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[Steve Petersen]

I didn't realize Wyoming had lowered the age. What is it now? Shoot, that would have quite possible changed the calculus for taking my middle son out there... Oh well..

You now have to turn 12 by the end of the calendar year in order to hunt.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

It's 12 now. The kid needs to be with a licensed adult and needs to be wearing blaze orange (which you generally don't need to do in NY, so that's something different, too). I tend to think that even 12 is pushing things and I've started both my hunting sons around 10, but I'll take it!

Yeah to be honest I don't see why there is a minimum age period. Should be up to the parents + when the kids can pass hunter's ed. Kids mature at different rates.

One caveat, I think the youth applications for big game tags in the west are a bit suspicious, a lot of them are fine but some of them feel like just another opportunity for a 45 year old to get a tag. 14 year old with a sheep tag . Totally fine with kids accumulating points or whatever and then being able to put in at 18 with 3+3 in the case of CO. I DK maybe I'm being cranky.

CO in 2020
28 NR drew sheep tags
11 R Youths (12-17) drew sheep tags

1NR drew a Desert Sheep tag
1 R Youth (12-17) drew a Desert sheep tag

 

[Dougfirtree]

You now have to turn 12 by the end of the calendar year in order to hunt.

Well, I like it, but darn, I should have gotten my son a tag for next year. His turns 12 in late October and I decided we'd just wait until 2022 and go when it was a bit warmer.

 

[Dougfirtree]

Yeah to be honest I don't see why there is a minimum age period. Should be up to the parents + when the kids can pass hunter's ed. Kids mature at different rates.

One caveat, I think the youth applications for big game tags in the west are a bit suspicious, a lot of them are fine but some of them feel like just another opportunity for a 45 year old to get a tag. 14 year old with a sheep tag . Totally fine with kids accumulating points or whatever and then being able to put in at 18 with 3+3 in the case of CO. I DK maybe I'm being cranky.

CO in 2020
28 NR drew sheep tags
11 R Youths (12-17) drew sheep tags

1NR drew a Desert Sheep tag
1 R Youth (12-17) drew a Desert sheep tag

I totally get that. How do those kids draw the tags with so few points, though? Is there a random portion of the draw?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I totally get that. How do those kids draw the tags with so few points, though? Is there a random portion of the draw?

CO is pref for 3 points then random for everyone with more than three points. Desert is completely random.

 

[EastCoast94]

https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/deerplandraft1120.pdf

here’s the link to the Deer Management Plan for NY. I read thru it a while ago and I have to say I agree with a lot of the proposals.

 

[Beignet]

https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/deerplandraft1120.pdf

here’s the link to the Deer Management Plan for NY. I read thru it a while ago and I have to say I agree with a lot of the proposals.

I'd seen that, and also agree with 99% of it (though I'd really like to keep an exclusive bow season for a little stretch). The issue I see is in the two maps attached to this post. Those downstate problem-deer areas are located where access is especially limited. The state could really use a comprehensive state-wide plan to ease hunters access to private property, state parks, municipalities, and conservation easements in agreement with whoever owns the property.

Westchester County has a bad deer problem, but the amount of hunt-able land in the county is small (almost exclusively small parcels of NYCDEP owned property). I personally couldn't get anyone to respond to emails or phone calls on the sole private conservation easement "open to hunting" there. In another Orange County problem-deer area I can't get the Nature Conservancy to respond to my access inquiries either. It seems that even a lot of state parks in these problem areas self-impose limits through a hodgepodge of weird access applications and individual permits for a specific area. Kudos to Cornell University for recognizing the problem and opening up a lot of their land in the Central NY problem-deer areas though. Maybe a state-wide permit with sign-in boxes for open private land? I'm not sure what the best solution is, but the current system doesn't work well.

A bit of my above concerns are alluded to in the DMP in strategies 2.2.2, 2.3.3, 2.4.2, and 2.4.3. But just alluded to. The most I could find in here on implementation is on pg. 26 and simply states "The simplest and least expensive way for communities to control local deer populations is to allow regulated hunting to occur on public and private lands within their boundaries by ensuring that local codes and ordinances do not preclude otherwise safe and lawful use of firearms or bows for hunting." But again, no plan to really get this done. The solution seems to be throw more doe tags at the problem. But, the success rates on those tags, even during gun season, is pretty slim. All those small parcel public land problem deer just get bumped over to the safety of private property.

Also, sorry again for derailing the thread. I hope that 12 year olds can use their new hunting privileges downstate to bag some problematic private property does with more ease.

 

[EastCoast94]

I'd seen that, and also agree with 99% of it (though I'd really like to keep an exclusive bow season for a little stretch). The issue I see is in the two maps attached to this post. Those downstate problem-deer areas are located where access is especially limited. The state could really use a comprehensive state-wide plan to ease hunters access to private property, state parks, municipalities, and conservation easements in agreement with whoever owns the property.

Westchester County has a bad deer problem, but the amount of hunt-able land in the county is small (almost exclusively small parcels of NYCDEP owned property). I personally couldn't get anyone to respond to emails or phone calls on the sole private conservation easement "open to hunting" there. In another Orange County problem-deer area I can't get the Nature Conservancy to respond to my access inquiries either. It seems that even a lot of state parks in these problem areas self-impose limits through a hodgepodge of weird access applications and individual permits for a specific area. Kudos to Cornell University for recognizing the problem and opening up a lot of their land in the Central NY problem-deer areas though. Maybe a state-wide permit with sign-in boxes for open private land? I'm not sure what the best solution is, but the current system doesn't work well.

A bit of my above concerns are alluded to in the DMP in strategies 2.2.2, 2.3.3, 2.4.2, and 2.4.3. But just alluded to. The most I could find in here on implementation is on pg. 26 and simply states "The simplest and least expensive way for communities to control local deer populations is to allow regulated hunting to occur on public and private lands within their boundaries by ensuring that local codes and ordinances do not preclude otherwise safe and lawful use of firearms or bows for hunting." But again, no plan to really get this done. The solution seems to be throw more doe tags at the problem. But, the success rates on those tags, even during gun season, is pretty slim. All those small parcel public land problem deer just get bumped over to the safety of private property.

Also, sorry again for derailing the thread. I hope that 12 year olds can use their new hunting privileges downstate to bag some problematic private property does with more ease.

I agree completely with the access issues you mention. I do a lot of hunting on Long Island and there are so many different rules regarding parking areas, huntable land, etc... that it is extremely frustrating. The public land that is there gets hit really hard with bow hunters, small game, hikers, and bikers and gets very crowded. We do have an over abundance of deer on the island but it’s mainly on private land. Nassau County is the problem. The population of deer is exploding and there’s no hunting allowed. In the proposal they mention potentially opening a season but there’s no public land there. It would need state parks and conservation areas to allow access for it to work there.

 

[Beignet]

I agree completely with the access issues you mention. I do a lot of hunting on Long Island and there are so many different rules regarding parking areas, huntable land, etc... that it is extremely frustrating. The public land that is there gets hit really hard with bow hunters, small game, hikers, and bikers and gets very crowded. We do have an over abundance of deer on the island but it’s mainly on private land. Nassau County is the problem. The population of deer is exploding and there’s no hunting allowed. In the proposal they mention potentially opening a season but there’s no public land there. It would need state parks and conservation areas to allow access for it to work there.

Ah, hi “neighbor!” I’m just around the way in Brooklyn.

I tried LI once this past fall just to say that I did (one of my hunting buddies in MT did some grad school out there). But boy, it was rough! I inadvertently picked a day that coincided with one of those pheasant releases the state does. Dudes must’ve been shooting at every bush cause it sounded like Beirut in the late 70’s over there.

I also went to your guys’ public archery range a few times last summer. Was happy to see the level of enthusiasm and camaraderie between hunters out tuning up their gear.

Also curious how they’d plan to implement something in Nassau County with the lack of NYSDEC land. Thought it funny that they mentioned deer showing up in Queens; I’ll be first in line to apply for a Flushing Meadows NYC archery tag whenever that goes down.

 

[EastCoast94]

Ah, hi “neighbor!” I’m just around the way in Brooklyn.

I tried LI once this past fall just to say that I did (one of my hunting buddies in MT did some grad school out there). But boy, it was rough! I inadvertently picked a day that coincided with one of those pheasant releases the state does. Dudes must’ve been shooting at every bush cause it sounded like Beirut in the late 70’s over there.

I also went to your guys’ public archery range a few times last summer. Was happy to see the level of enthusiasm and camaraderie between hunters out tuning up their gear.

Also curious how they’d plan to implement something in Nassau County with the lack of NYSDEC land. Thought it funny that they mentioned deer showing up in Queens; I’ll be first in line to apply for a Flushing Meadows NYC archery tag whenever that goes down.

Ahh small world! Yea those pheasant releases sites get crazy busy. If you ever want to hunt on the island again let me know I would be happy to go out with you. I hunt waterfowl, deer, and small game out there

 

[Beignet]

If you ever want to hunt on the island again let me know I would be happy to go out with you. I hunt waterfowl, deer, and small game out there

I'd appreciate that! I'm out west for MT's rifle season this year, but will be around for a bit at the start of archery season here. There's also the late season opportunity in LI that I presume can't be as crowded as October/November. Would be happy to pass along a little info on a near-ish upstate area or two if you wanted spread out from the crowd a bit this fall.

 

[Nick87]

What are your mixed feelings? Why not take 1st animal?

I always thought I'd take my kids super early to actually be the one hunting. I see a lot of kids shooting there first deer at maybe age 5? I dont know if doing so would be as meaningful as maybe when your 10 or 12 etc. At 5 your not going to remember it all that well and they are not involved in the hunting aspect as much as they are there to pull the trigger. Nothing wrong with it by any means, if one of my boys wants to when hes 4 or 5 whatever I'd have a hard time telling him he has to wait, there is no minimum age in Illinois