On June 20, 2025, the NYSDEC released for public comment, a handful of regulatory changes impacting the Big Game hunting rules, stating with the 2025 season.  Below are the proposals, and my take on these actions.  

Move to e-Carcass tagging:  dove-tailing on last year’s change to the issuing of carcass tags, the DEC is proposing elimination of the need to physically “tag” your harvest, provided you report your filled tag using the HuntFishNY App.  Exceptions to this requirement (when you do need to affix a carcass tag to the animal) include when you are not in immediate possession of the harvest, when the harvest is dropped off to a deer processor, or taxidermist.  Hunters will still be able to print out the issued carcass tags through your web portal, which began last season. 

Within this proposed change, some other changes are parts of this proposal, including the change in required reporting time from 7 days to 48 hours.  DEC claims you can use the HuntFishNY App to report your harvest, even if you have no cell service, and the report that you have completed will transmit to DEC once cell service is restored. 

My take:  Although the intention appears good with this proposal, and several other states have successfully moved to e-carcass tagging, like Ohio, we’re talking about NY.  Being an IT/ OT professional for nearly 30 years, and experiencing many initiatives pushed by NYS leveraging technical solutions, I can tell you with certainty this program will crash and burn due to insufficient quality assurance and product testing.  Let’s review the history.  2002 and the DECALS rollout – web servers crashed, making it impossible for license sales to occur, a problem that persisted for about a month after rollout.  Changes to the reporting methodology, from mail-in report card to harvest reporting via phone in system was difficult and non-intuitive and, coupled with a 24-hour reporting requirement, was the root cause of reporting compliance drops.  If a system doesn’t work out of the box, user confidence gets crushed.  To address the issues of reporting, DEC extended the reporting deadline to 7 days after harvest.  This seemed to improve reporting compliance, as many complained that while afield, no cellular service existed where they hunt.  Although the call-in HIP system worked, it wasn’t perfect, with some hunters not being presented with the right towns while leveraging the voice activated reporting.  Let’s also not forget recent history, when DEC cut over to eLicensing without first testing the HIP call in system and the mobile application, the NY Pocket Ranger, which wound up not working, the HIP call system was broken and a new app had to be developed, post rollout!  A better direction would be working this new approach in parallel with the physical tagging, as to assure all bugs are identified and corrected before pissing off the sporting community.   A larger concern in my mind, being a cybersecurity professional, is the claim you can report offline, and your harvest report will automatically upload upon restoration of cellular service.  How is authentication handled?  Does this pass a simple cookie to your phone, leveraging this as your token to securely connect to your account and transmit the proper data?  What if you have multiple accounts tied to your user ID?  This scenario exists with parents and their children.  My experience is the app will default to whatever account was last active.  How does one switch without authentication and verification?  What about the app itself?  Does this need to be running in the background to maintain session information?  If this is the case, what does this do to battery life?  If the phone shuts down the background application to conserve power, how does that report transmit “automatically”?  We should walk before we fly, and when it comes to NY and technology, well, they barely crawl. 

Youth Hunt additional permits – a commonly reported flaw in the special youth firearms hunt, held during Columbus Day weekend, is the youth hunter must use their regular season tag (antlered, or “buck” tag) if they successfully harvest a deer during the special youth firearms hunt.  If the youth did not secure a DMP, they are effectively locked out of the regular season deer hunt if they successfully filled their tag in October.  To address this, the DEC is proposing issuing a special regular season tag, for a deer of the opposite “sex” of that harvested during the youth hunt, but only to kids that did not receive a DMP.  How this would work is, upon reporting a harvest, DEC would examine whether the account has a valid DMP issued, and if not, a special regular season tag would be issued.  If the youth hunter harvested an antlered deer, the special permit would be for antlerless only.  If the youth harvested an antlerless deer during the youth hunt, an antlered deer tag would be issued.  This would preserve the opportunity for the parent to hunt with their child during regular season. 

My take:  Although the intentions are good, this proposal seems a bit over-complicated.  A wise man once told me to embrace the KISS method for best success – KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID!  Why would we want to introduce such complexity to this problem?  If the October harvest doesn’t successfully report, what happens?  If the youth hunter harvested a buck, would that antlerless only tag be valid statewide, or be WMU specific?  What would this do to the deer management program (antlerless harvests by WMU, not statewide)?  Seems to me, the best approach would be to ask the parent whether the qualifying youth will participate in the October youth hunt.  If yes, issue a special youth hunt deer tag, valid for a deer of either sex, but valid for the 3-day youth hunt ONLY.  This would eliminate the rigamarole, simplify the process, and assure the youth and the parent that, despite filling their tag during the youth hunt, that youth will still be able to hunt with dad or mom during the regular. 

DMAP Changes – eliminate the 4 DMAPs per hunter limit, and review DMAP program every 5 years, vs. 3 years. 

My take:  This move appears long overdue.  The deer management assistance program is geared to assist specific land owners that show negative deer damage, requiring additional antlerless deer management.  If this program is rolled out for a property, the property owner has a problem.  Getting hunters to voluntarily assist in removing overabundant numbers can sometimes be challenging, as time is what it is, can’t make more of it.  If a landowner has a successful hunter filling DMAPs, why limit that successful hunter to four (4) animals?  Reviewing the impacts of DMAP every 5 years makes more sense than the 3-year review, as getting a deer problem under “control” using DMAP is a longer process than 3 seasons affords. 

DEC is accepting comments on the proposed regulations through Aug. 18, 2025. Submit comments to wildliferegs@dec.ny.gov (subject: “e-tags and DMAP”) or to: NYSDEC, Attn: Deer Hunting Regs, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754.