailed, deer harvest numbers for the 2004 season will be available in late February and will be announced with a press release.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
State of the 2005 Deer Herd
Meeting Schedule
| Hamburg; February 7th (Monday) 7 p.m. - Big Tree Elementary School Auditorium, 4460 Bayview Road, Hamburg. Directions : Adjacent to Frontier High School. |
| Kinderhook; February 8th (Tuesday) 7 p.m. - North Pointe Cultural Arts Center, 62 Chatham St. (Rt. 9), Kinderhook. 518-758-9234. Directions : From I-90 take exit 12. Seven miles south on Rt. 9 to Kinderhook. North Point is located on the left directly across from Stewart's. |
| Binghamton; February 8th (Tuesday) 7-9 p.m. - Chenango Valley High School, 1160 Chenango St., Binghamton. Directions: Just south of exit 2 off Rt. 88. |
| Bath; February 8th (Tuesday) 7-9 p.m. - Haverling High School, 25 Ellis Ave., Bath. Directions : Exit Rt 17/I-86 at exit 38 (Rt. 54). Turn left onto W. Washington (NY 54). Turn left onto Ellis St. into school entrance. |
| Canandaigua; February 9th (Wednesday) 7-9 p.m. - Canandaigua Elementary School, 96 West Gibson St., Canandaigua. Directions: From the Thruway, take either Exit 44 and go south on Rte. 332, or Exit 43 and go south on Rte. 21. The school is 1000 feet west of the intersection of Main (Rte 332) and Rte. 21. |
| Syracuse; February 10th (Thursday) 7-9 p.m. - NYS Fairgrounds Art and Home Center, 581 State Fair Blvd., Syracuse. Directions: Just off exit 7 of Rt. 690. Go to gate 2. |
| Churchville; February 10th (Thursday) 7-9 p.m. - Churchville Chili Senior High School, 5786 Buffalo Rd., Churchville. Directions: Take Interstate 490 west to Rt. 259, exit 4. Turn right onto NY 259/Union St. Turn left onto NY 33/Buffalo Rd. |
| Mayville; February 10th (Thursday) 7 p.m. - H.R. Clothier Building, Gerace Auditorium, Chautauqua County Office Building, 7 North Erie St., Mayville. |
| Oneonta; February 12th (Saturday) 1 p.m. - Holiday Inn, State Rt. 23, Oneonta. 607-433-2250 Directions: From I-88 take exit 15. Travel east on Rt. 23. At a "T" turn left (continuing east on Rt. 23) for about 1 mile. The Holiday Inn is on the right. |
| Stone Ridge; February 15th (Tuesday) 7 p.m. - Quimby Theater, Ulster Community College in Stone Ridge. |
| Albany; February 16th (Wednesday) 7 p.m. - Clarion Hotel of Albany, 3 Watervliet Ave. Ext., Albany. 518-438-8431. Directions: From I-90 take exit 5. If traveling east on I-90, turn right at the end of the exit ramp. If traveling west turn left at the end of the exit ramp. Take the first left off Everett Road onto Watervliet Ave. Ext. The Hotel is on the left. |
| Saranac Lake; February 16th (Wednesday) 7-9 p.m. - Saranac Lake Middle School, 141 Petrova Ave., Saranac Lake. Directions: At the traffic light on State Rt. 3, take Main St. south across the bridge, go right on Lake Ave., then right on Petrova Ave. The school is on the right. |
| Uniondale; February 16th (Wednesday) 8-10 p.m. - Nassau County Rifle and Pistol Range, Mitchel Athletic Complex, Charles Lindbergh Blvd., Uniondale. Directions: Meadowbrook State Parkway to exit M5 West, Hempstead Bethpage Turnpike (SR24) to Earle Ovington Blvd., Left on Charles Lindbergh Blvd., facility on left. |
| New Hartford; February 16th (Wednesday) 7-9 p.m. - New Hartford High School, 33 Oxford Rd., New Hartford. Directions: About 2 blocks off Genesee St. in the village of New Hartford. |
| Newport-Middleville; February 17th (Thursday) 7-9 p.m. - West Canada Valley Central School, High School Auditorium, 5447 State Route 28, between Newport and Middleville. |
| Shoreham: February 17th (Thursday) 7 p.m. - North Shore Public Library, 250 Route 25A, Shoreham. 631-929-4488. Directions: Take the Long Island Expressway to Exit 68 North (William Floyd Parkway). Proceed north to Route 25A east, at the first red light, turn right (entrance to the Shoreham - Wading River High School). Follow entrance road to parking area on right. Entrance to Library is on the right side of the buildings opposite the parking lot. |
| Watertown; February 23rd (Wednesday) 7-9 p.m. - Dulles State Office Building Auditorium, 317 Washington St., Watertown. Directions: Downtown, across from Best Western Hotel. |
| Poughkeepsie; February 24th (Thursday) 7 p.m. - Dutchess Hall Theater, Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie. |
| Ballston Spa; February 24th (Thursday) 7-9 p.m. - Saratoga County Cooperative Ext., 50 West High St. (State Rt. 67), Ballston Spa. Directions: From Exit 12 of I-87, follow Rt. 67 West into the Village of Ballston Spa. Rt. 67 turns left onto High St. at a traffic light. The Cooperative Extension Building is one block on the right side. Additional parking is across the street. |
| Canton; February 24th (Thursday) 7-9 p.m. - H.C. Williams High School, Canton Central Schools, 99 State St., Canton. Directions: ½ mile off State Route 11, Village of Canton. |
| Another meeting in Region 1 will be held in Suffolk County at a date and time to be announced. Call the Regional Wildlife Office at 631-444-0311 for meeting location and time. |
05-05
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