Press release
Choosing the “best” duck season in New York has always been a challenging task, because duck abundance and migration, land and water access, weather, and habitat vary widely across the state and through the year. In addition to the annual variation in environmental factors (i.e. weather), season dates preferred by hunters chasing wood ducks on small ponds or wetlands may be very different than seasons preferred by someone who hunts diving ducks on large water bodies. To select the season dates in each zone that may work best for most hunters, DEC needed to understand what is important to hunters and pair those values with actual data on duck abundance, migration, and recent weather patterns.
Based on the input of over 3,500 duck hunters across the state and current abundance, migration, and temperature trends, DEC will implement the following duck season date selections (barring any changes to federal season lengths) for the 2024-2025 season:
| Zone | 1st Split | 2nd Split |
|---|---|---|
| Northeast Zone | October 12 – November 3 | December 7 – January 12 |
| Southeast Zone | October 12 – October 20 | November 9 – December 29 |
| Western Zone | October 12 – December 1 | December 14 – December 22 |
| Long Island Zone | November 23 – November 29 | December 7 – January 26 |
*Lake Champlain Zone dates are selected by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Board and were not included in this decision process
For season dates through the 2026-2027 season and more information on why these dates were selected, please see the following page for detailed information on hunter values, duck abundance and migration, and weather data for each individual zone: Duck Season Setting.
DEC has also developed a list of frequently asked questions about the process, results, and individual zones (PDF).