State Rules Townships Cannot Set Their Own Deer Bowhunting Rules

SMITHTOWN, NY — A group of Smithtown bowhunters notched a win this week when the New York State Court of Appeals ruled the town can't enforce hunting regulations more restrictive than the state's.

Residents in Smithtown filed complaints in 2017 about neighbors using bows and arrows to hunt deer in their residential neighborhood, citing the danger to children and pets. Town officials and local police promised to enforce the town's strict bowhunting regulations, passed in 2014, but an East End hunters-rights group, Hunters for Deer, filed suit.

The lawsuit challenged Smithtown's ordinance against bow hunting 150 feet from any dwelling, school, park, beach, playground or outdoor recreational area. According to Courthouse News, the state regulation is only 50 feet.

The ruling didn't go into detail about the setback regulation, but by saying that bows are not firearms, it forbid townships from regulating them as firearms, and ruled local regulations must defer to state hunting laws.

Michael Tessitore, president of Hunters for Deer, told Courthouse News that the group will send letters to every town and village in the state warning them to strike such laws from their books.

“This is now a statewide issue,” said Tessitore, of East Quogue. “We’re going to put everybody on notice.”