State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos said ‘Operation Safe Harvest‘ is part of a statewide initiative to ensure all hunters are following the State’s hunting laws and safety guidelines while afield.

Environmental Conservation Officers will be patrolling and conducting a variety of field operations to help ensure a safe and enjoyable big game hunting season.

In addition to statewide enforcement, Officers educate hunters on New York’s hunting laws and safety guidelines, both in the field and as instructors for the New York State Hunter Education Program.

New York State continues to prioritize hunter safety year-round and the 2021 hunting seasons in New York were the safest ever, with the lowest number of incidents since record-keeping began.

DEC Law Enforcement is also reminding hunters they are key partners in protecting New York deer from Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). Chronic Wasting Disease continues to spread in other states, and hunters are key to preventing CWD introduction to New York. CWD is always fatal to deer. If introduced, it could spread rapidly and be practically impossible to eliminate once established.

Hunters can help protect New York’s deer herd from CWD by following these tips:
– If hunting any type of deer, elk, moose, or caribou outside of New York, it must be deboned before bringing it back. The DEC will confiscate and destroy illegally imported carcasses and parts, including whole deer and deer heads;
– Do not use deer urine-based lures or attractant scents, as these could contain infectious material;
– Dispose of carcass waste in a landfill, not just on the landscape;
– Report any deer that appears sick or is acting abnormally; and
– Hunt only wild deer and support fair chase hunting principles.

The regular firearms season for deer and bear in the Southern Zone runs through Sunday, December 11, and includes participation from approximately 85 percent of New York’s 550,000 licensed hunters.

WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley spoke with State DEC Wildlife Biologist Jeremy Hurst about Chronic Wasting Disease in deer now that a case was found just over the Pennsylvania border. He also gave an update on proposed hunting regulations for deer and bear.

Hurst said the most recent case is causing alarm, “A individual deer that tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease in a captive facility just five miles south of our border which, for listeners in your area, is just south of the Town of Kiantone into the Pennsylvania side of the line. So it’s the closest that it’s been to the New York border in quite some time.”

Hurst said chronic wasting disease is a fatal disease in the deer family of deer, moose, caribou, and elk. He said one of the challenges with the disease is that the deer is often not visibly sick, “Until the deer is near the terminal stages of the disease. And the deer can have Chronic Wasting Disease for up to two years before it starts to show clinical symptoms all that while it can be spreading the disease. So it really is a difficult disease and it’s rare actually that hunters or the public see a deer that really appears sick even though they may be carrying the disease.”

Since 2012, hunters have not been allowed to bring unprocessed deer carcasses back into New York State from Pennsylvania because of CWD. Hurst asked people who see deer that look sick, emaciated, or otherwise unwell to contact the Region 9 DEC Wildlife Office in Buffalo at (716) 851-7010.