Published: November 17, 2008 09:30 am         

A new era for teen hunters

Change in state law creates opportunity for those age 14, 15

By Tom Grace
Cooperstown Bureau

NEW BERLIN _ Before sunrise Saturday, Morgan Sohne of New Berlin will be in the woods with her father, Robert, standing silently, hoping to take a buck.

Only 15, Morgan, a sophomore at Unadilla Valley Central School, is able to hunt this year because Gov. David Paterson recently signed the ``junior hunter’’ law, allowing 14- and 15-year-olds to hunt with experienced adult partners.

Morgan has passed her hunter safety course. ``I got a 98 on my test,’’ she said.

She knows how to handle a firearm, has practiced shooting and said she’s thought a lot about Saturday, the opening day of the 2008 regular deerhunting season.

``I’ve wanted to do this since I was pretty young,’’ she said. ``My dad loves to hunt, and I wanted to go with him.’’

Last year, she accompanied her father on opening day and watched as he shot a 10-point buck in Edmeston.

This year, it’s her turn, she said.

John Stevens, 90, who owns Stevens Hardware Store in Oneonta, said the inclusion of young hunters is good for the sport and the youth.

``I’ve found that the ones who learn early, the ones who share time with an older hunter, grow up to be good hunters and people,’’ he said.

``There are a lot of 14-year-olds who are better in the woods than some of the 40-year-olds,’’ said Stevens, and hunter Ralph More of Goodyear Lake agreed with him.

It’s hard to predict how productive the three-week shotgun and rifle season will be, but the archery season, which opened Oct. 18 and closed Friday, was excellent, according to Joe Leonard, who owns the Farmers’ Place butcher shop in South Edmeston. ``We usually take in from 25 to 50 deer during bow season, but this year we’ve taken in 70,’’ he said.

The deer look healthy and hunters report seeing a lot of them, Leonard said: ``There’s tremendous excitement this year, and I think the economy has something to do with it.

``With so many things you can’t control in your life, people are looking for what they can control,’’ he continued. ``Around here, they’re making sure they have wood to burn, and they want to fill their freezers.’’

And hunters may do well, because after a series of mild winters, deer are abundant, he noted.

The sale of guns locally, a harbinger of hunter effort, if not success, also has been strong recently, according to Stevens. ``We’ve done very well this fall,’’ he said Thursday, while looking over the gun rack in his Oneonta store.

In 2005, the state changed the opening day for the annual shotgun-rifle season from Monday to Saturday. Leonard said the change helped many local enthusiasts, who don’t have to ask for a day off to hunt on the first, and usually best, day of the season.

However, hunters who travel here from downstate and other places feel differently, he said.

``To get here and set up before opening day, they have to take time off in two different work weeks, and that can be hard,’’ he said. ``They used to come in on a Saturday and stock up on bacon and lots of other supplies, because nothing’s too good for deer camp. But we’re not seeing as much of that.’’

Nonetheless, the 2008 deer season looks promising from a butcher’s perspective, Leonard said.

According to the state Department of Environmental Conservation, rifles and shotguns may be used in Madison County this year, and new areas are open for hunting black bear. For details, visit www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/ hunting.html.

For many years, rifles, which have a far longer range than shotguns, have been allowed in Delaware County, and their use was extended to Chenango and Delaware counties a couple of seasons ago.

Three years ago, chronic wasting disease was found in captive and some wild deer in the Oneida-Madison counties area. The DEC began a surveillance program and has tested more than 24,000 deer since then, without finding another case of the illness, which is fatal to deer.