The Niagara Frontier Region of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation announced the annual permit lottery for the 2017 pheasant-hunting season will take place Monday, Oct. 2. This will include the drawing for both the youth hunt and the regular season hunt.
Youth hunt permits will be required for the two days of the special youth hunting weekend, 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. 21and 28, and Nov. 4.
There will be two separate hunts each day. The first hunt will be from sunrise to 12:30 p.m. The second hunt will be from 12:30 p.m. to sunset.
Hunting throughout the pheasant season, from Oct. 21 to Dec. 31, is allowed at three state parks: Golden Hill, Joseph Davis and Wilson-Tuscarora. No hunting is permitted during the open firearm season for deer. Permits, however, are required on Oct. 14, 15, 21, 28 and Nov. 4.
As in the past, stocking will be done by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. No hunting will be permitted on the following release days: Oct. 13, 20, 27 and Nov. 3. There is no fee for the permit. 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 they would like 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: 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. 29. For more information, call the individual parks.
