Anyone hunt in lower NY?

P

Pinelands

New member
I live in Northern NJ and the hunting here sucks. Our state WMA's get really crowded, and our hunting regulations are pretty restrictive (only shotguns allowed). I would like to be able to hunt small game with my .22 rifle.

I live close to NY so I was thinking of getting a non-resident license and hunting up there, but I had a few questions.

1. The Mongaup Valley WMA, and the Catskill Forest Preserve are within reasonable driving distance. Are these good areas for small game hunting? Do they get crowded?

Any suggestions for land further upstate are welcomed also, although id have to make an overnight trip out of it.

2. Anyone know if taking grouse with a .22 is legal? The NY regs say no rifles for pheasant, turkey, or migratory birds...but no mention of grouse or quail.

Thanks for the help.
 
I don't live in that area, so I don't know what the small game population is like, but I can tell you that I know of no large area in NY that gets very crowded during small game seasons.... and the Catskills are a *LARGE* area. All rifles (and handguns) of all types are off limits for pheasants, grouse, turkey... pretty much anything with feathers and a hunting season, as far as I know.
 
when i read the title of the thread, the first thing that popped in my mind
was lower ny....well....that must be south of Houston Street....

i live upstate now, but when i lived in manhattan, i would mention
to people that my folks lived in westchester county (first county
north of the bronx) and they would say: oh....upstate

seems that for people in manhattan, just about anything north of
42nd street is "upstate"....

now, being in central ny, upstate is like the adirondaks/north country

sorry.....just had to chime in on that......didnt want to hijack the thread...
funny how certain terms just inevitably and automatically bring some thoughts right up....

i guess it is all relative.......
 
I hunt peetzakilla's back yard: Cortland and Onondaga counties, south of Syracuse. Lots of good state game land without much pressure during small game. But an out-of-state license, even for small game, is spendy compared to in-state fees. The DEC runs an informative web site, including suggestions and maps for where to hunt
 
Thanks for the replies.

I looked at the DEC map of the Catskill Preserve and its pretty massive. I think its a pretty safe bet that overcrowding will not be an issue.
 
When I lived up there, I hunted Cortland, Madison, Thompkins, Chenango and Oneida counties. The deer all taste the same, and if you make a weekend of it, the gray squirrels could use a thinning. There are SOOO MANY red squirrels that I gave up trying to sit quietly waiting for Bambi to stroll within bow range that I bought a Wrist Rocket and cast some buckshot for the treerats rouge. There are so many good areas to hunt in the upstate north of I-84 that you won't live long enough to find one to call your own sweet spot.
Take a couple weeks and do some poring over maps and then plan your attack. The best value in the entire state is the NY Gazetteer topo maps for $20 at WalMart. I'm going to buy one for SC next month. Hunt safe.
 
.22 is fine in most places for squirrel (just not in westchester or on long island, where no rifles are allowed at all afield; only at gun ranges). Some other counties allow no centerfire rifles. Most (if not all) of the catskills allows both. But no rifle for any birds except crows. Grouse are abundant in the catskills, and huge, too. Look near hunter mountain, say within a half hour radius; lots of big grouse there.

Good luck!
 
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