An ill-considered, dangerous change in the setback law reducing it from 500 feet to just 150 feet was signed into effect in New York last year because of pressure by hunting advocates. The setback refers to the minimum allowable distance between adjacent properties. This now allows residents of properties as small as one acre to allow deer hunting, whereas previously the smallest property size was approximately eighteen acres. 

This new law has allowed an unprecedented and uncontrolled increase in the amount of deer hunting in all of Suffolk County, Long Island, including towns such as Southampton, Sagaponack, Remsenburg, Southold, and East Hampton. Hunters have aggressively pursued new tactics to increase deer hunting, including vastly higher numbers of kills approved by the NY State Dept. of Environmental Conservation, and recruitment of hunters from Queens to upstate New York. The new setback results in significant danger to residents in these Suffolk County towns, as well as unnecessary increases in deer kills.

This petition urges State Assemblyman Fred Thiele and State Senator Ken LaValle, co-sponsors of the reduced setback law, and local town council members to change the law back to the previous 500 foot setback distance, and also require posting of signs when hunting has been approved on any property.