Overview
Hunters are required to report their take of any deer, bear or turkey within 7 days of taking the animal. DEC biologists use this information to determine game harvests and to set future hunting seasons and harvest limits.
Benefits
Your harvest data is important to us and to the future of New York's game management. Hunters are the sole source of two critical pieces of harvest information - when and where all deer, bear, and turkey are taken. We use these reports to determine the actual harvest calculation for the year.
How to
Refer to this step by step process to report game harvest:
- Visit our online game harvest reporting system
- Enter your date of birth and either your DEC customer ID # OR carcass tag DOC# which can be found on your license documents.
- Hit continue
- Complete kill information fields. (If you used DEC customer ID to access your records, a list of carcass tags will also be displayed. Enter the last 4 digits of the appropriate carcass tag into the Tag ID field).
- Hit continue
- Review your information
- Hit continue
- You will see a confirmation screen for your game reporting
Ready? Have with you:
- The 12-digit DOC # (phone-in and internet reports) or the Customer ID # (internet reports) on your license privilege panel, carcass tag, or back tag
- Your date of birth (you will be asked for 2-digit month, then 2-digit day)
- Location of kill: County, Town, and Wildlife Management Unit (WMU)
- Date of kill and hunting season
- Sex of the animal
- In addition, each species taken requires specific information listed below
Deer:
a) Implement used in hunt (bow, muzzleloader, crossbow, rifle/shotgun, handgun)
b) Season during which deer was taken (regular, archery, muzzleloading)
Bear:
a) Implement used in hunt (bow, muzzleloader, crossbow, rifle/shotgun, handgun)
b) Season during which bear was taken (regular, archery, muzzleloading)
c) Age of bear (adult, cub, unknown)
d) Please save the skull or lower jaw for DEC to collect a tooth to age the bear. You will be asked additional contact information of where your bear will be located. DEC will either contact you to arrange collection of the tooth or will send you a packet with instructions for collecting the tooth and a return envelope.
Spring Turkey:
a) Turkey's spur length (none, less than 1/2", 1/2" or longer, unknown)
b) Turkey's beard length (less than 3", 3" but less than 7 1/2", 7 1/2" or longer, unknown)
c) Turkeys' weight to the nearest pound
Fall Turkey:
a) Please save a leg from your turkey. You may be asked to submit a turkey leg for DEC to age and sex the turkey. Instructions will be provided.
Report
Report your game harvest here:
OR:
Call 1-866-GAME-RPT (1-866-426-3778) 24 hours/7 days a week.
Contact
Call us Monday-Friday 8:30AM-4:30PM.