Where is the best place in New York state to harvest a deer?
The answer remained somewhere in Steuben County in 2025.
Steuben once again far outpaced all other New York state counties in total deer harvest numbers, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s 2025 harvest estimates released May 20.
Steuben County hunters took 15,913 whitetails during the season, nearly 5,800 more than the next highest total.
Overall, New York state hunters harvested an estimated 227,032 deer during the 2025-26 hunting seasons. That’s approximately 2% more than the 2024 season and within 1% of the 5-year average.
A change to state law that expanded the use of crossbows in 2025 may have contributed to the increase. Crossbows accounted for 55% of the total archery season deer harvest in 2025 compared to 33% in 2024.
“It is clear that deer hunters took advantage of expanded crossbow hunting opportunities this past season,” said DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton. “We are pleased that more hunters can participate in New York’s archery deer seasons and contribute to effective deer management into the future. The results from this past season continue to demonstrate that New York has much to offer for deer hunters.”
2025 deer harvest numbers in Southern Tier
Steuben County’s 2025 deer harvest reflected the general trend statewide, with 318 more deer harvested in 2025 over 2024.
Steuben County also had the highest total harvest in all four categories tracked by DEC – adult buck (7,730), male fawn (728), adult doe (6,609) and female fawn (846).
Chautauqua County had the second-highest total harvest in the state at 10,120, followed by Cattaraugus County with 9,661 and Allegany County with 9,179. Livingston County completed the top five with 6,740 total harvests.
Digging deeper into the numbers, some small counties packed a punch with high harvest densities.
Yates County once again had the highest rates of harvest per square mile across the adult buck (6.3), adult doe (6.4), and antlerless (7.8) categories. Schuyler County hunters were also efficient, harvesting 5.5 adult buck per square mile, along with 4.8 adult doe and 6.0 antlerless deer.
Other top rates of adult buck harvest per square mile were recorded in Steuben (5.5), Genesee (4.9), Orleans (4.9), Allegany (4.7) and Livingston (4.7) counties.
Steuben County hunters also took 4.7 adult doe and 5.9 antlerless deer per square mile.
Elsewhere in the Southern Tier, Broome County hunters harvested 4,321 total deer in 2025, down from 4,552 in 2024. Chemung County hunters took 2,978 deer, down slightly from 2,991 in 2024.
Statewide, the 2020 harvest of 253,990 deer remains the high this decade and the most since 2002.
New York state hunters harvesting more mature bucks
For the first time in modern history, DEC reported that New York state hunters harvested as many 3.5-year-old or older bucks (28.1%) as yearling bucks (28%). For comparison, 25 years ago only 10% of harvested bucks in New York were 3.5 years old or older and 67% were 1.5 years old, according to DEC.
Overall, the 2025 antlered buck harvest of 120,909 was 1% less than 2024.
Meanwhile, the 2025 antlerless deer harvest of 106,123 was up 5% from 2024. However, DEC stated that the antlerless deer harvest throughout much of the state was still below what is necessary to achieve its deer population objectives.
“Sufficient harvest of antlerless deer is necessary to keep deer populations in balance with available habitat and at levels that are acceptable to all members of the public,” DEC stated.
DEC recently proposed changes to hunting regulations to increase the harvest of antlerless deer in future seasons. Proposals include modifying the deer management permit process, expanding the September antlerless season, and an “Earn-a-2nd-Buck” system, requiring hunters to harvest and report an antlerless deer before receiving a tag to harvest a second antlered deer.
Notable numbers from statewide deer harvest
DEC highlighted other notable numbers in the 2025 report:
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Steuben County tops 2025 deer harvest in New York state. Inside numbers
Reporting by Chris Potter, Elmira Star-Gazette / Elmira Star-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
