The BEST Counties in NY?

[mmkay]

Putnam county is pretty much suburbia.  Suburban areas generally have lots of deer and can hold some big bucks, too.  The big problem is access to private land.  You either have it or you don't, and if you do it's most likely a small parcel these days.  That's why you get 150 hunters on 500 acres of public land in a county like that.

yep...and that why most most bucks down here are kinda small and young.  but you are right about access to land.  get the right farm or estate and you are 

guaranteed a wall hanger each year.  Hunting down here (putnam / westchester) is VERY easy if you have land access....not so hard even if you hunt public land.  even a fat old fart like me gets a good deer every couple of years

[BizCT]

Yes, good deer are around. I was talking about big bucks. My Dad has probably 15 6-9pts from Putnam. But not many 140"+ deer running around.

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[steve863]

yep...and that why most most bucks down here are kinda small and young.  but you are right about access to land.  get the right farm or estate and you are 

guaranteed a wall hanger each year.  Hunting down here (putnam / westchester) is VERY easy if you have land access....not so hard even if you hunt public land.  even a fat old fart like me gets a good deer every couple of years

 

 

I tell you, though.  I do like hunting where the deer are and not where they ain't, BUT, I surely wouldn't want to fight 150 other hunters on those 500 acres for those deer and I don't think I'd like hunting those small private parcels either where a deer (especially while bowhunting) can easily get to other land where I would have to knock on some suburban homeowners door to ask for permission to retrieve the deer in their backyard.  That somehow isn't my idea of a nice hunting experience.

[BizCT]

A few years ago, I was hunting DEP land on the last day of the shotgun season. I was sitting just over the property line on the DEP land with my back to some houses. I was in all orange for safety reasons. Some little kid was outside in his yard (probably like 200 yards away) screaming at me for like 3 hours, screaming things like "Go Home, You won't shoot a Deer!,", etc. His mom was outside with him, she didnt say anything.  They could probably see me because of the orange. 

 

Finally at the last minute of legal shooting light. I unloaded all 5 rounds as fast as I could, then I stood up and screaming "I got one, I got one".  The Mom took the kid inside immediately.

[steve863]

 

Finally at the last minute of legal shooting light. I unloaded all 5 rounds as fast as I could, then I stood up and screaming "I got one, I got one".  The Mom took the kid inside immediately.

 

 

Biz, that probably does nothing to help our already poor image amongst society.  The best thing to do would have been to move away as soon as you heard the kid, most especially since you did set up close to their property line.

Just not worth the trouble dealing with stuff like that.  That's why I prefer seeing the fewer deer I do see where I hunt, but at the same time don't have to deal with stuff like this.  I just disappear into the woods and NO one sees me.

[BizCT]

Biz, that probably does nothing to help our already poor image amongst society.  The best thing to do would have been to move away as soon as you heard the kid, most especially since you did set up close to their property line.

Just not worth the trouble dealing with stuff like that.  That's why I prefer seeing the fewer deer I do see where I hunt, but at the same time don't have to deal with stuff like this.  I just disappear into the woods and NO one sees me.

 

I hear ya, but it was last day of the season. I was in a bad mood listening to this kid for 3+ hours.  The spot I was in produced several bucks for my Dad over the years.  He always sat just a couple of yards off private property and onto the DEP land. Everybody on this land walked in away from the houses, but the deer would head to houses to eat their plants just before dark. I wasn't going to give up a good spot on the last day of the year.  This was in 2009, the only year since 2007 I didn't get a buck. I havent caught back to this property since that day in 2009.

Edited October 15, 2013 by Biz-R-OWorld

[Sogaard]

I could tell you where some monsters are in Richmond county, but that would just be tempting you to break the law. 

[dbHunterNY]

it's based on principle... if the family wasn't all anti-hunting the mother would've pulled the kid out of respect for someone else enjoying certain freedoms.  if you were 200 yards away with them at your back, you were abiding by law.  I think you did right assuming the shots were in a safe direction.  someone's freedom starts where another's ends.

[5.9cummins]

I believe the Luckey Buck was shot in the town of Caneadea, near the Genesee River valley fertile soils

Town of Hume - I got to meet the current land owner of the property where Roosevelt Lucky was shot this spring while serving jury duty.

 

Soil is huge, age is huge, cover is huge, etc.

 

There is a difference between good bucks and top-end state and world-class bucks. Most people with multiple B&C bucks - that aren't hunting celebs or rich, traveling hunters, have taken their bucks within a very small similar geographical area. Most times this is measured in a handful of square miles, not county.

 

One dynamic that isn't noted is Yates county...look at that color and look at that county's buck per sq. mile harvest rate. Then, consider the fact they have one of if not THE largest QDM co-op in the state.

 

Yes, soil, age, and cover are all huge.

 

I was born and raised in CNY (Madison co.) I have lived and hunted in WNY (Allegany co. - lived, Catt and Wyoming co. - Hunted), I have a camp in the ADKs (Hamilton co.) and a very good friend / hunter who lives in Rennseleer co.

 

Here is how i rate each of the listed counties.

 

Madison - good food, good soil, good cover, moderate to high pressure = age can be a little iffy - overall average to above agerage NY hunting.

 

Allegany co - poor soil, poor food, very good cover, Heavy pressure = not much age - overall poor to below average hunting.

 

Wyoming co - good to great soil, great food, good to very good cover, moderate pressure = great hunting

 

Catt co. - poor to good soil, good food, very good cover, moderate to high pressure = average to above average hunting (the area i am most familiar with (SE) is more like allegany co which lessens what was harvested a bit but the more north and west you go the better it gets).

 

Renseleer co. - poor soil, poor food, good cover, Heavy pressure = below average to poor hunting.

 

Hamilton co. - poor soil, poor food, Great cover, LOW pressure = few deer but the ones you do see have a better chance of being a quality buck with some age.

 

As for dbHunters comments about hunter mentality I question if he has ever been in the WNY woods on opening day. My experiance tells me its not much diffrent regardless of where you are in NY. The only noticeable diffrence i have ever observed from WNY to CNY to the ADKs to Eastern NY is the habitat change and how that affects biology / development of the animal and how the habitat effects pressure or lack there of.

 

I now live in Indiana and i am seeing almost the same exact patterns of record deer distribution out here. And to add to the conversation my In-laws live in NW Ohio which is has Really poor cover, Great Nutrition, Average soils and Heavy pressure and you dont see squat in that area.

 

I also dont see a mentality change in hunters in IN or OH. But both states have a one buck per season limit. Not that i think that has much of an impact on NY since so few hunters actually connect with two racked deer a year. If anything i think poachers have more of an effect.

[LJC]

On Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 10:40 PM, Geno C said:

I was just curious has there ever been any studies or statistics inline to determine some of the best Counties in NY? I always wondered... Im talking any specific counties where big bucks tend to be harvested?

What you really want to know  is the  countys with the biggest bucks taken on public land  unless you plan on buying land  knowing just if there big bucks on some guys farm that you can't hunt is not going to do you any good  those are 2 different things all together  and I would like to know that myself .

[turkeyfeathers]

Reading New York Game and Fish right now

 

"since the 1960's ,the most productive hunting area in NY has been the Southern Tier"

2015 top five counties for buck  harvest:

Steuben  4987 deer

Allegany 4159

Cattaraugus 3877

Chautauqua 3574

Otsego 3355

The first 4 counties are lined up along the NY/Penn border

Again these are only buck numbers

Edited October 21, 2016 by turkeyfeathers

[gjs4]

Age is the dominant issue here and our winter severity also chimes in keeping bodies healthy and racks a little smaller. Don't worry about the area as much as the property that provides the lack of pressure and infiltration. Ne Ohio is lousy of the books but has had some of the largest racks taken/found. Who the heck puts their bucks in the NY or NE record books anyway (to keep things more local)? Bad data start point.

Btw- Wyoming co is heavily gun pressured with a deer drive hunting culture and lots of cheaters.


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[turkeyfeathers]

You have no idea how many 4 and 5 shot barrages I hear in Wyoming county echoing thru the hills. ML season always has multiple shot ML's too. Aka. Still using rifles and shotguns


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[stoneam2006]

You have no idea how many 4 and 5 shot barrages I hear in Wyoming county echoing thru the hills. ML season always has multiple shot ML's too. Aka. Still using rifles and shotguns


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O come on you don't have one of those new pump action ml yet...lol

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[Buckstopshere]

10 hours ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Reading New York Game and Fish right now

 

"since the 1960's ,the most productive hunting area in NY has been the Southern Tier"

2015 top five counties for buck  harvest:

Steuben  4987 deer

Allegany 4159

Cattaraugus 3877

Chautauqua 3574

Otsego 3355

The first 4 counties are lined up along the NY/Penn border

Again these are only buck numbers

Allegany County not only has the Luckey buck...top typical rack...but also, the top non-typical buck, the Homer Boylan buck, shot in Canaseraga. Both the top bucks in NYS were shot in Allegany County, a few miles from each other.

[Buckstopshere]

Here are the two bucks from the same neck of woods, northern Allegany County, Luckey buck on the left, the typical and the Boylan on the right, the non-typical. 

[DirtTime]

The best county is the one you hunt in! Stop worrying about other places! Just hunt the areas you hunt and stop worrying so much about what goes on in other areas. Keep worrying about the other hunter and you might miss a great buck, or big doe. 

[Arcade Hunter]

On 10/21/2016 at 4:45 PM, turkeyfeathers said:

You have no idea how many 4 and 5 shot barrages I hear in Wyoming county echoing thru the hills. ML season always has multiple shot ML's too. Aka. Still using rifles and shotguns


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LOL... You got that right feathers!

[GreeneHunter]

Greene County is by far the worst .... there's only one or two deer left in the county and they both have the mange !  I'd stay away if I were you !  ( lol )

[Chef]

Greene County is by far the worst .... there's only one or two deer left in the county and they both have the mange !  I'd stay away if I were you !  ( lol )

Green county probably is the worst county in the state


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[diplomat019]

31 minutes ago, chefhunter86 said:

Green county probably is the worst county in the state


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x3.  Stay away from greene county... 

[Geno C]

On 10/16/2016 at 1:45 AM, LJC said:

What you really want to know  is the  countys with the biggest bucks taken on public land  unless you plan on buying land  knowing just if there big bucks on some guys farm that you can't hunt is not going to do you any good  those are 2 different things all together  and I would like to know that myself .

No, neither...

this is an old post, but my question was which counties consistently tend to have a big buck harvest, private or public. doesnt matter. Iam also not talking about harvest numbers in regards to bucks and does either. Just counties that tend to harvest big buck. Since this post is a few years old i have a pretty good idea of those counties. 

[Geno C]

On 10/21/2016 at 9:48 PM, ....rob said:

The best county is the one you hunt in! Stop worrying about other places! Just hunt the areas you hunt and stop worrying so much about what goes on in other areas. Keep worrying about the other hunter and you might miss a great buck, or big doe. 

perhaps you miss the point entirely for the question... i can care less what other guys do or harvest. it was a basic question in its entirety. actually a rather simple question but theres always one guy with a smart answer that proves nothing. carry on...

[LJC]

11 minutes ago, Geno C said:

No, neither...

this is an old post, but my question was which counties consistently tend to have a big buck harvest, private or public. doesnt matter. Iam also not talking about harvest numbers in regards to bucks and does either. Just counties that tend to harvest big buck. Since this post is a few years old i have a pretty good idea of those counties. 

Western new York 

[Geno C]

4 minutes ago, LJC said:

Western new York 

basically lol