Hunting and Trapping News: Aging Deer, Big and Small Game Season Dates, Youth Hunting Dates for Waterfowl and Pheasant

How Old is that Deer?

As deer season approaches, hunters are scouting the deer they will be hunting this fall. Estimating their age is important for making informed harvest decisions.

For antlerless deer, the primary question is whether you are observing a fawn or adult. While yearling (1.5-year-old) bucks are relatively easy to identify, estimating the age of older bucks can be more difficult. To learn how, see DEC’s Guide to Aging White-tailed Deer in New York.

Allowing yearling bucks to survive an extra year may enhance your deer hunting experience, especially if your hunting partners and neighbors are also passing on yearling bucks. With more older bucks around, hunters tend to observe more scrapes, rubs, sparring, and chasing, and they have a greater chance to bring home deer with more meat and larger antlers.

Big Game Dates to Remember

• Northern zone start of bow season for deer: September 27
• Northern zone start of bow season for bear: September 16
• Southern zone start of bow season for deer and bear: October 1
• Deer Management Permit Application Deadline: October 1 statewide

See DEC’s website for all 2017-2018 big game, turkey, and furbearer hunting seasons.

Pheasant Hunting

Approximately 30,000 adult pheasants will be released on lands open to public hunting for the upcoming fall pheasant hunting season.

The pheasant hunting season begins:

• Northern & eastern portions of NY: October 1
• Central & western portions of the state: October 21
• Long Island: November 1

Youth-only pheasant weekends:

• Northern & eastern NY: September 23 and 24
• Western New York: October 14 and 15
• Long Island: October 28 and 29

See DEC’s website for all pheasant season dates and restrictions

Wild Turkey Hunting

With good production in summer 2015 followed by two mild winters, there are more birds on the landscape than in previous years. However, this increase may be offset by poor reproduction due to above-average rainfall in this past spring. Remember, in areas with good hard and soft mast production, turkeys do not have to roam far for food, so you may have to work harder to locate a flock.

Turkey season dates for fall 2017:

• Northern zone: October 1 – 14
• Southern zone: October 21 – November 3
• Suffolk County, Long Island: November 18 – December 1

The statewide season bag limit: one bird of either sex.

Waterfowl Hunting and Youth Waterfowl Days

Waterfowl hunting seasons for ducks, geese, and brant begin in early October in many parts of the state.

There are special opportunities for junior hunters 12 to 15 years old prior to the regular season. Junior hunters must be accompanied by a licensed adult hunter, and both the junior hunter and adult must be registered with the Harvest Information Program (HIP). Adult hunters must also have a federal migratory bird stamp.

Youth waterfowl days this fall are:

• Northeast and Lake Champlain zones: September 23 and 24
• Western zone: October 14 and 15
• Long Island zone: November 11 and 12