ORIGINAL: alloutdoors


First of all they aren't just given out like candy as some of you seem to think. First the property is checked to determine that there is actual deer damage occuring. Then the owner is asked if they allow hunting. If not chances are not so good for them getting approved. Whether or not the land is posted is not an issue, although I can understand why this bothers you. Really though, as long as the landowner is making a serious effort to control the herd on their property during the regular season it doesn't matter who is hunting it, I don't think you can force someone to open their land up to anybody. Anyway, if they are making a serious effort and are still having deer damage then nuisance permits become an option.

Another thing that happens a lot is a farmer will call and ask for nuisance permits, but after some talking you find out that the reason they are calling is because someone who hunts their land told them to call and request them, because the hunter wants to have his own private little season. This is the reason for the on site visits and in this case they are usually told to go to hell, although not in such harsh terms. Part of the problem is people seeing the nuisance permits as "extended hunting". DEC tries to stress that there is a difference, nuisance tags are not for hunting, they are to solve a problem. BTW, when nuisance permits are given the landowner is supposed to list who their "shooters" are, so if you know of someone who is just handing them out to all his buddies you might want to give a call to your DEC office and have them look into it. Anyhow, the way it is supposed to work is the permits are given, a couple of shooters are assigned, and after a couple of nights of shooting they take care of the problem.