2003 in NY sucked for 99.9% of the people I have talked to. My brothers, me and my dad had one of the lowest harvests we can remember in a VERY long time. I took a buck and my brother took 2 bucks. My dad and other bro got skunked. The deer numbers are just plain down. We have seen this day coming for many years now as the numbers of deer continue to decline and the DEC keeps blowing smoke up everyone's arse that the herd is growing at a hard to control rate. BULLLSH!T!!!!! Ask any person who has hunted NY for a few decades and they will tell you about the groups of 30 deer that were commonly seen in the days when 5 guys were needed for a "party" permit. Now they give out 7 tags per hunter and you are lucky to see 3 deer together and even then one is just following mommy around.
Sure you are gonna hear stories from random hunters who saw a lot of deer or had a good year but when the OVERWHELMING majority of hunters of all weapons and skill levels are saying that the deer just aren't out there then you have a very real problem that can't be brushed off with comments like "They are out there, you just aren't finding them"
The DEC needs to cut back severely or eliminate doe tags all together for a couple years to give the herd a chance to rebound........It is getting to a point that is not good for either side of the debate. Sooner or later they will have to come clean about deer numbers because casual hunter numbers will start to drop and the only way to get them back is to give them a reasonable chance they might see something without making it their life's work. You have to face facts and realize that a large number of guys just like to get away from it all and kick up their heels around a fire with family and friends and hit the woods a few times and maybe get a chance at a nice deer.........and that's all. They do however want to at least feel like they are hunting and not just sitting in woods where you have just as good a chance at seeing a white elephant as you do a deer. Ever see a look on a guys face that hasn't seen a deer in a week of daylong hunts??........now picture a guy that just saw a few deer and felt his heart pounding.......if he got a shot or not.....BIG DIFFERENCE.......even though neither guy took a deer. Hunter's want to feel like there are deer out there to hunt. Just a realistic chance is all anyone expects. They don't want to have to face lottery-like odds and hope they are the one guy out of 50 that is lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
Last year was dreadful...........so bad that my previously mentioned hunting clan are thinking of putting on a search for some new woods. We are gonna give it the spring and summer scouts but if the numbers remain awful we are gonna head east some and hope the tide changes in our usual spots.
It's that bad.
God I wish we would all band together and not harvest a doe for a couple years in spite of the DEC's preaching of nothing short of slaughter.
Fingers are crossed in hopes that this is as bad as it gets...........even though my heart and common sense keep telling me it's not gonna be.