ALBANY (AP) -- State officials say hunters killed about 222,800 deer in the 2009 season, about the same as the year before.
The 2009 deer take included more than 120,700 antlerless deer and just over 102,000 adult bucks. Antlerless takes grew by 3 percent from 2008, while buck takes dropped 3.5 percent from 2008.
Differences were most noticeable in the Northern Zone, where antlerless take was down by almost 8 percent and buck take dropped 21 percent from 2008.
The Department of Environmental Conservation says deer take during the regular season seemed strongly affected by a warm November. Both deer and hunter activity tend to slow down in warm weather and the lack of snow made for difficult hunting.
Western New York continues to lead the state in total deer-harvest densities, but Orange County in southeastern New York has also become a strong contender. The top five counties for 2009 were Yates, Wyoming, Orange, Genesee and Ontario.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
