THE New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has released a tentative schedule for the coming waterfowl season in hopes that hunters will take advantage of the early release and plan their hunting schedule for the coming autumn and winter months.
“The early announcement of tentative dates gives hunters more time to plan vacations and other fall activities,” said Gary Parsons, Chief of the Wildlife Bureau. “We usually don’t announce waterfowl season dates until September, when federal regulations are final. Based on what we know about waterfowl populations and habitat conditions, however, we don’t think we’ll have to change these dates in the fall.”
Preliminary indications are that mallard populations and habitat conditions in eastern and central North America should be favorable this summer. Based on those indications, the DEC assumed the duck seasons would be 60 days long this year, as they have been in recent years. The DEC also relied on two waterfowl hunter “task forces” to provide duck season recommendations for the state’s western and southeastern zones.
In past years, according Gary Sheffer, a spokesperson for the DEC, season dates in the western and southeastern Zones have generated some controversy among duck hunters. The dates provided were based on information given by these task forces.
Closed periods for black ducks will continue to ensure that the black duck harvest does not exceed guidelines set by the Atlantic Flyway Council. Winter counts of black ducks have stabilized since restrictions began in 1983, but in most of those years, duck seasons were only 30-40 days long. DEC’s season-setting team assumed that the guidelines would allow a 50-day season for black ducks, so 10-day closed periods are included in the season for each zone.
“However, if hunters voluntarily limit their seasonal harvest of black ducks, we may be able to drop this restriction in the future,” according to DEC waterfowl specialist Bryan Swift.Tentative dates for the duck season are as follows:
Western zone – Oct. 15-Nov. 28 and Dec. 26-Jan. 9. Northeastern zone – Oct. 2-Nov. 14 and Nov. 20-Dec. 5. Southeastern zone – Oct. 9-17 and Nov. 6-Dec. 26.
Long Island zone – Nov. 19-28 and Dec. 2-Jan. 20.
The Lake Champlain region will not be announced until September.
A special “Youth Waterfowl Hunt Day” again will be held in each zone for junior hunters (ages 12-15) only to hunt ducks, coot and mergansers.
Tentative dates for the September Canada goose hunting season are similar to last year. In most of upstate New York, the season will run from Sept. 1-25, with a five-goose daily bag limit. In the Long Island zone, the season runs from Sept. 7-30, with five-goose bag limit.
Atlantic Flyway biologists are optimistic that limited “regular” hunting season for Canada geese may reopen in most areas this fall. If results of breeding population surveys in northern Quebec are favorable, seasons of up to 15 days with a one-goose bag limit may be allowed in each upstate zone.
More liberal regular Canada goose hunting seasons are expected for Long Island with tentative dates running Nov. 19-28 and Dec. 2-31 with a two-goose daily limit. The Long Island zone season may even be extended to Jan. 20 and have three-goose daily bag limit, if populations of geese breeding in Labrador and Newfoundland are favorable.
A special late hunting season for Canada geese is expected to continue similar to last year in portions of the western, southwestern and Long Island zones. The tentative dates are Jan. 15-Feb. 15, with a five-goose bag limit. The areas open to hunting are expected to be the same as last year, which included all of Tioga and Broome counties, and portions of Chemung, Delaware, Sullivan, Orange, Rockland, Putnam, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk counties.
The snow goose season is expected to coincide with other waterfowl hunting seasons and include 20 days (Feb. 20-March 10) in each zone. Brant seasons are expected to be 50 days long again this year.