It is time, to let the new DEC commissioner know .......

It is time, to let the new DEC commissioner know how we feel about the lack of deer management in this state! This is a crucial time, as the 5- year Deer Plan is currently being constructed!

Please feel free to copy my letter or write your own but please do something!

Emails are good, but real letters are better!

Email the DEC Commissioner - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation
http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/407.html

or Write the Commissioner:

NYS Department of Environmental Conservation
Commissioner Joe Martens
625 Broadway
Albany, NY 12233-1011

Hello Commissioner Martens,

I write to you today to implore you to mandate that antler restrictions be implemented in the upcoming 5-year Deer Plan. 

As you know, hunting is an integral part of deer management in this state and every possible management technique that enhances herd health and hunting, will certainly benefit hunter retention and recruitment

For years, deer management in this state has been at a standstill and both the deer and the tradition have suffered from it. It is sad to hear members of your deer team spout rhetoric the likes of, “if deer aren’t dying en masse then we are doing our job”. That type of nonsense is not in the best interests of sportsmen or the deer, as far as I am concerned. We deserve a better mandate than that and so do the deer!

Hunters from all over this state have embraced antler restrictions at great personal sacrifice because we believe that they are the best direction for our deer herd and our tradition to go in. We have demonstrated that a majority of hunters in many areas of the state believe that this is the way to go and yet the DEC has failed to further implement them. Biologists from all over this state and country have refuted the complacent methods that your biologists proffer and have proven them antiquated and banal.

If for no other reason than the pure “good” science of antler restrictions, then perhaps you might consider the billions of dollars spent in this state on deer hunting and hunting by-products and consider how much more money would be spent if the deer hunting was actually good in this state.

Commissioner Martens, the antler restriction pilot projects have been a huge success and need to be expanded. We, the sportsmen of New York are counting on you to plan for our deer herd’s healthy future!

Martin T. Mc Donnell