First Light Farm - Late Season Bow & Muzzleloader Deer

First Light Farm offers late season deer hunting with a bow, crossbow, or muzzleloader on about 154 acres near Addison, New York, in Steuben County and WMU 8T.
Once regular season closes and the cold sets in, deer focus on food, and this working farm has plenty of it. Hay and crop fields sit right against hardwood timber and brushy transitions, so deer bed close and feed on predictable afternoon schedules. With the leaves down, you can watch them filter out of the wooded drainages and onto the fields. Late season includes the days right after regular season plus New York's Holiday Deer Hunt between Christmas and New Year's Day.
One party of up to two hunters has the property for each 3-day hunt. Stay on the designated farm roads, and use an ATV on those roads to reach your spot and recover your deer when there is no standing water. Bring a tent or trailer and camp at a designated spot.
Bring a New York hunting license with the bowhunting or muzzleloading privilege. Each privilege adds an antlerless tag, your Antlered Deer Tag is valid too, and everything is over the counter with no draw. Camping spots have no power or water, but water is available on the farm for fill-up. Addison has food and gas, and Painted Post and Corning have lodging.

Late season on First Light Farm is about food and cover sitting close together. Hay and crop fields give deer a reliable meal through December, and the hardwood timber, brushy transitions, and wooded drainages give them security a short walk away. Cold weather and snow push deer to feed earlier in the afternoon and to use the same edges day after day, so a setup on a field corner or where a drainage opens into a field can pay off.

After your hunt, you will be sent an automated Harvest Report. To assist Infinite Outdoors in maintaining the quality of properties, and to continue to put conservation at the forefront, we require that the harvest report be completely filled out and returned. Failure to fill out the harvest report within 2 weeks of the hunt taking place will result in a $25 fine. If you are unsuccessful in filling your tag, Infinite Outdoors still needs to have that information provided to them.

3-Day Hunt. By booking the first day of your hunt, you are automatically booked for the following 2 days as well.

This listing covers New York's Southern Zone late bowhunting and muzzleloading season, which runs for 9 days right after the regular firearms season closes in December, and the Holiday Deer Hunt from December 26 through January 1. Bows, crossbows, and muzzleloaders are legal during both. Check current season dates at dec.ny.gov before your hunt.

No application needed. You will need a New York hunting license (resident or nonresident) with the bowhunting privilege, the muzzleloading privilege, or both. Your license includes an Antlered Deer Tag, and each privilege adds a Bow/Muzzleloader Antlerless Deer Tag. Crossbows are legal with the bowhunting privilege. Buy online through DECALS at dec.ny.gov, at any license issuing agent, or by phone at 1-866-933-2257.

No draw for your buck tag. New York hunting licenses, bowhunting and muzzleloading privileges, and the Antlered Deer Tag are sold over the counter to residents and nonresidents. Antlerless Deer Management Permits (DMPs) for WMU 8T are issued through a fall lottery.

Reservation fees are due at the time of booking and are non-refundable. 50% of the outdoorsman fee is due at the time of booking, and the remaining 50% will process 1 month prior to the hunt.

Cancellations made prior to placing a deposit will be taken care of immediately. Any cancellations needing made after placing a deposit will result in attempts to reschedule the hunt for a different season, or a different year. Please note that refunds are not guaranteed.

If there is a lapse in availability, please do not be discouraged to reach out to IO. All calendars are set and managed by landowners, and unavailability is set by them. However, IO is willing to reach out on your behalf, to check on available dates. Other reasons for unavailable dates include biologist recommended hunter/harvest quotas that landowners implement, as well as state season dates not being released.

You are not legally allowed to access the property, for any adventure, prior to your selected access day. If you try to access the property at all before your selected date(s), without prior approval from IO, you will be subject to trespassing and punishments therein