Annual 2016 DMU Report Card
New York
Well...it's that time again to state the DMU you hunt in and give it a letter grade on how you think the deer population is doing in that specific area. I will go first.......
9X....C- I was able to hunt a lot this year with both gun and bow and both sightings and visible sign were down from the previous two years. I can't blame DEC because they have continued to keep doe tags low. Predation ( coyote and bear) is a problem without a doubt. I just hope Jeremy Hurst continues to keep the doe tags low for this unit.
6N receives a D, deer herd still not recovered from the winter kill of 2014-15. I do blame the DEC for banning supplemental winter feeding . Winter survivability is the key to this WMU.
Pat, I doubt you'll ever see a shorter rifle season in the NZ . There are many hunt clubs that lease, and have leased large tracts of industrial timberlands for decades. For most of these clubs it's as much about the camp culture spending 6-7 weekends at camp, as it is about the actual hunt. And there are a hell of a lot more rifle hunters in the NZ than there are bowhunters in the NZ. I do not favor a shorter rifle season, because I too enjoy spending time at deer camp. BUT, with that being said, I have advocated for years, that with 6-7 weeks of rifle season, why can't there be a compromise and implement AR in the entire NZ instead of shortening the season ? And for all of you anti-AR people out there, I've heard all of your lame reasons for not supporting AR, so don't waste your or my time , flaming me about AR.
6S - New Hartford - B+ - from what I saw there is a healthy population across age groups. 7A - Schroeppel - C 7F - Clay - C
Coyote season is nine months long already. Anyone serious about controlling coyote populations needs to be trapping them. Relentless hound hunting is capable of putting a noticeable dent in local populations. Extending the season so a handful of predator hunters can shoot a few dogs isn't going to make any difference unless they are shooting springtime pups - try getting the general public to agree with that law change. Trappers, the largest group harvesting coyotes, will also object to extending seasons even further out of prime fur season.
I don't like AR but if it came with 1 buck per year per hunter then sign me up. Highly doubtful you'd ever get enough support from the northern upstate hunters to get it statewide. I believe a considerable number of "baby bucks" are being shot by bow, crossbow and muzzleloader because the tags exist.
Baiting - out of control. If you told me 75% of hunters are baiting I'd believe it.
Supplemental feeding - See link below. Even if it were legalized, and DEC was able to turn a blind eye to CWD risks, there aren't enough people with the knowledge or money to do this right statewide. For every one that did it right, nine would do it half-azzed.
Link on supplemental feeding from Maine Wildlife:
4J gets an A+ and 4B gets a B. I saw a lot of deer this year in 5 bucks and a doe. 4J and killed a nice 3.5 year old and a doe fawn. An awful lot of small bucks but I also saw several P&Y bucks as well. Need to start shooting more does as the rut is not great with all the does available. $B I did not hunt it a lot but saw a few good bucks and we killed 5 deer on our lease, 4 bucks and a doe. The numbers were not great and I believe that is due to coyotes being a problem in the area we hunt. I will get after them soon. Overall a very good season in my hunting areas. Scooby
Erict, I don't care if people feed deer statewide. My concern is In WMU 6N , the core of the Tug Hill Plateau, highest snowfall east of the Rockies. People here properly fed deer in winter for decades before the feeding ban, it's not rocket science. Back then, even with our harsh winters we had a thriving deer herd, not so since the feeding ban. The CWD in NY had nothing to do with supplemental winter feeding, muzzle to muzzle contact happens with deer wether you feed or not. CWD originated in a Taxidermist shop, who also kept deer in an enclosure, and exposed these captive deer to western mule deer and elk, that he was mounting.. CWD was way over blown and the way the government handled it was a complete and utter debacle. After hundreds of deer were killed by Gov. Sharpshooters, and thousands of hunter killed deer were tested, only 2 deer tested positive, and possibly both deer were related. Both within a 1/2 mile from the Taxidermist shop. After many years no other deer have been found with CWD.
6K - B I saw less deer than last year but took a 3.5 year old 9 Point with the rifle and a doe with the MZ. Also passed on a couple small bucks. Things are slowly changing for the better as far as seeing more mature bucks in the woods and on camera. I support shortening the NZ gun season by 2 or 3 weeks.
4F - B I saw about the same amount of deer as last year but more bucks. Our group passed on a bunch of small bucks and took one mature buck. Things here are headed in the right direction.
8N - B+ Plenty of doe and bucks seen in this area. Passed on some small bucks and took 2.5 year old 8 pt with the bow. I don't see a need for much change here.
9Y - A - Excellent population of bucks and does. Only problem is too many junkyard bucks and spikes that need to be trimmed out so the little 2.5 year old rackers will make it through. Thank god no mandatory AR here! Like just across the border in Northcentral Pa. where the deer herd has been decimated and hunter participation is dropping like a stone due to the regressive AR policy. Took two eights and a doe here. 9X - B - Where I hunt, on the eastern edge of this big DMU, there is relatively dense population of doe, but few larger bucks but plenty of spikes. Spikes need to be shot. Hopefully the mandatory AR mentality will fade as a fad and hunters will once again take the spikes out and the small 2.5 year old will make it another year. Took a doe.
Unit 1C ..Give them an A..Plenty of deer to sling arrows at if you desire.Glad they lifted the ban on bucks for opening week.Only problem I see is too many spikes.Guess i'm to blame for that a little.See at least 4 to 6 every sit and have only shot 1 about 3 years ago.Happy New Year to all..Mike
7h: F-. but lots of nusiance killing going had been going on over the past 3 years in my area. I hear it is better a few miles away, within 7H
7P......C+ . there was a noticeable lack of doe activity from the beginning to the end, I passed up a half dozen shots on young bucks in October ( on video ) waiting for one of the big bucks I had gotten on camera...I'm still waiting for that shot.....Tom
1C- excellent year. A+. Haven't seen a year this good ever. Saw some great bucks this year and had so many different ones get caught by cameras.
3c Ashokan Reservoir (Ulster County DEP land. 3 point rule) Personally didn't have the vacation days to scout the area we generally hunt but the old man was in the woods for early bear in Sept. He says there were bucks and does all over the place all hours of the day. The Next time we were able to go back up to hunt was The first week of Nov hoping the rut was about to kick off. Spent those 5 days in the tree and didn't see a thing. Driving back to the house at sunset you'd see deer all over The place. Not sure if the DEP land was hunted out or the weather was warmer than usual. It was almost like the deer disappeared. Went back up the first week of Dec. to the same area and shot a young 8 ptr. at 1pm with the gun. Other than that, hadn't seen any deer. There were signs of bucks all over. The butcher says the second rut was heating up and had plenty of deer being dropped off. Still looking for my first bow buck and can't wait until next year!
7R - A - No complaints here. This is my second year hunting this area. This year I drew my bow once on a 125 class 3.5 year old buck. Seen a lot of does and smaller bucks. Good mature bucks on camera I hope make it through to next year and should be even better!
7R - A - No complaints here. This is my second year hunting this area. This year I drew my bow once on a 125 class 3.5 year old buck. Seen a lot of does and smaller bucks. Good mature bucks on camera I hope make it through to next year and should be even better!
So did you shoot the 125" buck? Scooby
Scooby - That's the buck in the picture. I posted it twice by mistake. Also posted the story as "first bow buck" it grossed 126 inches, but netted 118 1/8 so no big buck club. But who cares right? Already looking forward to seeing what bucks make it through the winter for next year! Here's another look.
6C, 6G and 6H would be a D-F. This year in those WMUs was pretty terrible. Out of all my times out I saw a total of 10 deer all season long and only one of those was a buck, a spike. I guess that the herd was making a sort of comeback after the bad Winter we had a couple years ago, but there was a ton of shooting, and most of the deer I saw get taken were young. The hunting in my area is actually pretty terrible.. Oh well, at least my land taxes went up, so that is always good.... I got to get out of here.
