Science Determines Plan
to Improve Deer Management, Provide New Hunting Opportunities, and Make
Hunting Even Safer
Draft Regulations
Proposed to Implement Key Plan Provisions, Public Comments Accepted Until
Aug. 8, 2021
New York State Department of
Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos
today released the State's final Deer Management Plan. The plan is the
product of public input, expert review, and sound science that will
improve the management of white-tailed deer across New York State. In
addition, to enact several management recommendations included in the
plan, today DEC issued proposed regulations that are available for public
comment until Aug. 8, 2021.
"This second-edition
deer plan marks a major step forward in DEC's effort to manage deer
responsibly to protect the environment and public safety," Commissioner Seggos
said. "The plan aligns public values for deer
with ecological data to advance management decisions that benefit deer,
deer habitats, and New Yorkers."
The plan, available at DEC's website, outlines
strategies to manage deer populations across a range of abundance levels
and diverse deer-related impacts, in rural, urban, and suburban areas.
The plan enhances DEC programs that provide relief to landowners and the
public experiencing deer damage and conflicts, seeks to protect New
York's deer from the devastating potential of Chronic Wasting Disease
(CWD) particularly in light of the recent announcement about a
confirmed detection in bordering Warren County, Pennsylvania, and
enhances the state's deer hunting traditions. In addition, the plan
provides information about how DEC determines population objectives, sets
harvest quotas, and calculates annual deer harvest and describes the
effectiveness of various management strategies for reducing impacts from
overabundant deer. Importantly, the plan also identifies opportunities to
improve deer management legislatively, particularly in urban and suburban
areas.
DEC released its draft deer
management plan for public review in the late fall of 2020. The final
plan released today includes revisions and clarifications based on the
DEC's review of more than 2,000 comments submitted by individuals,
organizations, and elected officials.
Major
elements of the plan include:
·
Establishing desired deer population
trajectories for 23 ecologically unique regions of the state using an
assessment of deer impacts on forest regeneration and public preferences
for deer population changes;
·
Monitoring deer populations for disease
and taking steps to reduce disease risk;
·
Providing additional hunter opportunity
and increasing antlerless harvest strategically where needed;
·
Promoting hunter choice for buck harvest
by encouraging hunters who want to take older, larger-antlered bucks to
voluntarily pass up young, small-antlered bucks;
·
Encouraging deer hunters to use non-lead
ammunition to reduce lead exposure of non-target wildlife;
·
Assisting communities to prevent and
respond to local deer overabundance through development of
community-based deer management programs;
·
Working with landowners and land managers
to monitor deer browse impacts on forests with the Assessing Vegetation
Impacts of Deer (AVID) protocol; and
·
Understanding and addressing public
values and interests regarding deer and deer management decisions.
New
Regulations Proposed
To begin the implementation
of portions of the management plan, DEC is proposing rule changes that
will improve deer management, simplify big game hunting, expand hunting
opportunity, and increase hunter safety.
DEC is proposing to:
·
Strategically increase antlerless harvest
where necessary by establishing a 9-day season for antlerless deer
beginning the 2nd Saturday in September with firearms in Wildlife
Management Units (WMUs) 3M, 3R, 8A, 8F, 8G, 8J, 8N, 9A, and 9F, and with
bows in WMUS 1C, 3S, 4J, and 8C;
·
Reinstate either-sex deer harvest
opportunity during the early muzzleloader season in WMUs 6A, 6F, and 6J;
·
Extend the legal hunting hours for deer
and bear to begin 30 minutes before meteorological sunrise and end 30
minutes after meteorological sunset, consistent with legal hunting hours
in most other states; and
·
Increase hunter safety by requiring all
hunters pursuing deer or bear with a firearm, or anyone accompanying
them, to wear a solid or patterned fluorescent orange or fluorescent pink
hat or vest or jacket.
In addition to implementing
portions of the deer plan, the regulatory proposal includes a change to
simplify bear hunting in the Adirondack portion (WMUs 5A, 5C, 5F, 5G, 5H,
5J, 6C, 6F, 6H, and 6J) of the Northern Zone by extending the regular
firearm season to cover the entire hunting period. Currently, the season
structure allows bears to be taken with rifles and shotguns for 72 out of
79 days, excluding the seven-day period where bears could only be taken
with a muzzleloader, crossbow, or bow. Under the proposal, hunters would
be able to use any implement during the entire 79-day season.
These proposed regulations
were published in the State Register today. Details about the proposals are available at DEC's
website. DEC is accepting public comments on the proposed
regulation changes through Aug. 8, 2021, by emailing: WildlifeRegs@dec.ny.gov (use
"Big Game Hunting Rules" in the subject line).
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