Southern Tier hunters will face the chance of a shower on opening day of the 2016 big-game season in New York and light snow on Sunday.

As thousands of hunters fan out in the fields across Cattaraugus, Allegany and Chautauqua counties for what used to be called shotgun season, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation officials remain concerned over public access to private lands.

Longtime hunting parties often hunt on lands where they have had permission to hunt for many years. Other hunters favor public lands, including Allegany State Park where they can rent a cabin and be near hunting spots inside and outside the 65,000-acre state park.

The DEC urges deer hunters to consider the thousands of acres of state forests and multiple-use areas such as Zoar Valley between Cattaraugus and Erie counties, as well as the Hanging Bog area in Allegany County.

“New York hunters should anticipate seeing a few more deer this hunting season compared to last year,” according to Jeremy Hurst, DEC big-game biologist. “Many of these deer will be young animals, as conditions were excellent for overwinter fawn survival and production this spring.

“Also, the 2015 deer harvest appeared slightly depressed by the combination of ample mast and unusually warm weather during the regular firearms season which reduced daytime movements of deer and reduced hunter success. So, with slightly greater survival through last year’s deer season, good food supply and a very easy winter, we expect that the deer population is poised to rebound from the harsh winter of 2014-15 quite well and antler growth to be above average this fall.”

Statewide, there were 202,973 deer harvested in 2015, down 15 percent from 2014. A good part of that was because deer didn’t move around as much during the mild weather in 2015.

The adult male deer harvest was 99,572; adult female, 75,157; male fawns ages 1. years old or less, 15,389; and female fawns, 12,855.

In Cattaraugus County last year, hunters killed 7,329 deer, including 3,877 bucks. Ellicottville reported the most deer killed, 475, and the most bucks, 297.

In Allegany County, the total deer harvest in 2015 was 7,354, including 4,159 bucks. Andover had the most deer harvested, 400, while Friendship had the most bucks harvested, 228.

In his assessment of prospects in Western New York deer management units, Ken Baginski, Region 9 wildlife manager, said Western New York’s deer management unit forecasts can be found online at www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/deerforecastr9.pdf.

A number of Cattaraugus County deer management units show deer below the DEC’s objectives, and permits have been issued accordingly.

In deer management unit 9M in northern Cattaraugus County, for example, the deer population “is slightly below the objective level, but is expected to be growing due to reduced antlerless deer permits last year followed by an exceptionally mild winter,” Baginski wrote in his Western New York forecast.

In some of the forested areas of South Valley, where there are few resources for deer, hunters find better habitat for black bear.

Across the state, DEC officials are urging hunters “to pass on that young buck,” which will make a better trophy for some in future years, while increasing the diversity of the region’s deer population.

“Many hunters have told DEC that they would like to see more older bucks, and hunters can make a difference in the future of the sport by passing up young bucks,” said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos.

“Many hunters are already voluntarily passing up young bucks, and the proportion of older bucks available in the herd has increased substantially in the past decade,” according to DEC wildlife biologists. “As more hunters choose to pass young bucks, all hunters will enjoy the opportunity to see and take larger, older bucks.”

It’s estimated that about half of the antlered bucks taken in the state are only 1. years old. They weigh about 20 percent less and have 50 percent smaller antlers than they would as a 2. year old.

The primary reason New York doesn’t have more older, larger-antlered bucks is because many get taken as yearlings, according to the DEC.

DEC officials will be staffing a deer and bear check station on Route 16 in Holland again this year. Hunters may also donate their deer to the regional venison donation program, where they will be used to help feed the poor.

Lastly, DEC conservation officers emphasized gun safety to all hunters, including: