Mohonk Preserve’s Deer Management Program
Deer hunting occurs on the Preserve as part of our Deer Management Program. Hunters play a critical role in helping to mitigate the impacts of deer over-browsing on the unique forests of the Shawangunk Mountains.
Our Deer Management Program is a data-driven program with the central goal being to maintain a sustainable balance in the Preserve’s deer population with the health of the forest. We do this by evaluating deer harvest numbers, hunter observations and effort, and forest vegetation regeneration in each of our management zones. To better meet Deer Management Program objectives, we are aiming to create a more efficient program that collects higher quality data to better understand deer-browse impact on forest health.
In 2024, we will be initiating the change to an invite-only Deer Management Program.
Moving in the direction of an invite-only program will allow us to meet our program goals more effectively with a smaller, more concentrated group of hunters.
On Friday, July 26th, individual invitations were sent by email to participate in the 2024 Deer Management Program. If you did not receive an invitation, you will not be permitted to hunt on the Mohonk Preserve. Our partners at the Department of Environmental Conservation support our program changes and will be helping us manage activity on the land. Currently, due to the anticipated volume of responses, we will not be able to respond to questions individually but will aim to address concerns received later in the season.
Every hunter’s participation and contributed effort in the Deer Management Program has supported the Preserve’s mission and has facilitated us to use ecological knowledge to drive land conservation and management decisions. We sincerely thank all of the hunters who have participated in the Mohonk Preserve’s Deer Management Program and wish you the best of luck in the 2024 season.
2024 Hunting Season Materials
How does hunting help the Preserve?
To fulfill our mission of protecting the biodiversity of the Shawangunks, the Preserve must manage our unique habitats and natural resources. Long-term deer over-browsing has had destructive consequences for the forests of the Shawangunks. Deer populations have grown due to a number of factors, including increasingly mild winters and development that creates lawns, gardens, and wooded edges that provide deer with plentiful food and habitat. Additionally, there is a lack of natural predators (like mountain lions and wolves) to check the deer population.
In our forests, deer are heavy consumers of saplings and other vegetation, and many areas of forest are simply not regenerating. At high risk are native plants like orchids and wildflowers, food sources of many animals, and critical nesting areas for birds like ruffed grouse, wood thrush, and warblers.
Deer hunting is widely recognized throughout the Northeast as a useful tool for maintaining healthy forests that can regenerate and support diverse plants and animals. The Preserve’s hunting and deer management policies are based on conservation goals and rooted in science, including more than 80 years of research on the ecology of the Shawangunks.
Our program follows both New York State and our own permitting and safety regulations. Hunters are required to report their deer harvest and submit hunting logs, allowing researchers to collect information (for example age and sex) so that we can monitor and help maintain the delicate balance between forest health and deer populations over time. This is one of the research activities underway at the Preserve to understand and address the role of deer in the environment.
Banner photo by David Johnson