by Brian McCombie - Tuesday, September 2, 2025
New York state hunters scored a victory when Gov. Kathy Hochul signed Senate Bill S6360 into law, making the use of crossbows legal in any areas where compound and long bows are already legal, effective immediately.
Meanwhile, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has put forward several proposals to the deer hunting seasons that could increase hunting opportunities in the Empire State. The proposals include: providing youth deer hunters with the chance to take a deer in the regular season as well as during the youth hunt; adding tags/hunting opportunities to the DEC’s Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP); and giving hunters the option of using electronic carcass tags for deer, bear and turkey.
“NRA-ILA is supportive of these measures and advocates for changes that reduce barriers to participation in our hunting heritage,” Darin Goens, NRA-ILA State Director for New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Rhode Island, told NRAHLF,org. “Overall, these represent wins for New York hunters and the future of hunting in the Empire State.”
According to the Finger Lakes Times, with Senate Bill S6360 now the law, the state of New York redefines “long bow” to include crossbows. Past restrictions on crossbow design, such as limb width, draw weight and bolt length, have been removed.
The new law also removes past limitations on crossbow use during archery and muzzleloader seasons. It does require an additional bowhunting “privilege” (essentially an extra license) to hunt with a crossbow. In past seasons, a muzzleloader privilege could be used—no more. And in future hunting seasons, a crossbow hunter must purchase and hold the archery license privilege.
“This [new law] will be a real help to get some people back in the woods, including those older hunters who can’t pull back a compound bow any longer,” Bill Bailey, New York’s field director for Whitetails Unlimited, told NRAHLF.org. “The change is long overdue, and I think it’s a plus for deer management, too.”
As noted, one of the DEC proposals focuses on youth deer hunters. DEC wants to provide a regular season deer hunting tag to the young hunter who takes a deer during the annual Youth Big Game Hunt weekend.
According to DEC, “This rulemaking will enable youth hunters who successfully fill their regular season tag during the Youth Deer Hunt and who do not have a Deer Management Permit to receive a replacement tag for the regular firearm season. Replacement tags would be for the opposite sex deer as was harvested during the youth hunt (e.g., harvest of an antlered deer during the Youth Deer Hunt would yield an antlerless-only replacement tag for the regular season).”
“Getting more youth involved in all hunting is really important, and I think this change would help encourage more youth hunters to get out and hunt,” said Bailey.
DEC’s proposal to enhance the DMAP has two parts. First, DEC would extend the permit renewal cycle from three years to five years to “enable [DMAP] enrollees to implement steady and consistent deer management on private properties while also reducing paperwork for permittees.” Second, DEC wants to rescind the four DMAP tag limit per hunter and leave the number of tags per hunter up to the various DMAP participants. Whie the total number of DMAP tags issued to a landowner will still be set by DEC staff based on the landowner’s property size and wildlife management need, the second part of the proposal removing the tag restriction will enable landowners to maximize use of the tags issued.
Under the DEC proposal, New York hunters can continue to use paper tags for registering harvests, though the reporting timeline shrinks from seven days to 48 hours.
For the electronic carcass tag option, a hunter would use the HuntFishNYmobile app as electronic proof of licensure and possession. The electronic harvest report, submitted immediately upon taking a deer, bear or turkey through the app, would serve as "e-tagging" the carcass.
Goens noted there were some concerns from New York hunters about the changes to the tagging options and deadlines, especially in areas with limited cell phone service.
DEC accepted public comments on the proposals through Aug. 18, 2025. When the DEC Press Office was contacted via email, NRAHLF.org was informed there was no timeline for the proposals to be enacted or dropped, but that New York hunters will be quickly informed of any changes to hunting regulations.
About the Author
Brian McCombie is a field editor for the NRA’s American Hunter and writes about firearms and gear for the NRA’s Shooting Illustrated. A member of the National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation, Brian enjoys hunting hogs, shooting 1911s, watching the Chicago Bears and relaxing with his two cats.