Nassau's rising deer population threatens people and the environment. Should hunting limits be lifted?

Villages on Nassau County's North Shore are increasingly being overrun with deer, officials said, prompting calls to ease restrictions on the killing of deer in the county.

The proliferation of does, fawns and bucks is raising a trio of concerns that were once confined to eastern Suffolk: escalating car crashes, the spread of tick-borne diseases and destruction of plant life, experts and several North Shore village mayors told Newsday. 

"We have a lot of deer," said Ilia Rochlin, a research assistant professor at Stony Brook University who studies tick-borne illnesses. "And they're heading to western Long Island."

In Nassau, unlike in Suffolk, recreational hunting is prohibited. Mayors of the small villages, with wooded properties north of the Long Island Expressway, say their options are limited under state law. Some officials are pushing for more targeted efforts, like professional culls, to stymie the rapidly growing population. 

Deer crowd the sides of some public roadways in Nassau, leading to a surge in car crashes. Deer strikes in the county rose from 11 in 2016 to nearly 70 in 2024, according to state data. Reported deer strikes Islandwide rose 75% over that time frame, Newsday has reported.

A recent state bill sought to create a "deer management pilot program" in Nassau and Suffolk. The measure, which is still in committee, would allow certified wildlife specialists to be issued a "deer cull permit" in municipalities that opt into the program. 

"The deer population is so great in our area that the local residents and the villages do not have the tools or the legal right to solve this problem," Upper Brookville Mayor Elliot Conway said in an interview.

Easing the rules?

Recreational hunting is prohibited in Nassau, but it is allowed — using a bow or shotgun — in parts of Suffolk. Until 2017, certified hunters in Suffolk were allowed to use rifles to hunt deer.

"Deer hunting is not currently authorized in Nassau County, reflecting a time period when deer did not exist in the county," the state Department of Environmental Conservation said in a statement. "Deer are now present in the northern half of the county and even in portions of eastern Queens, with landowners reporting damage, and deer-vehicle collisions occurring."

The agency in a 2021 report suggested loosening hunting restrictions in Nassau. "Allowing bowhunters to pursue deer in Nassau County during the same period as is authorized in Suffolk County would be a safe and proactive measure to control deer numbers," the report stated.

In Nassau, an increasing number of property owners have secured a deer damage permit from the DEC. That permit, which is free, allows residents or hired professionals to kill deer if the agency determines deer are causing damage and that other non-lethal measures haven't worked. 

The agency issued 186 deer damage permits in Nassau this year, up from 130 in 2025, 79 in 2024 and 64 in 2023. Only about a quarter of the deer hunted on Long Island in 2024 were killed by individuals carrying those permits. The rest were killed by recreational hunters.

Upper Brookville offers a $100 incentive to residents who receive deer damage permits as a way to defray the cost of removing them.

Angelo Silveri, 89, of Upper Brookville, carries a deer damage permit and said he allows a contractor to hunt with a bow on his 40-acre property. He said he regularly sees deer in pairs walking through the area and that they have destroyed his plants. 

"We have a garden; they went in there and ate everything," Silveri said. 

Can't keep up

Bayville Mayor Paul Rupp said deer "are all over the place" in his village. Without a concerted state-led effort, "I don’t know how this is ever going to get resolved."

Even with some property owners turning to professional bowmen under the damage permits, North Shore village mayors say they simply cannot keep pace. 

The DEC said deer rarely die because of a lack of food, even during the winter. 

"I think no matter what we do currently, we’re not going to keep up," Centre Island Mayor Walter Roll said.

In Suffolk, recreational hunting helps keep the deer population in check, officials said.

Earlier this summer, the DEC announced changes to hunting rules in Suffolk to encourage the hunting of more female deer. Hunters can kill an extra buck if they show they've killed a doe.

Still, it's not enough to counteract breeding behavior, said Craig Jobes, a Southold Town environmental analyst. 

Southold allows recreational hunters — around 120 in the town — to hunt deer on hundreds of acres, he said. But deer numbers are still high. Other efforts to reduce the deer population, like sterilizing them, are costly and ineffective.

"It becomes too much," Jobes said. 

'No magic bullet'

In some Suffolk towns, dozens of hunters kill deer annually, while yearly culls are carried out by trained firearms experts.

Federal agencies have also overseen large-scale culling efforts. An average of about 100 deer were killed at the William Floyd Estate in Mastic Beach and Fire Island between 2002 and 2024, according to the National Park Service. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it has killed 397 deer this year from Brookhaven National Laboratory and New York State Parks properties.

Expanding hunting or culling of deer has typically been met with protests from residents and animal rights groups.

John Di Leonardo, president of the animal welfare group Humane Long Island, said in a statement that lethal methods used in Suffolk haven't solved the problem of deer overpopulation. 

"Repeating this failed experiment in densely populated Nassau County — where homes, parks and playgrounds sit close together — would endanger children, companion animals and entire communities," Di Leonardo said. 

Experts said there are several strategies for reducing deer numbers. Sterilization is one route, but it is often ineffective and costly. Sterilizing bucks seldom solves the problem, experts said, especially if male deer are missed.

"It doesn't take many bucks to breed hundreds of does," said Bernd Blossey, a professor in Cornell University's Department of Natural Resources and the Environment. 

Legislative efforts

In 2023, Assemb. Jake Blumencranz (R-Oyster Bay) introduced a bill to exclude Upper Brookville and the Village of Lloyd Harbor in Suffolk from the state's hunting rifle ban on Long Island. The measure never made its way out of committee.

In May, State Sen. Jack Martins (R-Old Westbury) introduced a bill that would allow the DEC to issue deer cull permits to certified hunters within communities that opt into a deer management program. 

Brookville Mayor Dan Serota said many of his residents are hoping for some type of change. 

"We want to do something. A lot of residents are upset, they have gardens," Serota said. "I tell them right now the best thing to do is to make sure your property is fenced, but you can’t put a fence around 4 square miles of Brookville."