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Holiday Deer Hunt is a go!

Jack Danchak - Columnist
Posted 3/11/21

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) announced that its official the week-long bow, crossbow and muzzleloading hunt will take place this year.

DEC said this new …

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Holiday Deer Hunt is a go!

Posted

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) announced that its official the week-long bow, crossbow and muzzleloading hunt will take place this year.

DEC said this new DEC regulation was made to have a “Holiday Deer Hunt” by extending the late bow and muzzleloader hunting seasons for deer from December 26, 2021 to January 1, 2022, but only in New York's Southern Zone, where they feel the deer are plentiful.

This new extended deer season will provide an additional seven days of late hunting with bows, crossbows and muzzleloaders. Hunters must purchase a bowhunting or muzzleloader license to participate in this late hunt and may use all deer carcass tags that are valid during those seasons.

Which license crossbow hunters will be required to have will be decided by the outcome of potential expanded crossbow hunting seasons in the state budget. Should crossbow seasons become legal to use during the entire archery seasons, then an archery license would be required. If nothing changes, crossbow usage will remain under the muzzleloader license requirement. In any event, crossbows will be legal to use in this late deer hunt.

DEC said they will adoptively manage this new program and assess any potential impacts to other outdoor recreational activities that may be going on at the same time. Also DEC does not feel that the late-season will affect localized deer herds and does not foresee any Deer Management Permit adjustments.

Last September, DEC requested public comment on the proposal to hold this late extended deer hunt. They received over 3,000 comments on the proposal and thoroughly reviewed all of them. After much consideration, DEC decided to go with the hunt.

Turkey Talk!

Reading an article where a hunter wrote a letter to the editor of a hunting magazine, I thought the article was different and interesting and may be of interest to turkey hunters here in New York.

The hunter stated that his hunting club hunts in a management unit where CWD was detected, and a ban on winter feeding of wildlife was imposed on this unit. When his club stopped feeding wildlife it didn't take long to notice their turkey population was cut in half.

He also said another hunting club that hunts in the same management unit stopped feeding and their turkey population was reduced by 70 percent.

This could be one of the reasons why the turkey population is declining.

Jack Danchak is a longtime sportsmen and spent 30 years as the President of the Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs of Sullivan County, Inc.

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