By Matthew Mancuso
This year there’s a new turkey in town, the wild turkey that is.
Sometime around the 1840’s wild turkeys disappeared from Long Island. Like most species eradicated from their natural habitat, turkeys were victims of deforestation, poor hunting management and industrialization. But in the mid 1990’s the DEC decided to re-introduce wild turkeys to Long Island. About 70 birds were released on Eastern Long Island, and 15 years later the population has done so well that the DEC is allowing a turkey hunting season.
“I don’t think that there has ever been a turkey season on Long Island”, says Frederick “Chip” Hamilton, bird conservationist for the DEC, “But we have a healthy number of wild turkeys, and this year we are allowing hunters to take part in New York’s fall turkey season”.
Turkey hunting will be allowed on all DEC lands in Region 1C, mostly all of Suffolk County, from November 21-25. Hunter’s must possess a valid NYS hunting license, turkey permits and an access permit. Turkey’s may be taken with either a shotgun or a bow, and there is a bag limit of one bird of either sex.
Since Long Island’s turkey season is a part of New York’s open turkey season, hunters may pursue wild turkeys in any privately owned land providing permission is given by the landowner.
For hunting turkey on DEC lands hunters are required to call the places where they wish to hunt in order to reserve a hunting spot and time.
In addition to the new turkey season, there is still great deer hunting to be had on Long Island. The deer season is broken up between the archery and special firearms seasons. Archery runs from October 1 through December 31, and the specials firearms season, muzzle-loading and shotgun slug only, is from January 4-29. Valid NYS Big Game hunting licenses, deer tags and an access permit are required to hunt deer on Long Island. Private land hunting is allowed per landowner’s permission, and to hunt on DEC lands hunters must partake in a lottery.
Let’s not forget that Long Island’s natural tidal wetlands and marshes provide some of the most pristine habitat for waterfowl in all of New York. At least 28 species of waterfowl are available to hunters during the season, early October to mid-February. Due to their abundant numbers, waterfowl are Long Island’s most accessible game, with a long season and high bag limits hunters can enjoy the pursuit of Long Island’s unique waterfowl creatures.
Long Island may be considered by some as a summer paradise with nothing to do during the fall and winter, but with the majority of hunting seasons falling in that time period there is certainly plenty to do, providing you dress warmly and obtain all the proper documentation. Hunting on Long Island may be a bit bureaucratic, but ultimately there is nothing more thrilling for a Long Island outdoorsman than to hunt his favorite wildlife on his homeland.
For all information regarding hunting on Long Island contact the DEC at their website, http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/8373.html, the DEC’s Bureau of Wildlife SUNY at Stony Brook 50 Circle Road Stony Brook, New York 11790 (631)-444-0310, or the Ridge Hunter Check Station at 484 Randall Road Ridge, NY 11961, (631)-924-3156. All other inquiries about the DEC can be obtained by calling their main offices at (631)-444-0350.
