As usual, Doughboy and I have similar thoughts...must be the sigep thing.

Really, I dislike the current option by the DEC....but I dislike even more the first option via NYB. I am an avid bowhunter, but feel that to be way out of line in regards to not only other hunters, but also comes across negatively to me as a bowhunter. I am not holier than thou.

I think it should stay the same...with the exception of maybe opening bow earlier if the DEC saw fit, and have ML lengthened at the end of the year. They pay the same fee for less days in the woods than a bowhunter, and those days are not nearly as enjoyable as the main rut. I say give them AT LEAST an extra week up to a month or whatever the DEC would deem acceptable.
If you need to incorporate a doe only week or weekend, then fine but it needs to be done in a better manner than the current option from the DEC.

And using the logic of short gun seasons in certain states is irrelevant. Their biological situation is 100% different than NY's. They have different numbers of hunters afield, with different deer populations, with different amounts of land open to hunting, different weather patterns, different financing issues, and much more on top of that.

I am all for bowhunting, and enjoy it feverishly, but NYB gives me a bad taste in my mouth. How did that option even come to pass in that organization?