DEC 2009 Deer Harvest Report

[L&M]

The following is a press release from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Hunters harvested approximately 222,800 deer in the 2009 season -- virtually the same number as were harvested statewide the previous season, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced last week. The annual deer hunting report also showed that nearly 16,000 14- and 15-year-olds signed up for the “Junior Big-Game Licenseâ€.

Deer Harvest

The 2009 deer take included more than 120,700 antlerless deer (adult females and fawns) and just over 102,000 adult bucks. Antlerless takes grew by 3 percent from 2008 (117,232), while buck takes dropped 3.5 percent from 2008 (105,747). Totals for bow and muzzleloader seasons were on par with the past few years.

Differences were most noticeable in the Northern Zone, where antlerless take was down by almost 8 percent and buck take dropped 21 percent from 2008, returning to levels seen in 2005 and 2006. Deer take during the regular season seemed strongly affected by a warm November -- both deer and hunter activity tend to slow down in warm weather and the lack of snow cover made for difficult hunting conditions during a time that typically accounts for the majority of deer harvest.

Southern Zone deer harvests were comparable to 2008 with overall buck take essentially unchanged and antlerless take only increasing about 4 percent. Still, biologists noted that the lack of snow throughout much of the Southern Zone regular season likely kept deer harvests from being higher.

Western New York continues to lead the state in total deer-harvest densities, but Orange County in southeastern New York has also become a strong contender.

The top five counties for 2009 were Yates (13.2 total deer per square mile), Wyoming (11.2), Orange (10.5), Genesee (9.9), and Ontario (9.5).

Importantly, total harvest is strongly impacted by the number of Deer Management Permits (DMPs) available in an area, which directly affects the harvest of antlerless deer.

A more accurate picture of relative deer population densities is revealed by the density of buck harvest. By this figure, the top counties for buck harvest density were: Wyoming County (4.6 bucks per square mile), Yates County (4.5 bucks per square mile), Allegany County (4.0), Orange County (3.9), and Cayuga County (3.7).

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)

CWD surveillance began in New York in 2002, with increased efforts since 2005 after the disease was detected in five captive and two wild deer in Oneida County. Surveillance efforts continued in 2009 with more than 1,800 samples tested. CWD is a rare neurological disease that affects the brains of deer, elk and moose, causing the animals to become emaciated, lose body functions and eventually die. Despite intensive testing of nearly 30,000 deer in the five years since the disease was detected, no additional cases have been found in the state.

The 2009 deer harvest is broken down by county, town, and Wildlife Management Unit with comparisons to previous years' deer harvests. For more see the DEC web site.

[FX]

Thanks Hank. Good news on CWD!

Shawn

[momay4000]

Thanks Hank,

Great article! Hopefully it puts to rest the debate a few months ago that coyotes, nuisance permits, etc. are affecting the deer harvest. You can't argue with data.......

- Chris

[shu9265]

Now if they will allow us to use crossbows, there will be a large number of archery hunters that will return to the woods.

[ray koziatek]

I live in steuben cty and have 2 friends who own buisness that harbor hunters.. One owns a barber shop and is a avid hunter.He has not had ONE customer that hunts ,say the deer population is up or the same ,Everyone mentions coyotes as number one problem......The other own a sporting goods store(small) but the hunter reports there are the same less deer , and increased coyotes kill. and Im talking the good ole boys who have been around a while not new guys who depend on reports for what they see with their own eyes..when i get back home ill have them put up a poll for who filled tags or left empty...With my need for meat down due to deer from Indiana i Trophy hunt ny now But will take a wonded deer or med doe near some fields i hunt (700 acrs) corn. As you know a trophy can just happen and most due but they can be persued with extreme caution and many hours afield,and sometimes it works out ...my experiance is limited to the approx 1000 acrs i have axcess too 1/2 of it is very restricted (leased) to hunters and the rest is all posted but a few sneak on there so either were all wearing the newest " Gov. Patterson" glasses or we left our guns home..

PS.. I also hunt near Odessa, and surrounding areas with good hunting friends who lease another 750 acrs and the reporst there are the same.and one ole timer who has had food plots long before it became a household name is baffeled as to how the deer dissapeared this year..maybe him and his boys all got the latest edition of the new glasses too.

[Time Out]

In Bear populated areas, studies have shown they kill aroung the same amount of fawns as the coyote. Interesting read on the effects the coyote can have on adult deer, although its not that extreme.

http://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/article/CoyoteKill/

[reeltime]

while it may be a nice to read article its all based on "scientific"

numbers. With no mandatory check stations and even if there were

there is no way to accurately state deer harvest numbers nor an

accurate herd count.

I was hoping I would be wrong when they began the talk of allowing

rifles in the southern tier. I made the statement then that in doing so

and not cutting back on the antlerless tags or at least cutting back the

combined season people were going to see a rapid decrease in the

population along with the rifle change.

All those years of shotgun season a deer at 200 yards was safe, with

a high powered rifle thats a dead deer! Along with the advancements

of black powder guns and allowing them in the "muzzleloader" season it

essentially gives people an extra week and an extra antlerless tag.

So pretty much in the southern tier there is now about 5 weeks of

rifle season. a large number of the muzzleloaders on the market

today are fairly accurate out to 150 yards and in the hands of a

person that has done their homework and spent time on the

shooting bench that range can reach out to 200-250 yards,

basically about the effective range of a 30-30 centerfire rifle.

with the coyote and bear predation along with the vast number

of antlerless tags and the liberal seasons and weapons its pretty

easy to see why the deer herd is being decimated.

I have hunted in Pa. since 1977, I still have outdoor life mags

from then, the Pa. game commission touts the numbers 1 million

deer hunters and a deer herd of 1 million. I can tell you the first

day of "buck" season it sure seemed to be a million hunters! There

were orange pumpkins behind every tree, we saw deer in herds

of 30-40 at a time and it was nothing to see 200+ deer the first

day. The shooting was unreal!!

Today they claim the numbers to be roughly 1 million on the herd

and the hunters, I can tell you there is NO way even close on

either number. You don't see the people or the deer any more.

The bottom line on the numbers game is simply this,,,

NUMBERS sell licenses! stating an inflated herd number and kill

number tells gullable hunters, man I gotta hunt there look at

how many deer they kill and how big of a deer herd there is.

With the antler restrictions and the liberal antlerless tags Pa.

gives out the hunters have decimated the deer herd on a vast

majority of the "public" land. The same thing is happening here

and will continue to happen as long as the DEC gives out the

tags.

I guess my point with all of my ramblings is this, While the DEC

can give out numbers and some hunters believe them and some

area's there are good deer numbers there are area's that the

numbers are down.The bottom line is the DEC can give out all the

permits they want, it then falls in the hunters hands. If the area

you are hunting doesn't hold many deer then just because you

have an antlerless permit doesn't mean you have to fill it.

I cant tell you how many times I have read " I didn't see a deer

all season and then the last day I saw a doe so I shot it"?? this

just blows my mind, along with the statements of " well if I didn't

shoot it someone else woulda shot it" The only true statement is

IF you shoot it you know for CERTAIN its dead and wont be

reproducing again next year! While not every deer you pass up

is going to make it through the season, those that you pass up

at least have another chance to make it.

[shu9265]

I got my Sportsmans Lic. and also a bunch of antlerless tags.

And I didn't use even one tag !

We just didn't have the deer in my area of Niagara County this year. The deer I did see, were mostly does and yearlings.

Hopefully I will see more deer this spring as the weather starts to break and they will continue to live in the area.

If so, I may harvest one in the fall. (maybe)

[salmonite]

love wyoming showing up on the top five counties....

[mrhappy]

VERY WELL PUT Reeltime FINALLY SOMEBODY GETS IT!!!. However I still am not buying the argument regarding yotes and bears killing ALL of the deer. Your points are very valid, PA as I have stated many times in various threads is just one example! Data is just that and it is easily skewed!

[deerman]

the nuisense permit they give out are duing alot of damage to the deer heard,also there is to much posted land,so most guys haveno choice but hunt public land,and thats hurting all of those places

[Justin]

here we go again

[Gator]

I contend that one reason more people are seeing less deer over the past few years is a stratification of the hunting population. The guys who can afford to lease and who take time to establish food plots are going to attract deer, even if there's suitable habitat in surrounding areas. We've all seen how deer herd up during the winter around whatever food source is still available. The same holds true during the season...and the guys with the food plots are practicing selective harvest and QDM techniques, hence they're killing a disproportional amount of deer, particularly does to keep the herd in check. Makes sense, too; if you're going to invest sweat equity in your hunting property, then you're going to take advantage of your hard work.

If we're going to talk statistics, I'd like to see a distribution curve of the # of deer taken per hunter. I'd bet dollars-to-donuts that the top end of the curve, representing the guys who take the most deer per individual, has ballooned in the past decade, at the expense of the average Joe who shoots one animal a year. The net result is that there's now a bunch of Joes who haven't seen or harvested a deer, and one lucky sport who's had a banner year.

I guess putting in the time and money should reap rewards, but I hate to see this pseudo "class warfare" enter the hunting arena. I think that we've entered a period of haves and have-nots in hunting. I feel lucky to be able to lease and manage a decent chunk of land...we saw lots of deer this year, bucks and does...but I feel bad for the guys who don't have that opportunity. The stories I've heard from people I grew up with tell a very different tale from my own experiences.

This isn't the only thing causing the problems (real or perceived), but logically it's got to contribute.

[axion2090]

i know going against the grain here but i hunt in orleans and niagara counties.... hunted at least 15 days this year and saw deer every single day out....i would say 15% is public land....the one day we saw 3 deer the worst of the season.usually see at least 10 a day not 10 that are kill shots..numbers have been awesome for me not sure whats its worth to all you guys with bad luck but numbers are great where im at was spotlighting a couple weeks ago counted 155 deer in a 2 mile stretch of corn...had 4 doe tags 2 buck tags....just shot 1 big buck one doe all i need for meat...lots of guy shooting 4+ deer though...numbers couldn't be better for my area