State Parks announces pheasant hunt lottery

The Niagara Region of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation announced the annual permit lottery for the 2023 pheasant hunting season will take place Monday, Oct. 9, and will include the drawing for the youth hunt and the regular season hunt.

Youth hunt permits will be required for the two days of the special youth hunting weekend on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 14-15. The youth hunt this year will allow for a second hunter on the permit. For the regular season hunt, permits will be required for the three days expected to draw the heaviest hunting traffic: Oct. 21, 28, and Nov. 4.

There will be two separate hunts each day. The first will be from sunrise to 12:30 p.m. The second will be from 12:30 p.m. to sunset.

Hunting throughout the regular pheasant season, from Oct. 21 to Dec. 31, is allowed at three State Parks: Golden Hill, Joseph Davis and Wilson-Tuscarora – except no hunting is permitted during the open firearm season for deer. Permits, however, are required on Oct. 14, 15 (youth hunt), 21, 28 and Nov. 4 (regular season).

As in the past, stocking will be done by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. No hunting is allowed on the following Friday release days: Oct. 20, 27, Nov. 3. There is no fee for the permit, and hunters awarded permits will have the option of naming one additional hunter on their permit.

Hunters interested in entering the permit lottery should mail in a separate, standard-size 3-by-5-inch file card or postcard for each date and park to hunt. Only one permit will be issued to each hunter per day. Cards may be put into one envelope for each respective park and mailed together to the appropriate address listed below: 

The file card should include the applicant’s name, address, telephone number, email address, hunting license back tag number, hunt date, a.m. hunt or p.m. hunt, and desired park location. Entries will be computerized to avoid duplications.

All lottery entries must be received by noon Friday, Sept. 30. For more information, contact the individual parks.