"It looks like a very good season for hunters," said DEC wildlife biologist Maynard Vance. "There are a lot of deer out there and hunters have every reason to be optimistic."

State-wide, there were 281,870 deer harvested last year, including 127,000 bucks, and Vance said he is expecting similar numbers this year.

"We've been closely cropping the population, especially female deer, but after the mild winter last year the population is still high," Vance said. "We're issuing basically the same number of licenses as last year."

"Our hope is to keep the same number of bucks and does in the population, which give the deer a better survival rate," Vance said. "We want to keep a good amount of pressure on the herd without decreasing the population."

Otsego County has been a fairly productive one, Mosher said. "The buck take per square mile has ranged from 3.3 to 3.7 per square mile the last four years, and will likely remain in that range for this year," he said.

One possible negative for hunters is the relatively warm weather which is expected for opening day.

"In the past, observations and comments from many hunters indicated warm weather and the accompanying lack of snow cover reduced hunter success," said Jack Mosher, also a DEC wildlife biologist.

""Weather is really a personal preference among hunters, but most will tell you they want snow which makes it easier to track a deer," Vance added.

Vance said the DEC went to a new computer licensing issue system this year which caused some problems with hunters, but that hunters could theoretically bag as many as five deer this year between regular buck license, bow hunting and muzzle loading season.

The DEC estimates there are between 50-60,000 deer/automobile accidents in New York state every year, but that figure would increase four times without the harvesting of female deer. Between 1978-1988 the deer population began to be driven down, and the number of deer/automobile collisions has since decreased 35 percent, and the number of agricultural complaints from farmers has decreased 400 percent.

The rifle and shotgun season runs through Dec. 10, followed by five days of bow hunting and a week of muzzle loading, Vance said.

Vance added that while wearing blaze orange is not a requirement for hunters, it is always a good idea and the DEC highly recommends it.

"My message would be: Wear orange, be safe and have a good time," Vance said.