State expects Yates County to have lower buck harvest

TRI-COUNTY AREA--According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's (DEC) 2015 hunting forecast, Yates County should see a decrease in buck harvest this hunting season. Art Kirsch, Region 8 big game biologist, said this has been the trend for the past two years, despite the fact the Yates area holds a dense deer population. Early bow hunting in the area begins Thursday, Oct. 1, with crossbow beginning Nov. 7 and regular season beginning Nov. 21.
According to the DEC, the Yates County deer harvest totaled 5,328 deer in 2014, with 1,853 of them adult bucks. Most of Yates County falls within the 8R wildlife management unit (WMU), which also contains parts of Steuben and Schuyler Counties in its 270 square miles.
"This unit vies with a couple others in the state every year as densest deer-populated WMU, as judged by its buck take per square mile," Kirsch said. "We may have seen the high point in the population however, as buck take has gone down two years in a row now, and we expect it to again this fall."
WMU 8R includes most of Yates County, as well as parts of Steuben and Schuyler Counties, and has a fair amount of public hunting land. The area contains large rolling hills, with farmland in the valleys and hill tops, as well as significant vineyard acreage.
Kirsch also notes the WMU is "still way above [population] objective in 8R," adding the DEC will maintain high pressure on the antlerless segment of the population with another year of high deer management permit (DMP) issuance in 2015. He states this should help control the population more in coming years, which should lead to a future decrease in permits for the WMU.
"It looks like we may have turned the corner here, and we should see more reasonable deer numbers in 8R in the coming years," Kirsch said. "Expect permits in coming years to ramp down accordingly. Chances of DMP selection this fall will be high for residents and nonresidents on both first and second permits."
According to the DEC, the Schuyler County deer harvest in 2014 totaled 2,972 deer, with 1,156 of them being adult bucks. Portions of Schuyler fall within the 8S and 8W WMUs.
WMU 8S encompasses portions of Schuyler and Seneca Counties and includes the Finger Lakes National Forest, which is a large tract of federal land open to hunting. The 8S unit covers 256 square miles, with agriculture being the main land use, except in the southwest where the public land is located.
"The buck take in 8S slowly and steadily increased from 2008 through 2012, crossing above objective 2010," Kirsch said. "The last two years the population has come down almost to objective and it is now our job to keep it there. An increase in doe harvest in 2013 with the pretty rough recent winter will probably combine to send the buck take down below objective this fall, but only slightly. Unfortunately, an increase in doe harvest again in 2014 might mean the population will go down a bit more after the 2016 season, but we'll wait and see for that one."
Kirsch noted there is often some minor bouncing around when trying to keep a deer population at objective, adding 8S will probably be no different. He said hunters in 8S will probably see fewer fawns and yearling deer in the woods and fields this fall, but the drop should not be great. Kirsch said chances of first selection will be high for both residents and non-residents, but second selection chances are low for residents and there will be none for non-residents.
WMU 8W includes portions of Chemung and Schuyler Counties and covers 439 square miles. Kirsch said 8W is one of the most forested units, but open farmland does exist, particularly in the north and east portions.
"The buck take per square mile in 8W went down a tenth last fall to 2.8, a full one buck below the objective," Kirsch said. "[...] The buck take in here has been significantly below objective since 2003. After increasing through 2007, buck take has fluctuated within roughly a 10 percent range since. Relatively low adult doe harvests from 2010 through 2012 have not yet spurred population growth. It is not fully clear why this population hasn't responded."
Kirsch said the DEC will be lowering DMP availability to "levels not seen since 2005" in an effort to spur population growth, but added permits in 8W will likely be limited for a while.
"Unlike most of our other units, we think big population declines are unlikely at this point, but that is little consolation for hunters who have experienced low deer numbers for over a decade now," Kirsch said. "Chances of DMP first selection this year will be high for residents and low for non-residents. Residents will have a high chance for second selection, while there will be no second selection for non-residents."