Dave

I have seen deer and turkey on the Bronx River/Sprain Pkwy Opposite the golf course and near the Electric Transmission lines of Con ED.Dave

Buck, hope you got that trailer for a good price, when you get finished it will look like new. Lots of TLC going into the work. Fixed roof, new floor, what's next? I could use some help redoing my kitchen.Dave

Buck, how long is that trailer? Will you cover the whole roof or is it too expensive? Were just the seams leaking? Nice job.Dave

leave the bow hunters alone, we don't need no stinkin changes. Dave

Camo and bling may work well. Dave

We missed your input Doc.Dave

Wouldn't it be better for the DEC and the Hunters to kill both the deer and coyotes. Surprised the DEC is giving the yotes a free pass.

For the DEC to put together a 5 year plan they must of had a lot of input from many sources. I am shocked that mandatory reporting was never considered especially when you want to get a handle on the doe situation and allocation of DMP. Also what about coyote predation? Why don't we have open season on coyote, I am sure they account for a lot of dead deer that go unreported. Dave

Doe, if they know the numbers than leave the bow tags alone. Adjust the DMP with the gun season.Dave What happens when people start using more either sex as antlerless in the area? There is no way of controlling the antlerless take without specifying what permits are used where. What you are describing is how the current system is carried out, and its not working very well. It hgas to change or things are only going to get worse. Buck, just another thought what about landowner permits they have to be counted too.Dave

Doe, if they know the numbers than leave the bow tags alone. Adjust the DMP with the gun season.Dave

Personally, Im not really against it. The AR part doesnt affect me, and I have no opinion on it, as I do not hunt the areas it is proposed for, and I dont know what the herd is like there. That leaves me affected by 5 main things. One being crossbows expanded into bow season, which I agree with. Two is the restructuring of DMPs, and I agree that better control of DMPs is most likely going to be a move toward better herd management. Three is the youth weekend, and I am for it. Fourth is the likelyhood that the area I mostly hunt will be one that gets the early ML season. I could do without that, but the 5th thing is an Oct 1 bow opener, which I feel is great, so it pretty much balances out my feeling on the early ML. Buck , the restructuring of the DMP's they have had DMP forever and they still can't get it right. What makes you think they will have a handle on it this time around? MY problem is they should have introduced mandatory reporting that would have been a step in the right direction. Only my humble opinion.Dave Ive long wondered why I have to go through a lottery to get doe tags when they just hand me one with my bow/ml tag. It just didnt make sense to me. The new plan with DMPs make sense to me and IMO is a step in the direction toward better herd managament. I agree on the mandatory reporting, but how would that help with proper allocation of DMPs? They still wouldnt have control over how many does are shot in a particular zone, when anyone that holds an either sex tag can go there and shoot a doe. Buck, they would as long as they report when and where the deer was taken. Then next year they can make adjustments to how many DMP to issue in that area. Lets say they found that too many doe were taken by bow in a particular DMU then they would adjust the DMP to compensate for that and issue DMP for bow only like we do for gun season.Dave That still doesnt give them control over the antlerless harvest. Ok, let me explain it better.... You have unit X, which has a carrying capacity of 10,000 deer, the DEC estimates the current herd to be 12,000 deer, with 5000 being bucks. The average harvest rate for bucks in this area is 500. Therefore, they need to reduce the number of deer by 4000 to get it back within carrying capacity (take into account new born deer, survival rates, etc). That means they need 3500 antlerless deer taken. Now, with the possibility of any bow/ml hunter in the state being able to take an antlerless deer in that zone, how can they even guess at how many antlerless deer will be taken and figure out how many other DMPs to give out? Under the new plan, they would know exactly how many DMPs are given out in zone X before any hunting starts each year because they know how many deer they want taken, and an approximate success rate of DMPs. This of course, would be the most accurate if all kills are reported, so mandatory reporting would make it even better. So the wild card in all of this is the bow hunter with an either sex tag who could potentially hunt in any DMU he feels like. I get it ,these will not be accounted for in the DMP's in those units. Why can't the DCE use data from previous years and DMU to figure out the take of bow hunters and then come up with a DMP allocation unit bu unit. I think they have all this information in their computers just need to access the data.Dave Dave

DEC states there was a 40% decline in buck harvest in delaware county before implementing AR's. Some properties may not have seen this effect and some did. The DEC goes by the area as a whole, not just property by property. I hunt in Delaware county and the buck take is down in my area more than 40%. My camp got one last year , I saw two during bow but no cigar. But I did see more does than I have seen in the past few years.Dave

Personally, Im not really against it. The AR part doesnt affect me, and I have no opinion on it, as I do not hunt the areas it is proposed for, and I dont know what the herd is like there. That leaves me affected by 5 main things. One being crossbows expanded into bow season, which I agree with. Two is the restructuring of DMPs, and I agree that better control of DMPs is most likely going to be a move toward better herd management. Three is the youth weekend, and I am for it. Fourth is the likelyhood that the area I mostly hunt will be one that gets the early ML season. I could do without that, but the 5th thing is an Oct 1 bow opener, which I feel is great, so it pretty much balances out my feeling on the early ML. Buck , the restructuring of the DMP's they have had DMP forever and they still can't get it right. What makes you think they will have a handle on it this time around? MY problem is they should have introduced mandatory reporting that would have been a step in the right direction. Only my humble opinion.Dave Ive long wondered why I have to go through a lottery to get doe tags when they just hand me one with my bow/ml tag. It just didnt make sense to me. The new plan with DMPs make sense to me and IMO is a step in the direction toward better herd managament. I agree on the mandatory reporting, but how would that help with proper allocation of DMPs? They still wouldnt have control over how many does are shot in a particular zone, when anyone that holds an either sex tag can go there and shoot a doe. Buck, they would as long as they report when and where the deer was taken. Then next year they can make adjustments to how many DMP to issue in that area. Lets say they found that too many doe were taken by bow in a particular DMU then they would adjust the DMP to compensate for that and issue DMP for bow only like we do for gun season.Dave

Buck, lets say the DEC wants to increase the herd in a DMU. And they give out X amount of DMP , how will they know the impact of the DMP or how many bucks were taken in that area? They can use the information provided by successful hunters but what about the hunters who don't report their results? So how do they mamage the deer herd if they don't have an accurate count on what has been taken. This is totally flawed . They have no idea what they are managing that's why they are issuing new restrictions.Dave

I got my info from a wildlife biologist. I tend to believe him more than a law breaker like you! The deer herd is not decimated in all of NY, thats why they will never have AR's in regions 7, 8 &9. In regions 3 & 4 its a different story. Dont come on here and talk crap about breaking the law if you dont even know the facts. You must admit that Skillet is being perfectly honest. Saying something that many hunters feel but will not put into words on this thread. Whether you or I agree with him or not. There are the fore and against and there are hunters who will do what they feel is right to them. It has always been that way and I don't think it will change.Dave Dave

Personally, Im not really against it. The AR part doesnt affect me, and I have no opinion on it, as I do not hunt the areas it is proposed for, and I dont know what the herd is like there. That leaves me affected by 5 main things. One being crossbows expanded into bow season, which I agree with. Two is the restructuring of DMPs, and I agree that better control of DMPs is most likely going to be a move toward better herd management. Three is the youth weekend, and I am for it. Fourth is the likelyhood that the area I mostly hunt will be one that gets the early ML season. I could do without that, but the 5th thing is an Oct 1 bow opener, which I feel is great, so it pretty much balances out my feeling on the early ML. Buck , the restructuring of the DMP's they have had DMP forever and they still can't get it right. What makes you think they will have a handle on it this time around? MY problem is they should have introduced mandatory reporting that would have been a step in the right direction. Only my humble opinion.Dave

Well putDave

For all the proposed changes to be implemented by the DEC I think they left out one very important factor. That would be mandatory reporting of your success and lack of success. This is a important part of deer management knowing the real numbers not a guesstimate like we have now. If we want to know if we have a declining deer herd or if they feel it's in balance the numbers would reflect that. How could they implement a 5 year plan and have not considered mandatory reporting. May be like Doc said they just change for the sake of change and there is no benefit to deer or the hunters.Dave

Do you want to have it mounted from a picture and the measurements? Or is it the fish, and you don't practice catch and release. Dave

Good point John, never considered a DMP for bow only. I think that is a better solution, and can be controlled by DMU on an as needed basis.Dave

To all you bow hunters out there how do you feel about losing your opportunity to take either buck or doe? Also having guns used during the bow season. And having to apply for a DMP to take a doe. Dave

Just take a look at this economy, unemployment rates and you tell me that it's not going to affect the hunting numbers. If people are concerned about their jobs and paying their bills hunting is the last thing on their minds. So as they see the changes proposed by the DEC they will realize that they are paying for nothing and guess what they will not buy that license. They will not take the time off from work just to sit in the woods and take pictures of the game they can't shoot. They will opt to stay home with their families and save the money, and use it where it is needed, not in the pockets of the DEC. This will make some on this site happy to have the deer and the woods to them selves. You know who I am referring to. Dave

Culver looks great good job.Dave

Love to find a good place to squirrel hunt. I hunt in 4W and didn't see a squirrel last season not even during deer season. Dave

My opinion is it should be done unit by unit, not treating them all the same.Dave