DEC prepares for start of hunting season

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Fall heralds the start of many hunting seasons in New York State.

The next local hunting season starts next week.

October 1 to November 15 is early bowhunting deer season. News 8 spoke to the Department of Environmental Conservation Thursday about what new hunters need to do to get started.

First, all new hunters will need to take a hunter education course or present a certificate from another state, a current hunting license from out of state, or a past New York State license.

“It really boils down to safety and ethics,” DEC Senior Wildlife Biologist Frank Phillips said, “safety handling the firearms, safety in the field using tree stands… We deal a lot with the history and how the funding came about, which is really the something the public generally does not know, and that hunters pay for their conservation. There is a tax on all equipment.”

For more information on hunting licensing and hunting season maps, click here .

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to RochesterFirst.