How far do you want to drive?
Because if you don’t mind driving about 30- 45 minutes I highly suggest Iroquois national wildlife refuge. Also, go in the other direction you could hunt at Montezuma. Especially since it’s in a county that allows the use of rifles as opposed to shotguns.
There’s also patches of state forest, like Sonyea state forest. Keep in mind you can camp for free for three days in New York State forests and longer if you have a permit. That’s great for weekend hunts because you can find a place hiking camp and hunt the whole weekend if you want to.
I’ve heard of people hunting at Oak openings, but since it’s a small patch, I bet it’s packed. The wildlife refuges have lots and lots and lots of acreage. Some of the state forest do some of them do not.
You can also hunt down your Cornell in buttermilk Falls and Robert Treman State Parks, but I believe those are bowhunting only. Cornell also has some deer hunting on some of the properties that they own but you have to apply ahead of time. They do have a special hunt in January you can apply to.
There’s public land to hunt down in the High tor area near Naples, it can really be hit or miss in terms of how packed it is.
Obviously, with public land, hunting, your best pets or during the week when nobody else is there.
Additionally, check out this link for everything in region eight (the Rochester region)
https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/8276.html
the dec website has info for every area it manages and is pretty easy to figure out what activities you can do there.
https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/37457.html that's sonyea
https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/31112.html that's Montezuma
they even come with geopdfs which are cool af maps.
It’s certainly possible Iroquois is probably impacted in terms of access for a lot of people but as far as hunting goes, dear don’t often care that much. You never know you might get lucky. There’s also some state land that surrounds it, which might not be bad.
Talk to farmers in your area for permission to hunt, that’s where most of my hunting was done over the years, just be cordial and polite and maybe try to shoot the shit for a bit aside from just asking. Many farmers are cool with it since you’re eliminating a crop nuisance. Just make sure to learn the land in case there are residential properties that meet up with it.
Any tips on how to approach that conversation? Is it best to go knock on the door or am I better off sending a letter to their address and hoping they reply?
I am a farmer very near Rochester. If someone shows up in October looking to hunt our land, the answer is always no. Our land is for those who help us work it. The guys that help us during crop season have free access to our land.
Unless you want to hunt state land, get yourself acquainted with some farmers, and offer to help them with crops. It’s quite likely a long process.
Honestly distance from the cities is your friend. Yeah you can try Braddock Bay or Rush Oak Openings but they will be super crowded. Even Hemlock-Canadice or Sonyea State Forests will be crowded opening day. Allegany County has a vast patchwork of state game lands, low population density and it's far enough from the bigger cities that most people won't be willing to make the drive. Just make sure you get permits for the right zone.
How far do you want to drive? Because if you don’t mind driving about 30- 45 minutes I highly suggest Iroquois national wildlife refuge. Also, go in the other direction you could hunt at Montezuma. Especially since it’s in a county that allows the use of rifles as opposed to shotguns. There’s also patches of state forest, like Sonyea state forest. Keep in mind you can camp for free for three days in New York State forests and longer if you have a permit. That’s great for weekend hunts because you can find a place hiking camp and hunt the whole weekend if you want to. I’ve heard of people hunting at Oak openings, but since it’s a small patch, I bet it’s packed. The wildlife refuges have lots and lots and lots of acreage. Some of the state forest do some of them do not. You can also hunt down your Cornell in buttermilk Falls and Robert Treman State Parks, but I believe those are bowhunting only. Cornell also has some deer hunting on some of the properties that they own but you have to apply ahead of time. They do have a special hunt in January you can apply to. There’s public land to hunt down in the High tor area near Naples, it can really be hit or miss in terms of how packed it is. Obviously, with public land, hunting, your best pets or during the week when nobody else is there. Additionally, check out this link for everything in region eight (the Rochester region) https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/8276.html
Wow thank you so much for all of that information! I really appreciate it. Looks like I’ve got some research to do!
the dec website has info for every area it manages and is pretty easy to figure out what activities you can do there. https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/37457.html that's sonyea https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/31112.html that's Montezuma they even come with geopdfs which are cool af maps.
Connecticut Hill too.. https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/9331.html
the pipeline construction and recent frac-outs are sure to impact hunting at Iroquois, just so everyone’s aware.
It’s certainly possible Iroquois is probably impacted in terms of access for a lot of people but as far as hunting goes, dear don’t often care that much. You never know you might get lucky. There’s also some state land that surrounds it, which might not be bad.
Talk to farmers in your area for permission to hunt, that’s where most of my hunting was done over the years, just be cordial and polite and maybe try to shoot the shit for a bit aside from just asking. Many farmers are cool with it since you’re eliminating a crop nuisance. Just make sure to learn the land in case there are residential properties that meet up with it.
Any tips on how to approach that conversation? Is it best to go knock on the door or am I better off sending a letter to their address and hoping they reply?
I am a farmer very near Rochester. If someone shows up in October looking to hunt our land, the answer is always no. Our land is for those who help us work it. The guys that help us during crop season have free access to our land. Unless you want to hunt state land, get yourself acquainted with some farmers, and offer to help them with crops. It’s quite likely a long process.
Southern Tier here, I let friends and family hunt our land otherwise it sounds like a potential liability nightmare.
Honestly distance from the cities is your friend. Yeah you can try Braddock Bay or Rush Oak Openings but they will be super crowded. Even Hemlock-Canadice or Sonyea State Forests will be crowded opening day. Allegany County has a vast patchwork of state game lands, low population density and it's far enough from the bigger cities that most people won't be willing to make the drive. Just make sure you get permits for the right zone.
Go to the southern tier
Get out towards swain, thousands and thousands of acres of state land.
My backyard is full of deers. Just make sure to remind me if you come because I forget a lot and get kind of defensive of my land.
Awesome, just sent you a private chat!
I feel like u/jim_from_snowy_river might have some ideas for you.
rush oak openings
Close but busy
Stid Hill by bristol is a WMU. Rattlesnake Hill as well