2005 DEC Deer Proposal Changes
Original DEC Proposal:
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/wildlife/guide/2005support.html
Response by the Erie County Federation of
Sportsmen’s Clubs:
This proposal was presented to the DEC at the public
hearing on February 7, 2005 at their Forum.
This Proposal was OK’d by the Erie County Federation
of Sportsmen’s Clubs to be submitted to the DEC on February 24, 2005 as our
official Response.
Subject: Results of Big Game Committee Meeting held
at the East Aurora Fish and Game Club to discuss the “2005 DEC Deer Proposals”
Also invited
were the Small Game Committee, Archery Committee, the Crossbow Committee and
the EC Federation President, to get their input as well.
After a hour
and a half discussion on the proposal followed by a 60 minute opinion
period, the Big Game Committee has summarized all comments with the
following proposal that it recommends to the Erie County Federation of
Sportsmen’s Clubs:
1) Reject the
DEC proposal as published and written on their website.
2) Suggest the
following proposal to the DEC as an alternative:
Early
Archery Season:
First Saturday
in October through Friday, the day before the third Saturday in November,
the opening of “Regular Big Game Season”. No closed early archery season.
For 2005: ”October 1 - November 18”
No Early
Muzzleloader Season
Regular Big Game Season:
Third Saturday
in November running 23 days.
For 2005: “November 19 - December 11” (includes 4 weekends)
Late Archery
and Muzzleloader Seasons
First day after
the close of the regular season running through the third Saturday of January.
For 2005: “December 12 – January 21, 2006” (Any leftover tags are
valid)
Summary: Starting the early archery season on the
first Saturday in October and the regular season on the third Saturday in
November would go along with the DEC proposal to the Saturday openers. We do not feel opening muzzleloader season
during the early archery season and then reopening early archery season is
beneficial to the deer or hunters. To
increase opportunities and increase license sales we feel that the late
archery/ muzzleloader season should run through the third Saturday in January
and would be more beneficial to the hunters and controlling the deer population. This would keep more hunters in New York
State during the early October season and the later January season as is the
practice in many states. This should
also entice other out-of-state hunters here.
To submit written comments about the proposals, e-mail DEC's Division
of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources,