RE: NYSDEC is a joke
 

NY bowhunter, you didnt seem to be much help here. if there there is one doe left in NYS what would you do? kill it before the neighbors do?? Thatwould bea complete joke. Brown is down will never be my motto
my site: www.pbase.com/mlo3135127 or www.wildturkey.smugmug.com

RE: NYSDEC is a joke
 

I suppose if I was hungry enough.;)

I understand where you're coming from and you do have a point. I just think it's a joke that it has to come to that point.

mine either, but again there will be more and more people that adopt that philosophy or even worse give it up completely. To even get to the point where it is heading that way is a joke in itself and uneccesary IMO.

RE: NYSDEC is a joke
 

How can you possibly blame hunters that are being told the deer numbers are out of control for filling tags? Maybe they wouldn't have filled all those tags if they had known the truth.


So you are just willing to accept poor hunting conditions??

Not me.


Why not??........we did then. Texas has over 4 million deer and they don't have a problem.


Out where?


I don't understand why so many people are saying this..........then why do we have a DEC?? I think some of you guys are confused about what reality is when you step outside of grampa's farm.

RE: NYSDEC is a joke
 

Then you agree with this thread.


I hunt plenty of private land.

Thank god this isn't a spelling bee ;)


Don't want.......or have any need for QDM.


Public land USED to be great in NY until the DEC ruined it........private land is next........it will soon start disappearing due to people leasing it due to poor public conditions.

Then what will you do?

RE: NYSDEC is a joke
 

There are plenty of deer in my area,(southeastern NY). I still get 2 dmp's every year. I have had at least 1 opportunity to take a deer every other day I have been out this season.

Took this buck on the second day of the season...

RE: NYSDEC is a joke
 

We're happy for you ... nice buck.

Does that mean that the guys who are worried about the herd in their area are wrong?

RE: NYSDEC is a joke
 

Great. Good for you.

But ..... I absolutely hate it when some self righteous guy tells me that he's hunting like he is "spoused to be!!!" (sic).

I busted my butt for 24 days in bow season and saw 2 spikes and a little six. I got lucky on the second day of gun and got a 10 pt that rough scored 127.

That is how its supposed to be. But it doesn't change the fact that the herd is down....way down. My buddy cuts deer. They did 180 deer in 2002, 150 in 2003. They did 80 last year and have done 31 this year.

Explain it to me. Did all of these hunters suddenly forget to hunt like they were "spoused to be!!!" (sic).

RE: NYSDEC is a joke
 

Interesting thread. Very similar to the PA threads. Being a hunter in MA, its hard for me to understand people complaining about only seeing 10-12 deer during the gun season. I hunt areas of low density and numbers like that would make my season a great one. Odd thing is, I fish in easternNY and see deer thereall the time. In fact, I see more deer in NY every year than all of New England combined, despite spending allot less time there. Just over the border from VT I can drive to areas of NY and see does regularly, often in or near public lands. I also stay at an Inn run by a bowhunter. He hunts DEC land and claims he sees deer almost every outing. Thats good hunting in my book. He claims that once the orange army shows up, the deer go to safe areas.A gun hunter could walk the woods and think all the deer had dissapeared. This is not in central or west NY, this is the northeatern end which is supposed to have "less" deer. So it seems there aresome deer around that section of the state.

Now I know it used to be better. But we all know that capacity on lands is limited to what it can support long term. I think deer mgt history has shown that have excess deer on land that cannot support them is detremental to the deerherd in the long run. As well as other species. Seeing 30 deer a day in the NE US is crazy.Your deer herd will be better off without such high densitiesas time goes on.

Is it possible that your area has been overharvested ?? Absolutly. The DEC dosn't have the data or manpower to micro-manage every tract of public land. It can only manage the best it can with the system they have. So it may be frustrating. But it also can be a time to check out new areas and get on with hunting.

Please do not attack me. I am just adding my two cent view from an outsiders perspective. I still think NY's hunting is way better than New England as far as numbers go. Consider yourselves lucky.

RE: NYSDEC is a joke
 

atlasman...you need to quit whining...it is going to get you no where. ive seen tons of deer this year more than in recent...saw 22 just the other night.......only reason im not tagged out is because ive passed on some does.....waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...yo u guys are ridiculous.....i hunt in farmersville, and bethany

RE: NYSDEC is a joke
 

I wont even begin to suggest that I have all the answers,or any for that matter but I know what I see.I live in Woodstock NY.I hunt primarily in 3a and 3c.In the archery season I saw plenty of deer,Of the 20 or so times that I was on stand I think there were only two instances that I didn't see deer.In the archery season I typically hunt at much lower elevations,in reality I am hunting in several area's where I couldn't comfortably rifle hunt (legally I could but for me personally it would not be comfortable)I saw eleven different bucks in the archery season as well as either three or four bears and five or six coyote's.Of the bucks that I could have shot which were four or five,I passed on all of them,the best of them were a medium sized six pointer and a small eight pointer.Most of my archery hunting is done on private land with next to no hunting pressure.My sense of the deer herd in our area is that there are pockets where there are lot's of deer,for the most part private land with almost no hunting pressure and there are area's with hardly any deer.I don't rifle hunt a lot at home,I have been fortunate to have rifle hunted in Idaho for the last several years and I am typically out there for about 12 days so when I get back it is later in our rifle season and I have a lot to catch up on with my business and my family.The point of that being is that I am used to not so great rifle hunting when I get home.I have been out rifle hunting about a day and a half since returning and I have hunted in area's that I know quite well that are mountainous I have seen very little deer sign in area's that have always held good concentrations of deer.On fresh snow yesterday I walked many miles and saw only two sets of tracks.Is this enough to draw conclusions about our herd.No but there are a lot of factors pointing to much lower herd numbers,in no particular order.
1)Not nearly as many road kill's,either visually or in my business.(I am a partner in an insurance agency)
2)The taxidermists in our area are way down in the number of animals brought in.
3)The deer processors are way down.ONe fellow did 240 deer last year,he is only at 70 to current date.
4)I travel extensively in my community at all hours of the day(early morning,early evening)there are fields and orchards where I am accustomed to seeing 15 to 20 deer at a time,I am lucky if I have seen 5 or 6 together at one time.
5)The indicator that I place the most weight on,friends and acquaintainces who are very good hunters are not seeing nearly as many deer and are having a lot more 0 for days.
I go along with atlasman and those who have said that it is not our individual responsibility to manage the herd,we need to trust the professionals (biologists) and let them do their job's.Their conclusions should be a whole lot more scientific then ours.I personally believe it is all about habitat.If you have good habitat and little or no pressure you will have game.In the catskill park with no public land able to be logged you have an over mature forest with the canopy not allowing the sun to get to the forest floor.As a result there is no browse or thick undergrowth with the animals more dependant on cyclical foods(mast).So they move lower and lower to the 5,10,and 20 acre parcels where the second home owner environmentalists think that any one who could kill an animal is a heathen.But that is where they are,food and security is where it is at.
Scout.scout ,scout and scout some more.Just this morning I read an outdoor life article that stated thatour kill numbers were down 29% last year.I believe this year the percentage will be even greater.