2012-2013 Hunting & Trapping Regulations Guide - New York State ...

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Putting thE
NYS Deer
MaNageMeNt PlaN
intO Action
Jeremy Hurst, Wildlife Biologist, NYSDEC
Last fall, DEC adopted a Management
Plan for White-tailed Deer in New York
State, 2012–2016. The plan provides
strategic direction for our program and
will help us focus our efforts where they can
best meet the biological and social demands
associated with deer. Through the plan we
emphasize the value of hunting as a tradition
and as the primary tool for deer management,
the need to create new opportunities for young
deer hunters, and the importance of addressing
the ecological impacts associated with deer.
The plan outlines six primary goals that encompass
the priorities for deer management and
the values and issues expressed by the public:
1) manage deer populations at levels that are
appropriate for human and ecological concerns;
2) promote and enhance deer hunting as an
important tradition and management tool;
3) reduce negative impacts caused by deer; 4)
foster public understanding and communication
about deer ecology, deer management,
economic aspects and recreational opportunities;
5) manage deer to promote healthy and
sustainable forests and enhance habitat conservation
efforts to benefit deer and other species;
and 6) ensure that the necessary resources are
available to support effective management of
white-tailed deer in New York.
www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/deerplan2012.pdf
This fall, DEC has adopted regulations to begin
implementing several strategies of the deer plan,
primarily geared toward increasing opportunity
for hunters. These include:
• beginning the Southern Zone bowhunting
season and the regular season in
Westchester County (bowhunting only)
on October 1;
• establishing a late bowhunting season in
December in the Northern Zone;
• allowing Deer Management Permits
(DMPs, “doe tags”) to be used in all
seasons in the Northern Zone;
• expanding mandatory antler restrictions
(3 point on one side minimum) into Wildlife
Management Units (WMUs) 3A, 4G,
4O, 4P, 4R, 4S, and 4W;
• opening all of Suffolk County for the
special January firearms season, subject to
local discharge ordinances; and
• establishing a Deer Management Focus
Area in Tompkins County to intensify use
of hunting to assist communities with the
burden of overabundant deer populations.
Also this fall, we will be implementing a new
big game hunter log to track hunting effort and
sighting rates of deer, black bear and moose
during the regular firearms season. Logs
will be sent to a random sample of hunters
throughout the state.
Moving forward, our next major tasks from
the deer plan will be to:
• develop Wildlife Management Unit
groupings for use in deer population
monitoring, harvest analysis and management
decisions;
• evaluate making Bonus DMPs antlerlessonly
or requiring hunters to take more
than one antlerless deer before earning an
either-sex Bonus DMP;
• develop an objective system for identifying
appropriate strategies to reduce
harvest of young bucks (see article on
pages 18–19); and
• develop an index to asses deer impacts on
forests and incorporate that index into
deer population objective setting.
Aside from deer, over the coming year, DEC’s
Big Game Management Team will also be
drafting a management plan for black bear
and developing a research program to assess
moose populations.
2012–13 HuNtING & traPPING GuIDe 31