ANCRAM—The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced that the Regional Wildlife Office in Schenectady will have Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) tags available for this hunting season on Doodletown Wildlife Management Area (WMA) in Columbia County. These DMAP tags can only be used by hunters to harvest antlerless deer on Doodletown WMA.
“The goal of the Deer Management Assistance Program within Doodletown WMA is to create a healthier, more biologically diverse forest ecosystem. By controlling the deer population on this WMA, the young forest habitat that the New England cottontail requires will have the opportunity to regenerate. This is a great opportunity for hunters to take an additional deer while helping with forest management,”DEC Regional Director Keith Goertz said in a press release.
Doodletown WMA is 1,078 acres of primarily forested land located in the towns of Ancram, Taghkanic, and Gallatin. The primary purposes of Doodletown WMA are for wildlife management, wildlife habitat management, and wildlife-dependent recreation. An important species to be managed at Doodletown WMA is the New England cottontail, a species of special concern in the state. DEC Forestry and Wildlife staff have determined that the deer population on the Doodletown WMA will inhibit the desired regrowth of the forest after management cuts designed to improve New England cottontail habitat are made in the coming years.
A limited number of DMAP tags will be available to individuals with a valid state hunting license on a first-come, first-served basis at the DEC Region Four headquarters, 1130 North Westcott Road, Schenectady, October 7 and 14, from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. For more information or to inquire about remaining tags call the Region 4 Wildlife Office at (518) 357-2355.