STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7415
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 15, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. C. RYAN, ASHBY, GALLIVAN, HELMING, O'MARA, STEC,
WALCZYK, WEBB -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to
be committed to the Committee on Environmental Conservation
AN ACT to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to the
hunting of deer with a crossbow
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraphs 2 and 3 of subdivision 3 of section 11-0701 of
2 the environmental conservation law, as amended by section 1-a of part R
3 of chapter 58 of the laws of 2013, are amended and a new paragraph 4 is
4 added to read as follows:
5 (2) who is eighteen years of age or older to hunt wild deer and bear
6 with a longbow, as provided in title [9] nine of this article, in a
7 special longbow season; [and]
8 (3) who is sixteen or seventeen years of age to exercise the same
9 privileges subject to the provisions of section 11-0929 and subdivision
10 3 of section 11-0713 of this article[.]; and
11 (4) who is sixty years of age or older to hunt deer with a crossbow,
12 as provided in title nine of this article, in a special archery season.
13 The department shall adopt regulations to allow the hunting of deer by
14 the use of a crossbow to any person sixty years of age or older in a
15 special archery season, subject to such restrictions as the department
16 may adopt by regulation. The department shall adopt regulations requir-
17 ing documentation to establish that an applicant is eligible to use a
18 crossbow pursuant to this paragraph.
19 § 2. This act shall take effect June 1, 2026. Effective immediately,
20 the addition, amendment, and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
21 sary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
22 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10298-01-5
