Hunting and Trapping Newsletter

Deer Management Assistance Program – Application Deadline is August 1

DEC’s Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) offers an avenue for landowners to meet deer management needs on their property, while providing an incentive to give licensed hunters access to deer and deer hunting. Permittees use DMAP to address crop damage, forest regeneration problems (the photo to the right depicts new forest growth in a 15-year deer exclosure), protect areas of sensitive and rare plants, enhance municipal deer harvest, and develop custom deer management programs.

• DEC may issue a special DMAP permit and a determined number of DMAP deer tags to an approved landowner or group of landowners whose property(ies) is in need of site-specific deer management.
• DMAP is a hunting program. DMAP tags are valid for use only during the open deer hunting seasons and can only be used by licensed hunters on the properties identified on the DMAP permit.
• Only antlerless deer may be taken under a DMAP permit.
• New this year - DMAP permitees may submit their annual report via a new online DMAP Annual Report form after the deer hunting season. Participating hunters must also continue to report each harvested deer via DEC’s Game Harvest Reporting System.

To learn more about DMAP, determine if you are eligible, and download the DMAP application, visit DEC's website. The DMAP application deadline is August 1, 2022.

Be a Citizen Scientist! Report Your Turkey Sightings This August

While you are exploring the forests and fields around your home or driving through the state’s beautiful landscapes this summer, be sure to keep an eye out for wild turkeys.

DEC uses reported observations of wild turkeys to track annual productivity (number of poults produced per adult hen) over time and in different parts of the state. It also helps forecast hunting prospects for the coming fall season and for subsequent spring seasons. Submit your observations online. Turkey populations in New York State hit their peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s and productivity was relatively high. However, over the past 10 years, turkey productivity has consistently been below average which leads to lower populations. This survey is an important monitoring tool that helps DEC effectively manage turkey populations.

To see results from previous summer surveys, please visit DEC’s website.