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Tuesday, February 21, 2006
DEC Releases Statistics from 2005-06 Deer Harvest
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Denise M. Sheehan today announced the results of the 2005-06 deer hunting seasons, including deer harvest, information on Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), and hunter safety statistics.
During the 2005 season, hunters harvested slightly more than 180,200 total deer, including 89,000 bucks and approximately 91,200 antlerless deer. The total deer harvest for 2005 represents a 14 % reduction from the 208,000 deer taken in 2004 and is the lowest total deer take since 1994. Declines in 2005 were expected following an intentional 35% reduction in Deer Management Permit (DMP) availability, an action intended to rebuild and stabilize the deer population in many areas of the State.
"While the 2005-06 big game season was one with many new changes and challenges, it continued to provide hunters throughout the State with quality hunting experiences," Commissioner Sheehan said. "This year we enacted new regulations and legislation, like the first ever Saturday opener and expanding the use of rifles, and continued to address Chronic Wasting Disease. I would like to thank all the hunters both in the containment area and throughout the State for cooperating with our surveillance for CWD and for making 2005 the safest year on record for hunting in New York State."
Deer takes in New York have declined in recent years as a result of specific management actions intended to reduce deer populations from the high levels of 2002 and 2003 and bring populations to manageable levels where deer were overabundant. These actions, combined with the impact of severe winter conditions in some areas resulted in deer population declines that were greater than expected. Through targeted management techniques in 2005, DEC biologists have been seeking to increase deer populations to achieve a better balance. However, deer populations comparable to 2002 levels cannot be maintained without long-term negative consequences such as damage to agriculture, forest regeneration, landscaping, or vehicle accidents. Results from the 2005 deer season indicate that current management efforts are working.
New York's deer hunters took about 89,000 bucks in 2005, roughly the same as in 2004 and an indication that the overall deer population is stabilizing. Steuben County led the State with the highest deer take once again in 2005, with a total take of 8,577 deer, including 4,541 bucks. Allegany County was second with 7,335 deer (3,880 bucks), followed by Cattaraugus County with 7,321 deer (3,921 bucks). Erie County with 6,232 deer (2,563 bucks) and Ontario County with 6,053 deer (2,082 bucks) rounded out the top five counties in the State.
The statewide adult female take included almost 61,200 deer, down from about 80,200 adult females in 2004. This was an anticipated decline resulting from DEC's reduction in the total number of DMPs available during the 2005 season. Just over 387,600 DMPs were issued in 2005, about 220,000 less than in 2004. DMPs are valid only for the taking of antlerless deer and serve as the cornerstone for statewide deer management efforts.
Deer populations vary considerably throughout New York and approximately 20 % of the current Wildlife Management Units (WMU) have deer populations that are within 10 % of desired levels. About 15 % of the units have deer populations greater than desired while the remaining two thirds of the units have lower than desired deer populations. The goal of DEC's deer management program is to maintain deer numbers at levels that meet local interests and habitat conditions, while also providing quality hunting opportunities for New York's 540,000 deer hunters.
"Reducing the number of adult female deer harvested, such as was accomplished in 2005, should allow for the population to rebuild toward desired levels where necessary," said Commissioner Sheehan. The current winter has not yet had a significant impact on deer survival and small increases in deer populations can be expected for the 2006 season if mild conditions continue.
Although several significant regulatory changes regarding season structure and timing were implemented prior to the 2005 hunting season, their impact on deer harvest was not dramatic. The opening day of the Southern Zone Regular Deer Season was changed from a Monday to Saturday. This provided increased opportunity for young hunters who would normally have been in school for the opening day of the deer season and for those hunters who could not afford to take a day off work to hunt. The first two days of the season in 2005 accounted for 53% of the Regular Season buck take, only a slight increase over 2004 when about 49% of the Regular Season buck take occurred during the first two days of the season.
New portions of the Southern Zone were opened for deer hunting with centerfire rifles. While many hunters may have used rifles in these areas, there did not appear to be a widespread shift away from hunting with shotguns. No changes in deer take in these areas can be directly attributed to the opportunity to hunt with rifles.
The late archery and muzzleloading seasons were extended to nine days in length from the previous season lengths of 5 and 7 days respectively. Hunters appeared to take advantage of the increased season length, and the total deer take in the Southern Zone muzzleloading season increased from 6,618 deer in 2004 to 8,645 deer in 2005.
Also, 2005 marked the start of a pilot antler restriction program intended to expand the age structure of the buck population and better balance the sex ratio in WMUs 3C and 3J located primarily in Ulster County. The pilot antler restriction requires that bucks taken in these units have at least one antler with three points (or more) that are each at least one inch in length. Hunter compliance appears strong, and as expected, the buck take for these units dropped about 52%. As the program progresses, the total buck harvest should return to previous levels but with a greater percentage of 2½ year old and older bucks in the population. This pilot will serve as a learning experience for both the DEC and New York deer hunters.
Since 1990, DEC has utilized local citizen task forces to establish deer population objectives for most WMUs. The task forces represent a broad range of public interests and consider concerns of farmers, foresters, conservationists, landowners and hunters. The desired deer population level of each WMU is expressed as a Buck Take Objective (BTO) and reflects the approximate buck take per square mile that would be taken when the deer population is close to the desired level.
