ALBANY, N.Y., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- For the past 20 years, the number of hunters in New York has been declining, so the state decided to begin deer hunting season on Saturday to attract youth.
New York Department of Environmental Conservation officials said they hope that moving the opening day to Saturday would make hunting more accessible to young people, reported the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union, Saturday.
Officials say if the current trend continues, there won't be enough hunters in the future to control New York's deer population. Hunters kill about 35 percent of the deer herd -- estimated at 800,000 to 1 million -- each year.
"The hunting population is graying faster than the general population," said Steve Wagner, a spokesman for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a national hunting and gun organization based in Connecticut.
Wagner says there are fewer hunters because landowners ban hunters from their property and a there is a lack of interest in hunting among teenagers.
