Delhi News Bureau

The 2002 deer hunting season was a record-breaker statewide, with the highest harvest ever and the second-highest buck harvest, state Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Erin M. Crotty said.

Hunters killed about 308,000 deer in New York, including more than 128,000 bucks and nearly 180,000 antler-less deer. The record-setting harvest is about 9 percent higher than the 2001 take of 282,000 deer, Crotty said.

Locally, the largest increase in the number of deer taken was in Delaware County, with the overall take increasing from 6,564 to 8,933.

Otsego County had an increase from 6,680 to 7,411, and the Schoharie take increased from 3,455 to 3,667. There was a decrease in Chenango, with numbers dropping from 5,732 to 4,753.

Bill Sharrick, state Department of Environmental Conservation Region 4 wildlife biologist, said locally, the deer population appears to be in balance with the habitat.

"You can't count deer, so there is no way to know how many are out there," Sharrick said. "We keep track of the bucks per square mile that are taken during hunting season."

On average, hunters take a consistent percentage of the adult bucks available each year, and DEC biologists use buck takes as an index of the success in reaching and maintaining deer populations, Crotty said.

Sharrick said local citizen task forces help establish deer population objectives for the Wildlife Management Units. The task forces represent a broad range of public interests and the members consider concerns of farmers, foresters, conservationists, landowners and hunters, he said.

"They try to figure out the human carrying capacity for deer, taking into account the number of deer that hunters want to see while considering the interests of motorists and people who like to watch deer," Sharrick said.

Numerous changes in deer hunting laws, licenses, tags and field practices were implemented during the past season and were intended to increase the overall chances of success for deer hunters, Crotty said.

Hunters achieved the desired statewide harvest of about 110,000 adult females — a critical goal in helping control the deer population, he said.

Sharrick said deer have a high reproductive rate, so measures have to be taken to control herd size.

The DEC issued more than 668,000 deer management permits for antler-less deer to hunters during the initial instant lottery, and an additional 102,000 deer management permits during the extended first-come, first-served application period.

The DEC's deer management program is intended to maintain deer numbers at levels that meet local interests and habitat conditions, while also providing quality hunting opportunities for the 650,000 deer hunters.

Crotty said the venison donation program, through the Venison Donation Coalition, expanded last year, with hunters donating more than 85,000 pounds of ground venison to charitable institutions during its fourth year of operation.

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Patricia Breakey can be reached at (607) 746-2894 or at stardelhi@stny.rr.com.