Unprecedented Milestone Hit In The New York Deer Hunting Season

New York wildlife officials say something happened this hunting season that has never been recorded in modern history.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) dropped its official 2025-26 deer harvest estimates.

DEC Unveils 2025 New York Deer Harvest Numbers

The numbers show that hunters bagged an estimated 227,032 white-tailed deer. While that is a slight 2 percent bump from last year, the big news is the actual age of the deer being harvested.

For the first time in modern New York history, the harvest of mature bucks exceeded the number of younger yearling bucks taken. According to DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton, 28.1 percent of the antlered bucks harvested this past hunting season were 3.5 years old or older.

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For comparison, 25 years ago, a whopping 67 percent of harvested bucks were young yearlings, and only 10 percent were mature. Officials credit a growing trend of selective hunting for allowing New York bucks to finally grow older and bigger.

Crossbow Craze Explodes Across New York

The other big takeaway from the DEC's report is the explosion of crossbow hunters. This followed a highly anticipated 2025 change to Environmental Conservation Law that allowed crossbows to be used in the exact same seasons and manners as traditional vertical bows.

Crossbows accounted for 55 percent of the total archery harvest this past season. A huge leap from the 33 percent reported last year.

“It is clear that deer hunters took advantage of expanded crossbow hunting opportunities this past season,” DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton said. “We are pleased that more hunters can participate in New York’s archery deer seasons and contribute to effective deer management into the future. The results from this past season continue to demonstrate that New York has much to offer for deer hunters.”

Notable Numbers from the 2025 Deer Seasons

• 0: The number of positive cases for Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) out of 3,050 wild deer tested, keeping New York wild deer completely disease-free.
• 530,808: The total number of licensed hunters in New York State, with 85% of them actively hitting the woods.
• 63%: The percentage of successful hunters who actually reported their harvest, well above the five-year average of 49%, thanks to a new "E-tagging" system.1
• 06,123: The total antlerless deer harvest, up 5% from last year. However, the DEC warns that doe harvests are still too low to hit population management goals, and new rule changes are already being proposed to fix it.
• 17.1: The number of deer harvested per square mile in Wildlife Management Unit 8R, which took the crown for the highest density harvest in the state.Mysterious / On-Edge Viral Headline

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