The DEC's Region 7 has produced mediocre seasons in the recent past, but had four of the top 20 counties in 2006, and three of the top 15 in 2005.

The region-wide harvest of 31,877 was well up from 26,808 deer in 2005 and 27,722 in 2004. These numbers are encouraging.

Region 7's hottest deer-hunting areas are Chenango, Cayuga, Tioga and Tompkins counties. Hunters bagged more than 4,270 deer in each county in 2006, and matched that in 2004 and 2005 in three of the four counties -- which also boast some of the better buck densities in the state.

Tioga County boasts about 8,000 acres of state land. One of the better spots is Michigan Hill State Forest, a 1,209-acre tract between Route 38 and Michigan Hill Road in the town of Richford.

NORTHERN NEW YORK
Northern New York includes regions 5 and 6.

Region 6 hunters accounted for 21,580 deer last year, compared with 22,774 deer in 2005, 23,968 in 2004 and 29,104 in 2003.

There has been a consistent year-to-year reduction in the harvest since 2002, when the kill was more than 34,000 deer.

In some parts of northern New York, especially in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, herds expanded so rapidly during the 1980s and '90s that deer-car collisions increased, and farmers complained of deer damage to their crops.

The DEC gradually reduced these problems by expanding early-season muzzleloading opportunities and making antlerless deer permits available in some areas that previously had been closed to doe hunting.

St. Lawrence County continued its reputation as a solid deer-hunting destination, finishing three years in a row in the state's top 5 counties for total deer harvested. Hunters bagged 6,442 deer in 2006, up from 5,951 deer in 2005.

Jefferson County is a good bet in Region 6, with the sixth-highest harvest for all counties in the state.

The majority of deer taken by hunters in Region 6 come from private lands. But certainly some good public hunting opportunities exist at the Ashland Flats WMA in Jefferson County, the Upper and Lower Lakes WMA in St. Lawrence County and at the many state forest parcels scattered throughout the region.

The Adirondack and central Tug Hill units have lower deer numbers (and lower hunter numbers).

The areas along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River have higher deer populations -- and higher numbers of hunters.

For more information, call the DEC's Watertown office at (315) 785-2261 and ask for Region 6 biologist Jim Farquhar.

Hunters in Region 5 bagged 12,716 deer in 2006, well ahead of the 10,433 deer in 2005 and the 10,615 in 2004. Every WMU showed an improved harvest over 2005; and Unit 5H led the way with 2,705 deer.

The brutal winter following the Northern Zone 2002 season, particularly in the central Adirondacks, caused a ripple effect of harvest declines until last year.

The good news is that conditions were much better the past two winters. There's reason to be optimistic that the rebound in 2006 is the beginning of an upward trend.

Washington County led the regional whitetail harvest for the last four seasons, with a total harvest of 3,285 deer (2.4 per square mile) in 2006, well above 2005's total of 2,598 deer, or roughly 1.9 deer per square mile.

Franklin and Saratoga counties are also good destinations, with harvests generally around 2,000 animals.

Ed Reed, biologist for this region, was optimistic going into the 2006 season: "The past two winters were very easy on our deer, with little snow cover and average temperatures," he said.

"This should mean that this fall's deer season should be a good one, with a large number of young bucks entering the population."

SOUTHEASTERN NEW YORK
This area includes WMUs in regions 1, 3 and 4. The lower Hudson valley, Catskills and Mohawk valley (DEC regions 3 and 4) and Suffolk County (Region 1) saw reasonably good harvests in 2004.

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

Since then, regions 3 and 4 experienced significant declines in 2005 (to around 20,000 deer each). 2006 brought additional declines in the overall harvest (just over 19,000 deer each). Region 1 saw an increase, however -- from 2,076 deer in 2005 to 2,357 last year.

In Region 4, hunters had dramatically worse results in Columbia and Delaware counties. In 2004, Columbia County led the region with more than 5,800 deer. Yet in 2005, the harvest dropped 31 percent, to 4,024.