March 23, 2026
By Rich Davenport
Last week, the NYSDEC announced yet another round of proposed changes to the Southern Zone of NY’s deer hunting seasons, the next in a seemingly never-ending carousel ride hunters have endured over the past 15+ years. After decades of relative stability, which changes coming in the form of efforts to provide more hunting opportunity, and modest shifts to DMP allocations and administration, it seems like the wheels have fallen off at 650 Broadway, Albany, NY.
The myriad of recent changes proposed, including expansion of no quota WMUs, lifting the limit on DMP transfers a hunter may receive, to expanding the early Antlerless-Only September season (recently added for problem WMU antlerless management) and a restructuring of tags in the hopes of creating more incentive to harvest antlerless deer, it is becoming crystal clear something big changed that has necessitated fast-adjustments to a once stable season and management program. Hunters are rightfully becoming more confused by the day, as the acknowledged problem of overabundance of deer in many areas across the southern zone continues, despite best efforts to reverse this troubling trend.
All these problems, with data truly underscoring the self-induced disaster, point back to one major, landmark decision that kicked off this cascade of management change after change – the restructuring of southern zone big game opening days, implemented in 2005.
The sporting community was sold this idea as being something that would benefit business, benefit youth hunters, and increase, even if only slightly, participation on opening day, while being fairer to hunters that could not take a Monday off work to capitalize on the regular season opener. It sounded good, and felt even better, as who doesn’t want to be fair? What was missing in this was the first priority of the department and hunters alike; effective deer management.
Key facts:
- Regular season is the management tool. Archery and extended ML seasons are considered recreational
- The first week of regular season makes or breaks management objectives for the entire big game season
- Management is a numbers game, with the more hunters afield (aka, the managers), the stronger herd management will be
To show you what actually happened, a breakdown of the numbers is needed. All numbers are publicly available, and are based on both NYSDEC data and USFW survey data.
- Under Monday Opener – 78% of hunters participated on Opening Dat Monday, First Saturday participation was 72% – source: DEC presentation on Opening Day change
- Under the Saturday Opener structure, estimated participation for opening day would rise to 80% – source: DEC participation estimate for new Saturday opener
- Participation during any given weekday other than opening day stands at about 2% of hunters, according to USFW participation analysis in the mid-Atlantic region, of which NY falls into.
Bearing in mind, Deer management is a numbers game, and the more hunters afield during that critical first week, the more likely objectives will be met successfully. What to these % actually represent in terms of actual hunter numbers?
Hunter numbers reflect current licensed hunters in NYS, resident only, based on 2024/ 2025 license sales summary – that number is 512,000 hunters. Sunday participation has been omitted due to fluctuations depending on timing of the season (Thanksgiving week or week prior):
Old Monday Opener Structure
Opening day Monday (78%) – 400,000 hunters
Tues-Fri of opening week (2% per day) – 40,000 hunters (or 10,000 per day)
1st Saturday (72%) – 370,000 hunters
Total Hunters afield: 810,000
Average success rate: 22%
Potential first week deer harvest: 179,000 (total deer)
Saturday Opener Structure
Opening Day Saturday (80%) – 420,000 hunters
Mon-Fri of first week (2% per day) – 50,000 hunters (10, per day)
Total Hunters afield: 470,000
Average success rate: 22%
Potential first week deer harvest: 104,000 (total deer)
Note that numbers have been levelized for simplicity. Limiters on antlerless harvest is number of DMP issued and where.
Based on the numbers, the change to a Saturday opener reduced the harvest potential of the first week, through hunters in the woods during the first week, by 75,000 deer.
Some of this potential difference does get made up due to the additional weekend opportunity at the end of regular season, but participation is lowest by the end of regular season, as participation drops dramatically, as deer patterns change due to pressure and outside factors, such as the holiday season and family commitments, weather related challenges and available time being invested in the earlier portion of the season.
Over the past 20 years, this reduced harvest due to lower hunters afield, by default, compounds. Trying to keep up with this lost harvest during the first week has resulted in the many changes implemented since, all which have failed to address the root cause, which is lower managers afield during the critical first week. The only way to reverse this trend is obvious.
Whether you feel strongly about Saturday opener, or you miss the traditions of yesteryear, the simple fact remains, regular season is the tool to manage the herds, the more hunters afield during the first week makes or breaks management plans, and current structure has broken management. No other reason exists. License sales today vs 20 years ago are lower by a mere 10,000 hunters. And the fact remains, hunters fill tags when hunting, tags do not magically fill themselves.
It’s time to return to the Monday opener format.