THE regular big-game hunting season opens at sunrise Saturday in the Southern Zone, with some changes that were long in coming and beneficial to the sport.
The biggest change was the expansion of big-game hunting to 14- and 15-year-olds.
Earlier this year, Gov. Paterson signed a bill that created a special junior hunter mentoring program that allows these young sportsmen to hunt big game with a firearm while accompanied and supervised by an experienced adult hunter. Prior to that, New York was the only state where 14-year-olds could not hunt big game with a firearm.
“Through Governor Paterson’s leadership, this long-sought measure has become a reality,” DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis said. “Historically, responsible hunting has been valuable in instilling youth with an appreciation of the state’s abundant natural resources and a responsibility to act as environmental stewards. This bill will increase opportunities for young people to get out of the house and experience the outdoors.”
There are also several other changes, too.
As we mentioned in the past, bear hunting has been expanded to 13 additional Wildlife Management Units (WMUs) in central and western New York.
Hunting with rifles was approved for big-game hunting in Madison County. This law was approved by the state legislature for just one year and will expire in 2009.
Rifle hunting was also approved for Chemung, Steuben, and Yates Counties. This law was set to expire in 2008 but was extended till 2011.
The late archery and muzzleloading seasons for deer and bear in the Southern Zone open at sunrise on Dec. 8 and close at sunset on Dec. 16.