Bow Hunters Sign Up For Deer Season at EPCAL; Plenty of Room Left

Forty bow hunters signed up for deer season at the Enterprise Park at Calverton through a lottery held at Town Hall on Tuesday evening, according to the Riverhead Town Clerk's office.

The season, which lasts from Oct. 10 to Nov. 27, has room for a total of 252 hunter in nine different sections of EPCAL. The remaining 212 reserved spots are only open to Riverhead residents.

Town Councilman George Gabrielsen said this is the first bow-hunting season held at EPCAL in 11 years, and was created after the town received support from the hunting community in town.

"We had quite a bit of interest from bow hunters in Riverhead," he said.

Gabrielsen added that the town has had problems with illegal hunting at EPCAL in the past.

"We've had a problem there for years with out-of-towners sneaking in, so we're cleaning that up too, [by] making it an official season," Gabrielsen said.

Though the first places and times to hunt have already been chosen, Gabrielsen said residents can still go to the Town Clerk's office in Town Hall and sign up.

"The lottery gets first choice to hunt," he said. "Now you can walk in off the street, so to speak, as a town resident and sign up."

Shotgun hunting season at EPCAL, which began last year, will start in January.