New York has a ton of opportunities for hunters because of the ability to hunt on the same license throughout seasons with different methods. When you buy a regular season tag and archery privileges in NY, you are able to shoot multiple bucks: one during the archery season and one during the firearms season. Learn more about deer hunting regulations in NY here. https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/8305.html
The cost of this license is fairly low compared to other states. This makes New York a great bang for your buck opportunity. By simply glancing at a map of New York you’ll quickly learn that most of the state is extremely rural. This creates a lot of opportunities for hunters. There are plentiful public land opportunities with large tracts of state and federally owned land.
Like many Northeastern states, New York sometimes gets a bad reputation due to the fact that the mature bucks typically don’t have the same antler size as some of the mature bucks taken from other Midwestern states. That doesn’t mean that they don’t exist! There are many places across the state where bucks are able to grow old.
Here's a hunt Zach had from New York during the rut.
Hunting Pressure
New York has significantly less non-resident hunting pressure than some other states that we have hunted like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri and Kentucky. While hunting here during the first week of November during the archery season we saw little to no non-resident hunters utilizing the public land.
Regions of New York
Western/Southern NY
This region is made up of big hills and mountains with some agriculture mixed in. These areas of the state typically have the highest deer densities and the most diverse habitat. The public land areas are moderate in size and give you the ability to get away from other hunters. Using steep elevation change to your advantage may help you find solitude in the public lands of western and southern NY.
Northern NY
The Adirondacks are a great opportunity for hunters to experience a unique deer hunting experience where they will likely be alone in the wilderness. There are large contiguous public areas where hunters can reach remote settings. This area has a significantly lower deer density than the rest of the state and is mostly made up of mountainous habitat with wet marshy lowlands. It's a good choice for hunters looking to try the strategy of tracking deer. Although this area has low deer densities it is truly a great area to find really big bucks due to the vast amount of remote areas available.
