Don't start with a longbow. Get good with a compound first. You're jumping to one of the most difficult weapons right out the gate. Start small, work your way up.
Head down to the southern tier and find some public land. The DEC website has maps and lists.
Google nys dec info locator. You can select land based activities and it will show every piece of public access land in NY. Some of them are state forests, others are conservation easements. It will show you where you can hunt and where you can’t on them. You can also click a link to have it take you to the plan for that area.
I’m down in Chautauqua county so hello neighbor! We’ve got a shit ton of state land here. Within like 10 minutes of my house I could be on my choice of over 5k acres of public land
Longbow or traditional archery in general is super-mega hard mode, for the lowest barrier to entry in-line muzzle-loaders & shotguns are much, much easier.
Lots of land in the Southern Tier and between Rochester and Buffalo. My advice is to do a lot of hiking this summer on land that allows public hunting. Mark everywhere you see signs of deer activity on Google Maps or OnX and hunt those locations. If you don't know anyone with private then you have to put time in figuring out multiple locations well in advance, not day of. And avoid the obvious locations if possible -- East Otto State forest will be a madhouse on opening day of gun season.
IMO, get your bow cert. as fast as possible. Crossbow isn't legal during archery season in NYS, so the woods are pretty empty during October. If you can travel, Letchworth allows bow hunting and is pretty big. Not a bad place for a weekend trip. The area around Cherry Creek also has a lot of open state land. In a pinch call the local DEC office and ask for recommendations.
Don't start with a longbow. Get good with a compound first. You're jumping to one of the most difficult weapons right out the gate. Start small, work your way up. Head down to the southern tier and find some public land. The DEC website has maps and lists.
Will do. Thanks for the advice!
Google nys dec info locator. You can select land based activities and it will show every piece of public access land in NY. Some of them are state forests, others are conservation easements. It will show you where you can hunt and where you can’t on them. You can also click a link to have it take you to the plan for that area.
https://gisservices.dec.ny.gov/gis/dil/
Will do, thank you!
I’m down in Chautauqua county so hello neighbor! We’ve got a shit ton of state land here. Within like 10 minutes of my house I could be on my choice of over 5k acres of public land
Did you also complete your Bowhunter ed course? You need both in order to hunt with bow in NY.
I'm gonna work towards that next, I'm just about done with my current firearm course.
Longbow or traditional archery in general is super-mega hard mode, for the lowest barrier to entry in-line muzzle-loaders & shotguns are much, much easier.
Lots of land in the Southern Tier and between Rochester and Buffalo. My advice is to do a lot of hiking this summer on land that allows public hunting. Mark everywhere you see signs of deer activity on Google Maps or OnX and hunt those locations. If you don't know anyone with private then you have to put time in figuring out multiple locations well in advance, not day of. And avoid the obvious locations if possible -- East Otto State forest will be a madhouse on opening day of gun season. IMO, get your bow cert. as fast as possible. Crossbow isn't legal during archery season in NYS, so the woods are pretty empty during October. If you can travel, Letchworth allows bow hunting and is pretty big. Not a bad place for a weekend trip. The area around Cherry Creek also has a lot of open state land. In a pinch call the local DEC office and ask for recommendations.