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WNY Bowhunter

I don't see Steuben County mentioned on that list...but I'm still totally against it and hope it gets shot down. Personally, I wanna see less young bucks hanging on the local meatpoles and see more make to the higher age classes. As for safety issues...there is an unbelievable number of deer hunters in the southern tier region...that's alot of rifles going off near farms/houses.Here's the scariest thought of all...all ofthe first-day hunters from the city coming down armed with rifles shooting at every little deer that comes by. I can't believe it...they didn'topen the early doe muzzleloader season in October because it was too controversial and everyone was pissed off. Now they try this bullsh*t again[:@]?

This statement cracks me up too:

"For several years, the growth in the population of deer in the Southern Tier have been profound, to the point that this wildlife management bill has been passed so as to mitigate economic losses to our residents and to save lives as well," said Senator Dale M. Volker.

Huh....I thought that the DEC was cutting back on the DMP permits this fall due to the decline in harvest numbers across the state in the past couple of years. This guy needs to get his head out of his butt. Just my two cents on the issue.

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SPIKEHORN11

I am Happy!!! I hunt in Oswego County Where on the south side of RT. 49 you can't use a rifle but the north side you can. Now I have to dust off my .243. I have to say that I will miss my 1100. Alot of memories have taken place using that.

Allseasonhunter7

im glad cayuga isnt on there

BuckAlley

I'm not so sure Volker has all his facts straight, especially on deer populations. I'd also question why those counties only. I'm not opposed to rifles in Southern Tier. I'm more w/CMA here on the accuracy issue. I too hunt Northern Zone w/ rifle where I live, and have a camp in Southern Tier. I absolutely regret the Shotgun opener. I can't stand hearing all the repeated shots, sometimes guys even reloading & emptying again. I can never figure why.many hunters w/shotguns seem to always try and outshoot its abilities. So I gotta believe if a hunter is given a rifle, practices, and becomes very accurate with it taking advantage of its capabilities. Then therepeated shooting would decrease. Less shots blazing through the woods seems a heck of alotsafer to me. Many areas of Northern NY are farm lands also. Its not all woods. Plus if you look at some of the 04' DEC harvest numbers by town. You'll see that several Northern Zone areas had higher deer takes then some Southern Zones. My own Northern township is a perfect example of a higher take then the Southern Tier township my camp resides. Plus its been working fine in PA for yrs, andya know how popular hunting is there. So I'm all for it. Heck last 2 seasons I've carried my muzzleloader during shotgun season over the darn slug thrower.Far as safety on shotguns I say NYS implements a 3-shot plug rule to slow these guys down!!!

Rwalter63

Doesn't look like this is a done deal yet. Here is a link to the actual bills on NYS web site.

http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=S00918
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A04853

Looks like they decided to go with the version that the Assembly passed and now its back at the Senate for another vote, Then Pataki will have to sign off on it. Though it does look like it should pass who knows if George will sign it.

WNY Bowhunter

BuckAlley:
I agree with you 100% on that one. The amount of shooting that goes on during the opening day of deer season here in the southern tier is absolutely disgusting...what do those guys think there going to hit by rapid firing 5 shots off? Last season I counted 250+ shots by 8:30 on opening morning...and that was during a below average year! There's lots of idiots out in the woods that really shouldn't evenbe there [:@].

Its also true that alot of guys take poor shots at deer...whether they're too far away or running full bore through the woods. No question about it...on a stationary standing deer a rifle is a more accurate weapon. However, with a little practice,a scoped shotgun with modern rifled sabots is also a more than effective gun out to 100+ yds. Not all of your shots are gonna be at standing deer (especially during the opening day frenzy)...what's gonna stop guys with rifles from ripping off shots at deer running through the woods or a nice buck out in the field at 400 yds.? There's gonna be deer getting wounded and unrecovered no matter what. I know some guys who kill nuisance permit deer at a buddy of mine's farm evey summer...and they have more deer get away with rifles than they actually kill out right. If you hit a deer where you're supposed to with its witha slug or a rifle, it's not gonna go too far. Unfortunatley, alot of guys I know simply dust their guns off the afternoon before season opens, fire a few shots throught it and think that they're ready to go hunting. I gotta believe that they would do the same thing with a rifle too. I would really hate to know how many deer go unrecovered every season.

I don't know what would be more dangerous...the number ofslugs going through the woods...or the potential range of the rifles. Neither are too safe. I can't believe that there's anywhere in the northern zone where there are as many hunters in the woods at one time as there is in the area I hunt here in Steuben County. It takes an awful lot of hunters to kill over 20,000 deer a year during 2000-2003. This area usually averages right around 16-17 deer taken PSM, this past year is dropped to around 10. That's still alot of shooting going on...no matter if its will a shotgun or a riffle.Like you said though, not all areas in the southern zone have the same topography. I feel thatalot of areasare just too crowded for rifles.

Maybe that's not such a bad idea. Maybe you should be required to pass a shooting test before you can purchase your deer licence every season?

It seems to have worked a little too fine down there...that's why they implimented AR's in the first place. The entire buck herd was getting slaughtered on a yearly basis. I sure don't want that. I believe that the real issue here in the southern tierisn't whether or not shotguns are efficient at killing deer and controlling deer populations(thousands of shotgun carrying huntersfill there freezers with venison in NY every fall)...the REAL issue is access to land. How are hunters gonna control deer when they can't get to them...in which case it reallydoesn't matter much if you are using a shotgun or a rifle.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this one turns out. By the way, where in the southern zone is your camp located?

Frank in the Laurels

To be honest about it, I have hunted in NY for over 30 years for turkey and other small game but never for big game..I never thought I'd see the day in my lifetime but it looks like the sun may be coming up on that day...guess I'll have to buy the big license this fall and go for everything..guess...there is hope for Sunday hunting in PA..I equally never thought that day would come either...

MA Jay

Does Senator Volker know something I don't? How does a "newer" rifle cause less damage than traditional shotgun? Just thought I'd point that out as it appears as such a crazy statement. Only a politician can pull off a quote like that!