NDA deer agency of the year…?
Whitetail Deer
NDA awards their deer agency of the year to New York? Seriously?
Arguably the single worst deer program in the country.
But Kip Adams is impressed.
I’m wondering if the NDA consulted with Zim before making their final decision on this award?…
I guess this award is comparable to Cuomo winning an Emmy ?
I know Pat, when I got the press release, I nearly spit out my coffee. Just to show how "credible" the NDA is, last year, they sent out a nationwide email to their entire membership that called for them to inundate Albany with calls for full crossbow inclusion in NYS's archery seasons. I sent an official letter to them, asking why anyone from CA, FL, IN, etc... would be involved in NYS hunting legislation. I was surprised to get a response, but it was the typical "big tent" theory one.
And this latest act, just stripped away any sense of validity that they seek as an organization. The NYs-DEC is, as Pat said, THE WORST conservation/game agency around. They are misguided in their ways, and have strayed far away from the definition of conservation (The WISE us of natural resources).
This is a total joke! What do you expect from an organization who has Round-Up, parent company Monsanto, as one of their corporate sponsors. Monsanto is the most evilest of empires, just ask any farmer!
That’s funny because all the changes NY made to their deer seasons like 14 year olds to 12 and 30 minutes before and after most states have already had a long time ago. I guess they call that innovation?!
“I guess they call that innovation?!”
Spike, it’s NY. They call it “progressive”. It’s more inclusive than innovation!
Check this out, in 2021 NY was deemed #1 on the list of worst deer hunting states. And this is from data compiled by the QDMA, which is now the NDA.
In my zone, the deer density is about 5-10 deer per square mile. No doe tags are issued at all in my zone because the population is so low. But the State the NDA has awarded 'Deer Agency of the Year' has a 6 week firearm season and 2 buck tags. Bow season is only 2 weeks in NY. Firearms starts the 2nd week of October and runs until the first week of December. Gun hunters get the pre-rut, rut and post rut.
From the website:
Worst Deer Hunting States in the US
1. New York
One of the largest states in the Northeast, New York easily slides in at number one on our list. While it has a large deer population, the Empire State ranks third in hunter density nationwide (15.1 hunters per square mile), and while harvest numbers are competitive nationally, 54 percent of all bucks harvested were yearling deer.
In fact, only 18 percent of all bucks harvest in New York were three and a half years old or older (fourth lowest nationally). This, combined with the highest average snowfall in the nation, means New York has a large number of hunters enduring miserable conditions and a hostile political climate (in New York, you pay extra for your bowhunting "privilege") to hunt a deer herd that is imbalanced at best.
That, friends, is enough to earn New York the number one spot on our list of 10 Worst Deer Hunting States in the country.
I was wondering if the QDMA bubbas changed names to NDA. Maybe some much negative baggage with the QDMA name??
Kinda makes Colorado look like the big game hunting capital of the nation, eh? ;-)
Matt
Kip Adams once told me that the NYSDEC was the standing joke of deer management around the country. Yearling bucks comprise 54% of NY’s buck harvest. Man that’s outstanding deer management and deserves an award from the NDA who preach, “ let them go so they can grow”.
If you don't mind someone forcing their social desires on others....I guess some folks find that acceptable. In that situation...I'm not a fan of it.
Absolutely laughable. In my area of NY we just dealt with an absolutely huge EHD kill. As much as 70-80% of the herd died in my area this past year. Yet doe tags were given out in record numbers, more than in years past. My group of friends all decided to not harvest any does this year, and likely will not for several more years.
But for all the DEC does wrong with deer in NY, waterfowling is even worse. Some of the very worst season dates in the entire country. If their goal was to have NY waterfowlers miss the entire migration, they nailed it.
Overland, like you said, my area, 4Y, everything is dead from EHD. Totally ignored by the DEC, continued to sell licenses and DMP's, after admitting that the EHD threat started a month earlier than last year and caught them off guard. They can all hug it out while the herd is decimated by disease and mismanagement.
I didn't look up the NY regs.....what are the deer bag limits?
2 bucks statewide regardless of unit and doe tags vary by Game unit.
The state is divided by two zones- northern and southern. The northern zone is where my property is located and it’s about 1/3 of the state. Probably the most liberal rifle season in the US at 6 weeks and the single worst bow season at 2 weeks.
The northern zone has very few deer in it. Gets hammered with snow, and there’s almost no doe tags available. However the NY DEC allows two buck tags and a 6-7 week rifle season. But hey, NDA thinks they’re awesome so it must be true.
Pat...that sounds like the climate where my northern Michigan place is at....a lot of snow and cold. However the MI DNR seems to be a little more sensitive to how the weather and predators affect the herd and will adjust when necessary....especially in the Yoop.
Yeah, it’s insane. The biologists know it’s insane too but refuse to change. Politics control the NY DEC. They cite tradition where guys in red plaid track what few deer there are with center fire rifles. The herd gets hammered. Every buck gets hammered. Imagine your deer herd after a 6-week center fire rifle season?
I’ve just about given up on NY deer hunting. Especially since I bought a farm in Ohio which is the complete opposite of NY’s deer program.
A six week gun season does seem a little long for a northern state considering the weather. Down south...that's not a big deal. I think in Maryland the whole combined hunting season at the time I was there started in mid-Sept and ran to the following Feb....a little over 4 months. Michigan is Nov 15th thru Dec 1st.
Was never a fan of QDMA, could care less of what they say...
What our inept DEC also did this year was implement a 2 week, mid-September, early, antlerless-only, firearms hunt in 9 Wildlife Management Units (WMU's). This occurred just days before the Northern Archery opener and 2 weeks before the Southern Archery opener. How's that for disrupting deer behavior?
Just to be clear, this type of mismanagement is nothing new. Over a decade ago, the DEC wanted to stop the Archery season after 2 weeks, then have a 2 week Muzzleloader season, then re-start the Archery season again. We, the bowhunters at least had help with fighting that with the gun hunters. They were up in arms, as they considered that the "new" firearms opener, and they would have to purchase a MZ, in order to get a chance to kill ANY deer.
Thankfully, that inane proposal was scrapped, but it has not stopped their disregard for sound, biological, wildlife management ideas.
I don’t know of many gun hunters in NY that wear red and black plaid anymore. LOL NZ gun success Rates are 1 Buck or less per sq. Mile. So I don’t see how that is killing every deer. The deer population in most areas of the NZ is way higher today than it was in the 60’s and 70’s. The farmland around my home town, 7 miles west of Pat’s land, held no deer during the 60’s.
I agree deer management in NY is political, Ag and Ins industries hold sway in Albany. And the long seasons and liberal bag limits is designed to sell licenses and tags. And since most NY hunters do not have the time or skill set to consistently kill a mature buck, they do not want change and the DEC will change nothing.
Certainly a joke , but will never change in NY. Follow the $$$.
That sure is a joke. I lived in upstate for ten years and actually founded the CNY Branch of the QDMA. The QDMA did a good job at that time, in my opinion. People learned a lot about deer, habitat, age class, genetics, how to work with their neighbors etc.. I hated NY and the DEC so much though that I moved back to the Midwest and never looked back. In my ten years there it seemed the state never made one positive change.
Here is an interesting article regarding how the QDMA had to sell out and become part of the NDA. It’s worth the read in my opinion.
^...thanks for that link as it explains what transpired....or at least what they want to tell you transpired. That article gives the perception the NDA became part of QDMA, yet the new name is NDA?? IMO....it sounds like the QDMA organization was sinking due to loss of revenue and they had to do something to stay alive.
