RE: New Years Resolutions for NY Hunting & Hunters
Early Crossbow (XB) - I know there are many who now think I must be crazy. I have never been strongly for or against crossbows and don’t see myself running out to buy one if they were allowed. But there are some who really would benefit from a XB season such as aging bowhunters, youth, women, and disabled hunters (not just the ones that meet the current, strict guidelines). To me crossbow hunting is not bow hunting or gun hunting. It is “gun hunting at archery ranges”. Therefore, give it its own season & tag and charge for it. You would not be allowed any more deer than current limits, just the opportunity to use the XB (you would get a ML/Bow/XB tag). This would not only give hunters more opportunities to harvest deer, but it would also generate more funds for NY conservation. The season could run concurrently with the last 4 days of early ML and first 3 days of bow season (see above/below).
Archery Season - I didn’t really like losing a prime weekend of bow season with the Saturday gun opener but made the most of it. As hinted above, I would start the bow season on the 8th of October and have the first 3 days concurrent with early XB. The season would then run through the third Saturday in November (that’s right, no Saturday gun opener - details coming). This basically gives bowhunters an extra week of hunting.