To curb New York’s growing deer population, the state Department of Environmental Conservation finalized new regulations June 17 to encourage hunters to harvest antlerless deer, including unlimited transfers of deer management permits, a new early season, and an “Earn-a-2nd-Buck” system.
Deer management permits, or DMPs, are required to hunt antlerless deer, which in New York means deer with no antlers or antlers shorter than 3 inches. Hunters will now be able to transfer an unlimited number of DMPs to other hunters. The DEC opens the DMP application period each August, with limited availability in Columbia and Dutchess counties and an Oct. 1 application deadline.
The updated regulations also add nine days to the calendar — Sept. 13 to 21 — for an early hunting season specifically designated for antlerless deer. The broader deer hunting season runs from Oct. 1 through Jan. 1 and includes separate periods for bowhunting, muzzleloader, and regular firearms.
“Deer populations are growing across much of New York and, in many areas, are increasing to levels that are detrimental to deer, their habitat, and the public,” NYSDEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton said.
The DEC is also implementing an “Earn-a-2nd-Buck” system. Hunters will receive one Antlered Deer Tag to start and must harvest an antlerless deer using an Antlerless Deer Tag or DMP to become eligible for a second Antlered Deer Tag. Hunters may use both tags — which in prior years were issued at the start of the overall season — during any season except the September antlerless period.
The DEC also designated 23 wildlife management units in central and western New York as having no DMP quota, allowing hunters to apply for up to four DMPs — two in units without a quota and two in units with a quota.
Hunters may be required to provide proof of an antlerless deer harvest within seven days. That proof could include a photograph, the deer’s head or contact information for the facility where the deer was processed. The DEC also plans to conduct law enforcement field checks to minimize fraudulent harvest reports.
Deer overpopulation can harm forest growth, damage crops, and increase vehicle collisions. New York sees an estimated 70,000 deer-related collisions based on insurance claims in the state. Most antlerless deer are does, or females, and hunting them can help curb the overall population.
Gallatin resident Eli Arnow, chair of the Forest Health Task Force at The Understory, a Hudson Valley-based environmental organization, said deer overpopulation has kept new trees from growing in forests. Only larger, older trees established before the deer problem began decades ago still survive, Arnow said, noting that recreational hunting alone might not make a significant difference.
“Some scientists say that deer are a bigger threat to forest and biodiversity, than climate change,” said Arnow, who also serves as chair of the Conservation Advisory Council in Gallatin. “If our forests can’t grow, then the ecosystems and habitats that rely on plants, which are the basis of everything, everything starts to kind of unravel.”
According to the DEC, deer populations thrive in suburban and semi-rural areas where lawns and fields coexist alongside patches of forest, and hunting female deer is one of the most effective ways to limit ecological damage.