In the final days of the 2025 NYS Legislative Session, both chambers finally brought a new crossbow bill for full floor votes, resulting in passage of S6360A/ A8330A,an act clarifying the use of crossbows, redefining crossbow to be considered with other “bows”, moving qualifications to archery privileges, including Bowhunter’s Safety course requirements, and authorizing the DEC to promulgate regulations for its use in any season where long bows may be used.  This act also eliminates the archaic restrictions currently in place in NY, such as minimum width of 17 inches, and the maximum draw weight of 200 lbs. 

Since, 2014, when the official crossbow “compromise” was adopted, data collection concerning harvest and profiles of user groups has shown this implement indeed belongs in NYS as a choice for all hunters.  Harvest data shows easily sustainable use of this implement, and the biggest group of hunters that benefit from crossbow inclusion are the older hunters who struggle through age or physical limitations to ethically use a vertical today. 

Over the past decade of partial inclusion during early archery also illustrated the need to require the additional bowhunter’s safety education requirement, as through tracking the calls to Deer Search, Inc., it appears some users of the crossbow do not understand how the implement works, which is identical to how vertical bows work, as it isn’t the style of the bow, rather the projectile’s cutting broadhead, which requires hunters to be more patient before tracking and recovering the harvest.  Moving this implement to archery will go a long way in improving game recovery through proper education.

The legislation is currently sitting in the legislature, awaiting delivery to the Governor for signature.  The NYSCC is urging the membership to contact the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the Assembly and ask to have this legislation delivered to the governor ASAP.  The act will take effect immediately upon signature, but it must be delivered first.  The longer the delay, the less likely these important changes will be included in the 2025 Big Game seasons.  For more information, please visit www.nyscc.com.  The NYSCC has implemented a new Action page, which is here, https://www.nyscc.com/action#/ and users can take action through this page, simplifying the process of getting in touch with your representatives to urge their action on our behalf.  It only works when WE use these tools.  Horses and water, right?

At the end of May 2025, the NYSCC Big Game and Archery committees met to discuss some initiatives for changes to the Big Game and Archery Hunting seasons, in the form of resolutions, submitted by the member federated clubs across NYS.  This year, the BGC and Archery bodies considered four actions submitted, and delivered our recommendations and comments on each.  A quick recap is as follows:

05-2025 – Allow Crossbows To Be Used For Deer Hunting In Suffolk County

Suffolk Alliance Of Sportsmen 

Currently, Suffolk County is prohibited from allowing hunters to legally use crossbows during their seasons.  The big game committee and archery committee both unanimously supports this needed change. 

07-2025 – Establish Early Bear Season In The Southern Zone To Include WMU 4O

Delaware County Federation of Sportsmen 

The expanding need for increased Bear Management in the Catskills area does warrant this inclusion, and the BGC unanimously supported this action.  Since this is a regulatory change and not legislative, other WMUs needing to be added can be done without the slow legislative grind.  It was recommended that DEC should ADD WMU 3F and 3G to this expansion. 

08-2025 – Allow youth 12-13 to hunt deer and bear from elevated stands with firearm, crossbow or muzzleloader

Genesee County Federation Of Sportsmen’s Clubs 

This action above is similar to the efforts of Erie County Federation member Depew Rod & Gun, with this action extending the efforts to include 12- and 13-year-old hunters and including bear hunting, as current language omits bear hunting from an elevated position.  However, committee members across the board expressed concern over the way this action has been written, and therefore opposed this resolution as written, seeking some amended language from the submitter before final vote.  Current law allows youth archery hunters to hunt deer from an elevated position, but they cannot do so when bear hunting, and all youth hunters that go afield with an implement other than a vertical bow must be on the ground.  The resolution lists specific implements (crossbow, rifle, shotgun, or muzzle-loading firearm).  However, if a new hunting implement, such as big bore air rifles, are added to the allowed lawful hunting implement list, it would require another amended law to permit youth to hunt with a new legal hunting tool when a new opportunity or choice is added.  The committee recommends striking the specific implements, and replace with simply “to hunt big game with a lawful hunting implement from an elevated position.”

 The fourth resolution considered was submitted by Wyoming County, as follows:

 03-2025 – Oppose Use of Air Bows in Early Archery-Only Season

Wyoming County Federation

 Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the air bow be prohibited from archery only seasons

 Conversations in Albany indicate a willingness to examine and evaluate the “air bow” for inclusion as a lawful hunting implement.  As a pre-emptive measure to protect the early archery season and its traditions and original intent of the season, Wyoming County would like the sporting community to oppose its inclusion, even before it’s evaluated for legalization efforts.  Trouble is, we have no definition of what an “air bow” is, beyond what the manufacturer calls it.  We also aren’t too familiar with the inter-workings and effectiveness, either.  Until a definition is actually applied by law, taking any position is extremely premature. 

 In order to form any kind of an opinion, some homework must be done.  According to the information concerning “air bows,” the device is a modified air rifle that is designed to shoot an “arrow” instead of a pellet or bullet.  It propels the projectile with air pressure, similarly to the propellent of an air rifle.  Yet, as I dig deeper, it would appear these devices are effectively terrestrial versions of a spear gun, it is not a bow, which is defined as “a weapon that propels an arrow or bolt using flexible limbs with a taut cord or string joining each end of the limbs.” Other than “used underwater”, these air bows appear to be spar guns, which are illegal in NY to hunt with.

 Check back to find out progress on these actions, or visit the New York State Conservation Council website at https://nyscc.com

The NYSDEC released their 2024 whitetail deer harvest estimates last month (May 2025), revealing that hunters across NYS harvest approximately 223,000 deer during the 2024 big game seasons, reflecting a 6% increase in the harvest vs. 2023, and fall just 3,000 deer shy of the running 5-year average of approximately 226,000, statewide.  Digging deeper into the report, we see an increase in adult buck harvest (defined as 1.5 year old (YO) or older) over 2023 by 9%, with a similar increase in adult doe harvest (same definition as bucks), despite showing only a 3.4% increase in total antlerless deer take vs. 2023.  This overall increase for antlerless harvest was despite DMP permit issuance being REDUCED across the state by 6.6%.  In fact, DMP tags filled was effectively flat (<1% difference, despite 6.6% fewer DMP issued.)  The estimated success ratio for DMP was estimated as 13.9%, which is better than 2023’s 13.1%, but this still could be higher, as some hunters still secure DMP to intentionally NOT fill it, believing this will somehow protect a doe. 

For those watching age structure, most adult bucks harvested last year were 2.5 YO (66.9%,) which was close to 2023 (67.9%.)  Voluntary restraint and waiting for an older buck appears to be working better than mandatory AR in PA, where, after 22 years of mandatory AR, PA harvests “2 of every 3 bucks harvest are 2.5 YO or older.”  Education and voluntary efforts work – no need to manage hunters with regulation, education works! 

While the bulk of the deer harvest occurs during regular season, an estimated 50,502 whitetail deer were taken with archery during the early and late seasons, an 11.2% increase over 2023.  A little over 34% of those animals were antlerless, which is slightly less than the 2023 makeup of 35.3%.  Crossbow users accounted for @ 18,300 deer (up nearly 9%), while black powder firearms harvest came in at just shy of 22,000 deer, which was up over 22% from the prior season!  It is estimated that 58% of the 2024 black powder harvested deer were antlerless.  These recreational seasons accounted for nearly 91,000 deer, while the 23-day regular season accounted for over 132,000 whitetail deer being removed from the landscape.  This year, the special Columbus Day Youth firearms hunt harvest was down slightly from the previous season, down @ 2%.  Satisfaction with this youth season still remains high. 

Locally, the 2024 season brought the follow harvest figures for Erie County:
Total Deer harvest in 2024 – 6,327

Adult Bucks (>/= 1.5YO) – 3,171

Fawn Bucks (< 1.5YO, or button bucks) – 389

Adult Does (>/= 1.5YO) – 2,376

Fawn Does (< 1.5YO) – 391

Population density estimates for Erie County are published as 3.7 adult bucks per square mile, with adult does being estimated at 2.8 per sq. mi.  Total antlerless deer per sq. mi. is pegged at 3.7, same as adult bucks, which indicates our buck:doe ratio is pretty close to 1:1. 

When it comes to the Youth Hunt, the top counties in Region 9 taking great advantage of this opportunity to get youth involved are Chautauqua and Wyoming Counties, with Erie County no doubt hurt by the county prohibition on 12- and 13-year-olds being able to hunt with firearms – Erie County appears to be the only county prohibiting our parents from introducing their 12 and 13 year old children to firearms big game hunting.  These same youths can hunt deer and bear with archery, and can hunt all manner of small game with a firearm already, and have been able to for a long time; it makes no sense that Erie County will not lower the age with the rest of the state for big game.

 Much information exists in this annual report, far more than touched on here.  To get more information, please download the harvest report and review carefully for yourself.

You can download it directly here – https://dec.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2025-05/2024deerrpt.pdf

The NYSDEC fisheries unit, during summer 2024, announced the adoption of a new regulation to take effect starting in 2025, that will impact bass fishing tournaments statewide.  Starting January 1, 2025, organizations, clubs, charities and just some guys getting together for a little fun competition, will now be required to secure a permit to hold any type of black bass tournament in NYS, where the tournament field is at least 10 competitors or teams, or more.  The permit is free, for now, and tournament organizers must apply for this permit at least 45 days in advance of the event. 

Justification for this new requirement appears to be the desire to understand what tournament fishing pressure does to a local bass fishery and it’s expected quality, despite the vast majority of fish caught during these events being released to fight another day.  Collecting tournament statistics seems to be the goal, and understanding the number of tournaments held each season in NY may help better understand the impacts tournament angling may bring, while collecting insight into the water body’s quality of fish being caught. 

On the surface, this seems to make sense.  What doesn’t make sense to me, is the 10 participants/ competitors.  Nor does the 45-day minimum application date from event, especially in the face of modern web technologies.  The DEC can turn around a web application for senior crossbow usage and issue a permit within a few days for a physically compromised senior hunter to use a crossbow throughout early archery, but they cannot figure out how to host a similar application for bass tournaments?  But it’s the 10 participants/ teams, and the fact that this would include the new Fish Donkey app powered contests, which includes kayak fishing, and these Fish Donkey tournaments could encompass multiple state waters, not just one. 

Although it is valuable information to quantify a specific water’s bass fishing quality, these small tournaments are the essence of recreational angling.  A group of friends throwing together a “king of the lake” tourney grows camaraderie, helps promote fishing, and offers the chance to improve at the sport through friendly competition, pitting your knowledge and skill against others in a friendly competitive fashion.  Many local bass fishing clubs hold fund-raising open tournaments to support scholarship opportunities, or help raise funds for medical research, such as the BassEye events raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  Some clubs may even hold weekly afternoon contests during the summer months, with participation in these opportunities varying from a half dozen to maybe 20 anglers, and you never know which week will bring out more members to participate. 

This is part of why we buy a recreational sport fishing license.  

Make no mistake, I do believe a big difference exists between local club events and professional tournaments.  I also believe these big tournaments secure a permit already to hold these events, which often bring over 300 competitors to the host waters.  But waters capable of handling these large events are limited by launch facility and parking capacity.  And with the majority of tournaments practicing catch and release, direct population impacts – the focus of management efforts to begin with – show as negligible.  The fact these small clubs return to various waters to hold tournaments is informative to the fishery quality, as no club wants to hold a tournament on a water that will produce few keepers to weigh.  We can use common sense to understand impacts to the fisheries.  Besides, fishing pressure is a function of people buying fishing licenses and actually fishing.  The DEC is not to manage the fishermen.  They are to manage the fisheries. 

This effort will bear very little fruit, and with the scattergun approach, become a costly thing to try to incorporate, but to what end?  What’s next?  Fishermen have to provide catch reports to the department after every outing?  That’s what the survey efforts accomplish.  What value is there in collecting data from 30 kayakers fishing 20 different waters during their competition, and immediately releasing each catch after measurement and photograph? 

Wisdom should inform us all that, with limited resources, focusing efforts on larger tournaments where competition is a profession for many, is a vastly more efficient use of conservation funds than wasting valuable resources to chase the impacts of 20 fish being caught, and released.

 Small tournaments are the essence of recreational angling, and has been since man began fishing.  Recreational angling is what we buy our fishing license to pursue.  Anglers do not purchase fishing licenses to fund the DEC’s efforts to manage fishermen, the funds are to manage, protect and restore fisheries.

 The ECFSC is working to correct this apparent injustice.  We already hold the permit.  It’s called a fishing license.  Focus efforts on professional tournament impacts, as this is where the pressure may create some negative perceptions of a lake’s fishery quality.  Apply common sense everywhere else.