Hello Steve, just wanted to jump in on the conversation and provide my two cents worth on the matter. A majority of hunters state they are seeing less deer, resulting in less kills over the last two years and may include this year as well. I say maybe this year, because I know in my area of Tioga county, less doe permits were given out as to the many hunters I know didn't receive one. Guess we'll see when the numbers come out next year from DEC. I know in my local area, these numbers will be skrewed since a few "locals" recycle thier tags.

Also,reports say that we lose more hunters every year here in NY because many retire from the sport from age, illness death, etc. and combine that with the age requirement being 16 for new hunters, it's hard to fill the gap. This is what "drives" hunters away. If we are seeing less quality deer in the area, AR is not a bad thing.Seems you know your stat's, so you must also know then that 90 percent of all the bucks taken in NY are 1.5 and younger. "90" percent! If we are already experiencing lower deer sightings and kills, let's impliment the AR restrictions to rebuild our heards like PA has done. Yes, the next two years will be tough, but the rewards out way the issue of no harvest for that particular time frame. We'll have bigger bucks, not only antler size, but in body weight as well so that you can really fill that freezer up.

I think manyhunters have a resonable chance of taking a deer as you referred to, but maybe they should take a doe rather then a small buck if given an option. Again, in my area, less doe tags were given out, but I see believe that a hunter then should enjoy the sights of a young deer and let them go/grow for another year, rather then feel the only enjoyment is in the kill. So if your seeing less deer, and continue to shoot the ones you do see, pretty soon you won't see any. Common sense needs to prevail here for all of us, if we don't want DEC to impose restrictions, then we as hunters need to make the right choices. But again, we are a land of laws due to the fact many can't make the right choices and that common sense is no longer "common".[]