NY Big Game, 
 
We recently updated several webpages to help big game hunters prepare for the upcoming hunting seasons.
 
1.  Our 2010 Deer Hunting Season Forecasts are now available at [url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/37304.html]www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/37304.html[/url] 
These forecasts provide a brief overview of the deer population and management trends within each Wildlife Management Unit (WMU).  New this year, we added charts showing recent deer harvest history and trends of Bowhunter Sighting Log data for each WMU.
 
2.  The 2010 Deer Management Permit (DMP) targets and hunters' odds of being selected for DMPs in each WMU are available at [url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/30409.html]www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/30409.html[/url]
The target DMP allocation for 2010 varies by unit depending on the management objective, but overall we intend to issue about 10% fewer DMPs than in 2009. In addition to the several Northern Zone units where DMPs are not authorized, WMUs 3A, 4L, 4U, 4Z and 5T will be closed for DMPs in 2010.  WMUs with increased DMP availability are located through the Mohawk Valley, portions of the Lake Ontario plains and central NY, and a couple other units scattered throughout the state.  Units with the greatest reductions in DMP availability are generally located across the southern tier.  In many portions of the southern tier, after the deer population declines of 2003-04, we reduced antlerless harvests for a couple years and saw incremental deer population growth through 2006-07.  We then began modestly ramping up antlerless harvest to keep deer populations from growing too fast and to avoid overshooting objective levels.  Based on the 2008 and 2009 harvests, it appears that deer populations in many southern zone units began to level off prematurely, and easing up on antlerless harvest in these units is again necessary for 2010.
 
3.   All 2010 hunting seasons can be found at [url=http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/65231.html]www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/65231.html[/url]
Included on this hunting seasons page is a new quick reference sheet of seasons and bag limits (pdf link at the top of the page) that you can print and carry with you.
 
 
Jeremy Hurst
Big Game Biologist