Will NY allow muzzleloaders in the archery season?

[stone knife]

This was gleaned off one of the archery sites so excuse any muzzleloader negativity :wink: I'm hoping this come to pass for next season. Anyone know any more about this?




The latest news from the "Great" DEC here in NY...Need to act now. Letters to all NY Officials and Governor voicing our disapproval. Here is the verbage from NYB News letter:

Southern Zone Season Structure:

* open the archery-only season on October 1st,

* create a 3 day youth firearm season on the Columbus Day holiday weekend followed immediately by,

* a 4 day muzzleloading/bow season for antlerless deer only (including bowhunters),

* bow-only season continues through the 3rd Friday in November,

* open the regular season on the 3rd Saturday in November for 23 days (current season structure),

* a 9 day combined bow/muzzleloading season after the regular season (current season structure).



If this DEC plan is implemented, bowhunters in 2012 will only have a 5 days of uninterrupted archery-only hunting season. After the deer drives start and the guns start going off, the deer will go running, including the mature bucks that will head to their safe hiding spots until the woods calm down in late December.

The archery-only season you enjoy now will cease to exist.



Northern Zone Season Structure:

* open the archery-only season on September 27th,

* 3 day youth firearms hunt on Columbus Day holiday weekend,

* bow-only season thru the next to last Friday in October (gain 4 days with no additional weekend opportunity),

* 7 day muzzleloading/bow season (moved back one week),

* regular season opens on the last Saturday in October thru the 2nd Sunday in December (moved back one week),

* 7 day muzzleloading with bow hunting included in season.

Additional proposals:

* The DEC can modify the bow and muzzleloading seasons as it sees fit, resulting in unpredictable season structures.

* Make additional portions of the bow season, in selected areas, antlerless only (no bucks).

* Allow for the use of crossbows in ALL the hunting seasons (legislation required).

* Open a youth-only firearms hunt during the 1st weekend of the Suffolk County January firearms season.

Proposed Tag/Permit Structure - FOR THE ENTIRE STATE

* eliminate all antlerless & either sex tags, therefore no tags will be issued with bow or muzzleloading licenses,

* antlerless deer can ONLY be taken with deer management permits (DMPs) in selected areas,

* the ONLY deer carcass tag that you will receive will be ONE buck tag with your big game hunting license. Once a buck is harvested it’s your only one and you’re done. In areas with no DMPs, or a DMP is not secured via the lottery, hunters can only harvest one antlered (buck) deer. Therefore if a buck is taken during the early bow season, the regular season and muzzleloading licenses that were purchased are useless,

* expand the antler restriction (3 antler points on one side) program in the Catskill region

 

[luieb45]

Not to put down traditional muzzleloading and such but if I were in New York I would be ticked because one of the best things about bow season is you never should hear a gun go off or some deer drive going on spooking deer everywhere. I know muzzleloading is more difficult than modern firearms but it a ton easier than any type of bowhunting, (traditional, compound). I would just hate to see an entire state lose most of their bowhunters because if it were me I probably wouldn't use a bow if I could hunt that long with a muzzleloader.

 

[stone knife]

I shoot and hunt only with traditional bows but i don't think a few days in the early part of the season for does will kill the whole thing.

 

[Robby]

Stone Knife, If it were ONLY a few days, and, the muzzle loaders were of a TRADITIONAL configuration, the impact would still be felt, though not as bad as it would be under the DEC proposal. The numbers of traditional muzzle loader hunters is vary small, but these days just about every gun hunter has an inline, and some I know have switched to inline's for all their deer hunting. A few days of huge numbers of inline hunters in the woods and the deer, especially the bucks will go totally nocturnal, and deer season for bow, as you know it, will no longer exist. This isn't deer management with game and hunter in mind. This is a money management system of management.
I'm totally against it as now proposed. I think if "New York Bowhunters" and "New York Muzzleloader Assn" would get together, I think a better program could be devised, for hunter and game.
Robby

 

[Stumpkiller]

It's always been a poor special season for m/l in NY. For years we got the five days AFTER the regular season to share wth bowhunters. Which pretty much ment one weekend (AFTER Sunday hunting was allowed) because few saved vacation time that late for hunting. Then they expanded it to nine days. But the good news was that m/l were allowed during the regular season, so you could hunt deer hunt for four weeks or so with m/l.

Plus they added bear to much of the southern zone this year.

I haven't seen where they're officially announced the change for the 2012/13 season.

Sure will boost in-line sales if they do give them a two week or more jump on the regular season. Less that 17% of hunters were interested in an early "primative only" flintlock season. Oh well.

I will likely stick to a bow in early season. Just so nice to be out with a recurve when it's warmer and the leaves are changing.