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Deer Hunter Populations


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I know that no one runs through the woods counting hunters, but I am curious what your impressions are of the deer hunting action that you have noted in shooting activity in recent years compared to older deer seasons that you have participated in in the past. Have you noticed any significant changes in opening day shooting activity?

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Absolute decline in hunters and shooting.Have a place in Catt. county since 97,opening day used to be non stop shooting from before sun up till 11 ish and again from 2 till dark .This year probably heard 40-50 shots all day.Numerous cars parked on roads running thru the state land,this year 1 car Sat.nothing Sun. morning.

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i think a few less hunters but also think as far as not hearing the shots hunting is diffrent back in the day brown was down and deer drives were the norm both resulted in way more shooting... plus more accurate fire arms/rifles back in the day smooth bore 12 ga with foster slugs empting the pump gun at 100yrds was commom

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One opening morning about 30 years ago I decided to count all of the shots that I heard...By 9:00 AM I was up to 125 shots and quit counting...Of course that was back in the shotgun/driving days and   often you heard 3-5 shot volleys...Now with rifles and few people driving deer I might hear 15-20 shots on opening day, nearly all singles..

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Deer Hunters and deer population in the woods are declining annually. This hunting season, I saw more deer behind my home in a small community than the woods. More and likely due to the fact that my neighbors are feeding them. I stayed out all day for this year’s opener and didn’t see a tail. That was brutal!

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This was my first opening day of gun season, in the last 40, that I didn’t hear a single shot.  Could be because I was too far away:

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Otherwise, Overall deer numbers are as high as I’ve ever seen in both areas where  I hunt (wmu 9F and 6C).  Antlered buck to doe ratio, after October 1, has been the same 4:1 in wmu 9F this year, as it has been about the last 25 years.  

Big change in that up in wmu 6C though. I had been seeing 4-5 antlerless deer per each antlered one up there the previous 10 years, but it was about 1:1 this year.  Most of the bucks I saw up there were very small though (spikes and 4 points).  

 

 

 

 

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50 minutes ago, Dr Juice said:

Deer Hunters and deer population in the woods are declining annually. This hunting season, I saw more deer behind my home in a small community than the woods. More and likely due to the fact that my neighbors are feeding them. I stayed out all day for this year’s opener and didn’t see a tail. That was brutal!

It’s illegal to feed deer.  Call the DEC!!

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2 hours ago, land 1 said:

i think a few less hunters but also think as far as not hearing the shots hunting is diffrent back in the day brown was down and deer drives were the norm both resulted in way more shooting... plus more accurate fire arms/rifles back in the day smooth bore 12 ga with foster slugs empting the pump gun at 100yrds was commom

Spot on. The hunters that come to my place this year for the first time passed on small bucks. After seeing what is around on trail cameras they have "been there done that " with the small ones. Each hunter could of tagged a buck opening weekend. 

Edited by First-light
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Shots do not determine how many hunters are in the woods.  The number of hunting license sales is a more accurate figure.  Today there are more than 10 years ago.

Sporting License Sales Summary - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Hunting License Holders
License Year Resident Non-Resident Total Hunting
License Holders
2006-2007 521,805 40,445 562,250
2007-2008 521,960 40,459 562,419
2008-2009 554,918 40,986 595,904
2009-2010 524,276 38,251 562,527
2010-2011 519,472 36,480 555,952
2011-2012 533,624 37,155 570,779
2012-2013 544,275 39,895 584,170
2013-2014 551,391 40,347 591,738
2014-2015 549,999 41,974 591,973
2015-2016 547,223 43,065 590,288
2016-2017 528,327 40,920 569,247
2017-2018 532,149 38,897 571,046
2018-2019 506,873 37,575 544,448
2019-2020 552,804 38,697 591,501
2020-2021 563,063 37,550 600,613
2021-2022 539,837 39,980 579,817
Edited by Grouse
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Seems to be way down compared to even five years ago. Driving around I don't see any young men heading into the woods. Less hunters, less power, less power, more regulation, more regulation, less hunters, less hunters, less guns, less guns, less power, less power, no guns.

Robby

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The way crime is going in this land today, I don't think fewer hunters will mean fewer guns.  Just fewer hunting guns.  people are buying weapons for self defense in greater numbers than ever before.  Fewer hunters will mean less votes though. 

I wonder if the number of hunting licenses sold each year includes all lifetime licenses issued, or just new ones sold that year.

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5 hours ago, Grouse said:

Shots do not determine how many hunters are in the woods.  The number of hunting license sales is a more accurate figure.  Today there are more than 10 years ago.

Sporting License Sales Summary - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Hunting License Holders
License Year Resident Non-Resident Total Hunting
License Holders
2006-2007 521,805 40,445 562,250
2007-2008 521,960 40,459 562,419
2008-2009 554,918 40,986 595,904
2009-2010 524,276 38,251 562,527
2010-2011 519,472 36,480 555,952
2011-2012 533,624 37,155 570,779
2012-2013 544,275 39,895 584,170
2013-2014 551,391 40,347 591,738
2014-2015 549,999 41,974 591,973
2015-2016 547,223 43,065 590,288
2016-2017 528,327 40,920 569,247
2017-2018 532,149 38,897 571,046
2018-2019 506,873 37,575 544,448
2019-2020 552,804 38,697 591,501
2020-2021 563,063 37,550 600,613
2021-2022 539,837 39,980 579,817

It’s great that license sales are up to keep our DEC going but there must be a lot of folks buying a license and then spending very little time actually out in the woods. 

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1 hour ago, genesee_mohican said:

It’s great that license sales are up to keep our DEC going but there must be a lot of folks buying a license and then spending very little time actually out in the woods. 

Or just shooting a lot less when out there.  I've been in the woods for a couple of weeks, but without a doe tag and in the AR zone, I have yet to fire a shot.

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2 hours ago, Grouse said:

The way crime is going in this land today, I don't think fewer hunters will mean fewer guns.  Just fewer hunting guns.  people are buying weapons for self defense in greater numbers than ever before.  Fewer hunters will mean less votes though. 

I wonder if the number of hunting licenses sold each year includes all lifetime licenses issued, or just new ones sold that year.

It includes lifetime licenses

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