(WNY News Now) DEC’s most recent newsletter provides residents and outdoor enthusiasts around Western New York with important updates and interesting options, ranging from steelhead fishing to tree stand safety advice.
Do you hunt deer or do you know someone who does? For the 2024–2025 deer season, DEC is extending their Nonlead Ammunition for Eagle Conservation Initiative. Anywhere in the state where firearm hunting is permitted, all licensed deer hunters are eligible, which is the largest change for this season. Similar to previous year, they are gathering information on the dynamics and rates of scavenging at deer gut heaps, including how long it takes scavengers to locate them, how long gut piles endure, and variations by habitat and location.
Please join up to participate if you shoot deer or know deer hunters who would be willing to volunteer to evaluate the ecology of stomach piles.
During their regular deer shooting operations, they are requesting volunteers to:
- to place a trail camera at the gut pile after harvesting and field dressing a deer;
- to record a small amount of data including location of the gut pile; and
- whether they have a trail camera they d be willing to use for this effort. **They have a limited amount of trail cameras that we could loan to volunteers.**
At any point during the 2024–25 deer shooting season, they are seeking volunteers from all throughout the state. In order for our study to be legitimate, they do not want volunteers to alter their typical hunting habits or the way they typically leave a gut pile. When these gut piles are placed on the terrain, they are curious to see what happens there.
After volunteers join up, they will receive more thorough background information and instructions.