How would you rank big game hunting compared to all other states in the country

[Daveboone]

Impossible to rank by number.

New York only has two  big game species, deer and bear, whereas many western states have also antelope, moose, elk, mtn, lion, etc. That said, many or more likely most require permit draws/lotteries for many of them. No draw, no hunt. We have our tags (multiple) available over the counter. 

NY has a very long deer season. Even though I am happy to take only one deer a year nowadays, I still want to be out every day I can, as long the season as I can. Longer seasons equal the hunters are spread out more.

New York has GOBS of land hunting opportunities outside of private lands, which it seems as time goes by gets used less and less. Although not the subject of the post, NY has absolutely amazing fishing opportunities, seldom really appreciated.

I read/ hear about a lot of hunters talking up the hunting opportunities elsewhere, but as is often the case, the grass isn't always greener.

A relation in Nevada hasn't hunted in years...cant get a drawn tag where he can hunt. another good friend in Colorado usually gets an elk tag, but seldom can put the time together to make it worthwhile to pursue them.

 

[DirtTime]

On 2/17/2018 at 7:32 PM, Biz-R-OWorld said:

Number of big game species it’s crap. Deer and Bear, so 2. Colorado has 10 I think. Many other states have 5+


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We could have three, if more people got involved in getting a Moose hunting season going. Instead, we have people fighting tooth and nail to hunt tiny birds.

 

Is NYS a prime hunting destination? Nope. I like it that way! I hunt mainly public land, and most of it gets hammered with hunters. So, no, I don't want to deal with out of state hunters. So let them keep us on the no show on that scale! NYS has a pretty good land diversity. We also have some pretty damn big deer right here in NYS.

 

[BizCT]

We could have three, if more people got involved in getting a Moose hunting season going. Instead, we have people fighting tooth and nail to hunt tiny birds.
 
Is NYS a prime hunting destination? Nope. I like it that way! I hunt mainly public land, and most of it gets hammered with hunters. So, no, I don't want to deal with out of state hunters. So let them keep us on the no show on that scale! NYS has a pretty good land diversity. We also have some pretty damn big deer right here in NYS.
 

It’s actually like 1.5 since you can’t hunt bears here with bait or dogs.


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[DirtTime]

4 minutes ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

 

It’s actually like 1.5 since you can’t hunt bears here with bait or dogs.


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You have money. So go hunt all those big states with more animals to hunt. One less trip to some tropic island and you can do a DIY hunt for Moose in Alaska! Biz.

You are missing the point. For what it is, NYS is awesome. For hunting, fishing, and all outdoor activities. 

[Dinsdale]

17 minutes ago, Rob... said:

We could have three, if more people got involved in getting a Moose hunting season going. Instead, we have people fighting tooth and nail to hunt tiny birds.

 

 

You do understand that the neighboring states through New England(Vermont,NH,Maine) that have a more substantial  Moose population have drastically cut their tag numbers over the last few years due to population concerns? (Tick issues with warm weather are killing young recruitment)

And the same mechanism you need to pass a law to get DEC to determine a Moose hunt and administer it, is the same as for the "tiny birds" you don't seem to think is important. 

Way to make friends.

[Doewhacker]

25 minutes ago, Rob... said:

We could have three, if more people got involved in getting a Moose hunting season going. Instead, we have people fighting tooth and nail to hunt tiny birds.

 

 

 

Yea all of 400 Moose compared to 60,000 in Maine. That’s a dillusional pipe dream. 

 

[dbHunterNY]

number of big game species is 2/10.

public land i'd say a 9/10 only because we have a lot of it given there's everything within the blue line. smaller tracts could be managed better like some other states do though.

trophy quality is okay but kind of sucks compared to other states forced efforts or their hunting culture, so i'd give that a 5/10.

opportunity and prevalence of game, cost of tags, etc. is probably an 8/10.

how politically and general public emotion handicapped our state DNR is i'd give management efforts a 5/10. just behind many other states in implementation. they're still trying to manage just quantity and not quality.

[DirtTime]

7 minutes ago, Dinsdale said:

You do understand that the neighboring states through New England(Vermont,NH,Maine) that have a more substantial  Moose population have drastically cut their tag numbers over the last few years due to population concerns? (Tick issues with warm weather are killing young recruitment)

And the same mechanism you need to pass a law to get DEC to determine a Moose hunt and administer it, is the same as for the "tiny birds" you don't seem to think is important. 

Way to make friends.

Yes I do. and I posted a possible resolution to that issue.

4 minutes ago, Doewhacker said:

Yea all of 400 Moose compared to 60,000 in Maine. That’s a dillusional pipe dream. 

 

Do the math, look it up and stop just bashing be me just to be one of the cool kids. I posted a thread about Moose hunting, that had passed and sits idle on Cuomos desk. 

[dbHunterNY]

still if it's like trying to get a sheep tag the opportunity isn't there. nobody's going to care you can hunt something if there's not enough opportunity for the game you're trying to hunt.

[BizCT]

You have money. So go hunt all those big states with more animals to hunt. One less trip to some tropic island and you can do a DIY hunt for Moose in Alaska! Biz.

You are missing the point. For what it is, NYS is awesome. For hunting, fishing, and all outdoor activities. 

 

No interest in Moose. I’m not knocking Ny. I live here and enjoy being 5min from hunting and fishing while also being 45min from NYC. If I didn’t like where I lived I would move.

 

 

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[Hunter007]

12 minutes ago, dbHunterNY said:

still if it's like trying to get a sheep tag the opportunity isn't there. nobody's going to care you can hunt something if there's not enough opportunity for the game you're trying to hunt.

So true if most those states are like that lottery system and limited time to hunt those other species you may be better off just chasing bigger bucks here In New York. 

Then going out there .

[ATbuckhunter]

Ill actually go ahead and give NY a big 10. With the price of one tag, you can hunt a number of different habitats from the pine barrens of long Island to the wild north of the Adirondacks. All having their own way of hunting that can be completely different than what your used to with in a 5 hour drive of anywhere in the state. Not too many states you can say they have that.

Healthy bag limits and the quality of bucks has been increasing from year to year. Fun fact, LI actually rivals some of the best whitetail areas if you look at the B&C entries. Its harder to hunt, but the quality of bucks are there for sure. I say with in 10 years we'll have a very good quality buck hunting in many parts of NY, in fact we have quite a few now. The biggest problem we have is we don't have more than 2 big game species yet. 

[airedale]

The OP's question was posed "big game hunting compared to all other states in the country"

Depending on what hunting opportunities one has Deer hunting in NY may get a high ranking by some but not by all. Bear hunting is available but because of restrictions on baiting or being able to hunt with dogs it boils down pretty much to luck. So while Deer hunting may be decent Bear hunting not so much. So with the way things sit right now I would rank NY on the low end of the scale. When Moose hunting becomes available that will bring up the score a notch or two because of the opportunity, but the opportunities will be very limited and if and when it does happen you will have to pay extra for a Moose tag guaranteed. So I would give NY a 3 ranking which will  fall in line with most of the north eastern states. 

Much of the mid west would rank the same as the north east, a 3 ranking

The mid south eastern states have good hog hunting to bring their score up a point or so and the deeper south in addition to hogs gators are available to add a point to their score. With their long liberal seasons I would give those states a 5 ranking.

The western half of the country is where things start to get interesting when it comes to Big Game opportunities. Many of these states have not only Whitetail Deer but also Mule Deer, Blacktail Deer, Bear, Pronghorn Antelope, Elk, Moose, Lion, Goats and Sheep and Bison in limited numbers., Wolves will be in the mix out there soon. Some also have Hogs and Peccary. There are even some introduced exotics actually running wild available in the southwest. Tags will have to be purchased for most species on an individual basis so hunting everything will not be cheap. These states will get from a 5 minimum ranking all the way to a 10 ranking depending on which one.

Bottom line and truthfully NY does not even come close when it comes to overall big game hunting opportunities when compared to many other parts of the country.

Al

 

 

Edited February 25, 2018 by airedale

[bigpaul]

If I had the choice of hunting deer all the seasons in NY, or 1 week in Northern Missouri, my lifetime license from NY would go unused.  Habitat, number of deer and quality of deer.  I can see more deer in Missouri on a one week hunt than I would see in 10 years in NY. No exaggeration!

[stubborn1VT]

6 minutes ago, bigpaul said:

If I had the choice of hunting deer all the seasons in NY, or 1 week in Northern Missouri, my lifetime license from NY would go unused.  Habitat, number of deer and quality of deer.  I can see more deer in Missouri on a one week hunt than I would see in 10 years in NY. No exaggeration!

Maybe you need to find some new hunting spots in NY.

[bigpaul]

3 minutes ago, stubborn1VT said:

Maybe you need to find some new hunting spots in NY.

Maybe, do you know of a good spot where I can sit for 3 hrs. and see a total of 85 deer including 35 bucks?

[stubborn1VT]

I'm sure that's normal for all of Missouri.  I think you may have issues with your standards.  Why not just hang a stand at a FSW deer farm?

[ATbuckhunter]

I think this is more of a subjective thing. What's important to some hunters may not be important to others. While we don't have the numbers of quality bucks in NY that they have in IA or the Midwest, but they don't have the different habitats that we have. I also think we have more potential because from what I am seeing for many parts of the state is better quality of bucks each season. A lot of the Midwest is already at the top of their potential and slipping in some cases.


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[BizCT]

Maybe, do you know of a good spot where I can sit for 3 hrs. and see a total of 85 deer including 35 bucks?

Not in 3 hours but I believe you. When I go to Wyoming, it’s not uncommon to see 30+ bucks per day. That’s why it’s so exciting out there. In NY, I’m lucky if I see 5-10 different bucks in an entire full season.


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[gwhalin]

We have tons of pubic land access, easy to get tags, and a long season.   The marks against NY for me, are a lack of big game species and a lack of terrain that works well for spot and stalk hunting like the western states.

[Daveboone]

I think a lot of folks, in comparing more agricultural states with NY forget the true massive amount of forest land we have, compared to states that are almost forestless, with unlimited tracts of agricultural lands to hold and feed deer.