2009 New York Deer Harvest Report

[deerme117]

The following is a press release from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Hunters harvested approximately 222,800 deer in the 2009 season -- virtually the same number as were harvested statewide the previous season, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Pete Grannis announced last week. The annual deer hunting report also showed that nearly 16,000 14- and 15-year-olds signed up for the “Junior Big-Game License”.

Deer Harvest
The 2009 deer take included more than 120,700 antlerless deer (adult females and fawns) and just over 102,000 adult bucks. Antlerless takes grew by 3 percent from 2008 (117,232), while buck takes dropped 3.5 percent from 2008 (105,747). Totals for bow and muzzleloader seasons were on par with the past few years.

Differences were most noticeable in the Northern Zone, where antlerless take was down by almost 8 percent and buck take dropped 21 percent from 2008, returning to levels seen in 2005 and 2006. Deer take during the regular season seemed strongly affected by a warm November -- both deer and hunter activity tend to slow down in warm weather and the lack of snow cover made for difficult hunting conditions during a time that typically accounts for the majority of deer harvest.

Southern Zone deer harvests were comparable to 2008 with overall buck take essentially unchanged and antlerless take only increasing about 4 percent. Still, biologists noted that the lack of snow throughout much of the Southern Zone regular season likely kept deer harvests from being higher.

Western New York continues to lead the state in total deer-harvest densities, but Orange County in southeastern New York has also become a strong contender.

The top five counties for 2009 were Yates (13.2 total deer per square mile), Wyoming (11.2), Orange (10.5), Genesee (9.9), and Ontario (9.5).

Importantly, total harvest is strongly impacted by the number of Deer Management Permits (DMPs) available in an area, which directly affects the harvest of antlerless deer.

A more accurate picture of relative deer population densities is revealed by the density of buck harvest. By this figure, the top counties for buck harvest density were: Wyoming County (4.6 bucks per square mile), Yates County (4.5 bucks per square mile), Allegany County (4.0), Orange County (3.9), and Cayuga County (3.7).

[SilentStalker]

I'm sure this has been discussed in years past, but how accurate do you think the harvest numbers are? I personally feel that they are not to accurate based on the reporting system...or lack there of if you will.

Do you guys think the herd is in a good place? I dont want to start a DMP war here, just curious. Do you think use of QDM in NYS is any reason for the lower buck harvest? 

[Stuck-on-Seven]

IMO i think nys has very poor quality deer management "tactics". Whether it be an antler restriction or more dmp's to get issued, something has to be done. I was out shed hunting and found at LEAST 15 dead deer in about a 400 acre section. With the lack of snow this yr my guess is its overpopulated. Whether they starved to death or were just easy kills for the coyotes, i dont know. But i wouldnt think that many dead ones is normal.

[Corporal Punishment]

Says it is on par with the year before,just wondering if they had to give out alot more doe tags to accomplish that!!!!!Cause I see a decline of deer in general....

[stka]

I'm sure this has been discussed in years past, but how accurate do you think the harvest numbers are? I personally feel that they are not to accurate based on the reporting system...or lack there of if you will.

They assume a large percentage of unreported deer (I think it's around 40% but don't remember the percentage). I have no doubt that the weather had a lot to do with the lack of deer I was seeing during hunting hours.

[adkbrookie]

I'm sure this has been discussed in years past, but how accurate do you think the harvest numbers are? I personally feel that they are not to accurate based on the reporting system...or lack there of if you will.

they had an independent audit a little bit ago and it turns out that apparently they do a very good job of estimating deer take with the numbers they have. they state that their accuracy is 1-2% which is very good considering the low reporting rate.

They assume a large percentage of unreported deer (I think it's around 40% but don't remember the percentage). I have no doubt that the weather had a lot to do with the lack of deer I was seeing during hunting hours.

stka - i'm pretty sure the type of stats. they use don't simply just add 40%, you can not typically get that kind of accuracy that way.

Says it is on par with the year before,just wondering if they had to give out alot more doe tags to accomplish that!!!!!Cause I see a decline of deer in general....

they gave out 527,371 dmps this past year and 558,172 dmps the year before. that's a 5.5% decrease. success increased from 15.5% in 2008 to 17.0% in 2009. so the number of deer taken per tag increased both because overall take was greater (86,417 to 89,458) and fewer tags were issued. fewer tags were issued and take still increased (even though it was a warm year). so if you consider hunting as a sampling method this indicates that the population increased statewide.

[stka]

It's obviously not that simple, but it's not to involved either. Here's some of what's here http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/47738.html

In 2006, approximately 45% of successful deer hunters in New York reported their harvest....
The process of moving from harvest reports to harvest estimates is fundamentally quite simple. At its essence, harvest calculation involves the number of deer reported, the number of deer checked by DEC staff, and the number of deer that were both reported and checked. With these numbers we can determine a reporting rate and then calculate the number of deer actually harvested.

[adkbrookie]

It's obviously not that simple, but it's not to involved either. Here's some of what's here http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/47738.html

good link. those are the numbers they use but they don't say how they manipulate them.

[Corporal Punishment]

good link. those are the numbers they use but they don't say how they manipulate them.

Exactly!!!!In PA they go by only 30% reporting killls,and wont release how they come up with deer population numbers......Definitely hiding something,its all about the money............

And believe me the population cant be growing here,there loosing more and more woods to housing than ever before IMO!!!!!!!!