Photo by Kenny Bahr.

Though New York State boasts a current whitetail population of over 1 million deer, and though hunters enjoy a variety of seasons extending from early fall through December, deer harvests over the past few years had been on a decline.

After 2002's record-breaking harvest of over 300,000 deer, the annual kill dropped significantly during the next three years, but was still in line with what biologists expected. In 2006, the harvest increased slightly -- a sign that management practices may be producing positive results.

Carl Johnson, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation's acting executive deputy commissioner, reported that during the 2006 season, hunters harvested more than 189,100 deer, including approximately 96,600 bucks and 92,500 antlerless deer. This slight increase from the 2005 deer harvest was expected because many wildlife management units (WMUs) had been below desired levels.

The 2006 harvest, almost 96,600 bucks, was an encouraging increase of 8 percent over the 89,200 bucks taken in 2005.

This suggests that deer populations are growing in many portions of the state and that recent management program changes are working.

Deer populations vary considerably throughout New York. Currently, about 25 percent of the WMUs have deer populations within 10 percent of desired levels. About 20 percent of the units have deer populations greater than desired, while the remaining 55 percent of the WMUs have populations lower than desired.

COUNTY HARVESTS
Cattaragus County had the highest deer take in 2006 with 8,492 deer, including 4,320 bucks.

Allegany County was second with 8,341 deer (4,438 bucks), followed by Chautauqua County with 6,810 deer (3,332 bucks). St. Lawrence and Steuben counties tied for fifth with 6,442 deer each.

Steuben County is typically the top producer, but dropped down to fifth for the first time in many years. However, these five are typically among the top counties year after year -- and that makes them a great bet for 2007 as well!

The DEC had divided the state into nine regions, with each region made up of multiple wildlife management units. Most regional wildlife managers anticipate some pockets of excellent hunting in 2007.

Here's what they had to say about last fall's results and prospects for 2007.

WESTERN NEW YORK
Western New York includes regions 7, 8 and 9 (and their corresponding WMUs).

Hunters accounted for 110,138 deer, or 58 percent of the statewide count (vs. 106,562 in 2005).

Region 9 counties each produced more than 8,300 deer apiece, and were the top counties in the state in term of total deer harvested.

The kill in this region has been declining for the past two years, driving down the statewide trend. Hunters took 35,692 deer, up from 33,035 deer in 2005. However, those numbers are still 50 percent below the 2002 kill of 72,021.

"Some of our management units are carrying populations of 35 to 40 deer per square mile," said Russ Biss, a Region 9 wildlife manager.

He recommends that hunters focus on wildlife management units 9H, 9P and 9J, which traditionally produce the highest harvests in the region. WMUs 9M and 9Y typically have the highest deer kill per square mile in the region. This region includes four of the top ten counties in the state in terms of total deer harvest.

Excellent public hunting areas in the region include the Rattlesnake Hill Wildlife Management Area in WMU 9P, which stretches across the border between Allegany and Livingston counties west of Dansville; the Keaney Swamp WMA in the town of Birdsall, and nearly 29,000 acres of state forests. The 2,709-acre Phillips Creek State Forest and the 2,384-acre Vandermark Forest, north of Wellsville off county Route 10, are part of unit 9Y.

Region 8 stretches from Lake Ontario south through the Finger Lakes to the Pennsylvania border.

Yates County had the highest deer kill per square mile in 2006 (10.5), 2005 (12.4) and in 2004 (14.6). No other county in the state came close. Throughout Region 8, the kill added up to 42,569 in 2006, compared to 45,081 in 2005 and 50,650 in 2004. While numbers have been declining, it is still the best region in the state.

This region holds three of the state's top 10 counties in terms of total deer harvest, with Steuben the perennial leader until 2006. In this county, you can't go wrong on public or private land.

The best WMUs include 8G, H and N. In the northern part of the county, WMU 8P is always a good bet.