Operators of two of the Island’s biggest tracts of land — The Nature Conservancy’s Mashomack Preserve and Sylvester Manor Educational Farm — will restrict public use with special hours in January to prioritize hunting.
The goal is to give hunters safe access as they work to cull our Island’s overabundant deer.
Starting January 2, Mashomack Preserve will be open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 AM to 4:30 PM. But the 2,039-acre property will be closed Monday through Friday through the month for hunting. Find details and plan your visit at nature.org.
Sylvester Manor’s 243-acre property will be closed to the public for the month of January, except for the Windmill Field Farm Stand on Manwaring Road, which will be open on Saturdays from 10 AM to 4 PM. Find out more about Sylvester Manor on the organization’s website, sylvestermanor.org.
For the safety of all, please do not enter these properties when hunting is underway.
About hunting on Shelter Island
The Shelter Island Police Department oversees the Town-Managed Deer Hunting Program. Hunters who wish to participate in the program must either be residents of Shelter Island, own property on the Island or work full-time here, according to the Town of Shelter Island website.
Hunters must provide a copy of their current NYS hunting license and are then assigned a property to hunt. During the hunting seasons, enrolled hunters are required to contact the SIPD to schedule the dates that they plan to hunt on their designated property.
Hunters do not need to enroll in the program to hunt on private property. The recreational bow hunting season begins October 1 and ends on the last day of January. The special firearms season takes place in January.
Questions? Contact Animal Control Officer Beau Payne at 631-749-5771 or bpayne@shelterislandtown.us.
Learn more about the Town-managed deer hunting program on the town website.
