The deer season opens on Saturday, November 16, here in Western New York. The gun season that is… as the deer archery season has been open for over a month now. Here in our area in what the D.E.C. calls the Southern Zone, deer gun season always begins the third Saturday in November, which this year falls on Saturday the 16th and runs through December 8.
New York’s Department of Conservation says New York State has an overpopulation of whitetail deer and it has become a serious problem in many parts of the state. The deer herd is growing, and the number of hunters is decreasing. There are many reasons for this, but the biggest is that young people are not taking up the sport of hunting as they are too busy on their phones or playing video games. That being said, it is by far the most popular species to hunt in the state with more than 500,000 deer hunters contributing nearly $690 million to New York State’s economy through hunting related expenses, the purchase of hunting licenses and federal excise taxes. Hunters generate over $35 million to support the management activities of NYSDEC. New York hunters take some 220,000 deer annually, filling freezers with roughly 10.8 million pounds of high-quality local venison, one of the healthiest meats you can eat.
Statistics show that your odds of being successful are much greater if you hunt early in the season as deer get educated fast. Most whitetails that have had an encounter with a hunter either by catching their wind or a visual meeting, will head for the thickest cover they can find, and most will not move again until after dark. Especially the big old boys who bury deep and become completely nocturnal after the first shot goes off. The best strategy on opening day is to sit on a well-used deer trail as long as possible and hope all the hunter activity will push deer down these trails.
A lone hunter waltzing around in the woods hoping to see deer while walking is only educating deer to your presence, sending them to the nearest patch of undergrowth to wait until dark and the humans have vacated their domain.
Once these whitetails get hip to the fact people are trying to put them in their freezers, they become very hard to hunt successfully. Then the question for most deer hunters is whether to sit in one spot knowing that the deer will not be moving on their own accord or to get a group of hunters together and make them move. The purists will say to sit quietly in a tree or ground blind, stating that it is sacrilege to disturb the woods in such an obnoxious manner. But the meat hunters will say that if the deer aren’t moving on their own, they will move them. Which, by the way, does benefit the stand hunters as the drivers get the deer stirred up in all directions.
As the season progresses, your odds of having some tasty venison dinners over the winter are better if you push deer. You don’t necessarily need a big group to move deer. A small band of hunters can push deer out of those small hideaways where the smart deer hang out. When coordinating small deer drives, look for properties that are not obvious to the average hunter. For example, wide dense hedgerows can hold a surprising number of deer. Thick creek-bottoms, swamps, uncut corn lots, overgrown fields of multi-flora rose, and any other chunks of real estate that for one reason most hunters overlook also harbor herds of smart whitetails.
Before you decide to deer drive, it is critical to know with whom you are hunting. You don’t want the hunter waiting at the end of your deer drive to be somebody you barely know and have no idea of how safe a hunter he or she is. I’ve been in these predicaments and it can be unnerving to say the least.
Orange clothing is critical when pushing deer. You want to make sure the other hunters in your party can pick you out in heavy cover and if a deer was to suddenly break out between you and the other members of your party, your orange clothing will keep anyone from shooting in your direction.
This brings me to my annual speech. Be safe out there. There is nothing about a human that looks like a deer. Know your target. Never, never, never shoot at a sound. I want to believe that it is rare that hunters mistake each other for deer. They can’t be that dopey, can they? I believe most accidents happen when a deer runs between hunters and they get so excited that they shoot at the deer without being aware of what’s behind it. More commonly, accidents happen when hunters shoot themselves while crossing fences without unloading their gun, climbing in and out of a tree stand, or back at the vehicle when somebody mistakes an empty gun that is still loaded. Your gun safety should always be on and never, ever, put your finger inside the trigger guard for any reason unless you are planning to shoot the weapon. Treat every gun as if it is loaded all the time and you won’t develop any dangerous habits.
Now for the tens of thousands of young people that can’t wait to read my column each month, put the video games down, shove your phone in your pocket and get out in the woods and enjoy the great outdoors. I promise you will be glad you did. I suppose you can look at your phone occasionally as long as it’s on mute while you’re on your deer stand … if you must.
