Rockefeller State Park Preserve, a 1,233-acre state park in Westchester County, has turned the Buttermilk Hills area of the park into a deer slaughterhouse for bow-hunters, and outrageously while it is open to the public during regular park hours.

The sadistic bow-hunt is allowed Monday-Friday, from dawn to dusk, including holidays, from October through December. Signage warning park-goers is not adequate, meaning most visitors will be unaware deadly arrows are flying through the air during their visit. Why does Rockefeller State Park, which calls itself a “preserve” not understand that deer are a permanent part of the landscape in Westchester, and should be allowed to exist freely?

Park-goers hiking with their dogs, enjoying the winding trails and observing the variety of wildlife in the park will dangerously be forced to share this so-called “preserve” with armed bow-hunters who will be stalking and shooting deer with their bow and arrows.  Friends of Animals is opposed to all forms of hunting, but bow-hunting is particularly brutal, because deer are often injured with an arrow and suffer for days, or weeks, a slow and painful death.

The justification for this heartless bow-hunt is to control the numbers of the deer in the preserve. That’s nonsense. Science shows that hunting deer doesn’t work in controlling their numbers—deer merely repopulate and compensate by increased birthrates. Deer control their own numbers, and proper fencing can deter deer from traveling into areas where they are perceived as problematic. Co-existence with deer and other wildlife is necessary and policies must be put into place that reflect this reality, and the killing must stop.

State wildlife agencies receive funding from hunter license fees and taxes on guns and ammo—a clear conflict of interest that explains why wildlife are not respected, but treated merely as targets for hunters and why our state parks are being turned into killing grounds.

Contact the officials below to demand an end to dangerous bow-hunting of deer at Rockefeller State Park Preserve. Tell them the public should not be forced to share the park with hunters killing deer and putting park-goers and their dogs at risk of injury and death.  For more information on why hunting is scientifically and ethically indefensible, request a copy of Friends of Animals informative anti-hunting pamphlet “Hunting: An Act Against Nature.”

Susan Antenen, Rockefeller State Park Preserve Manager (914) 631-1470 Ext. 101

Rose Harvey, Commissioner NYS Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation (518) 474-0456

Governor Andrew Cuomo (518) 474-8390, extension 3

Martin Brand, Regional Director, NYSDEC (914) 428-2505; (845) 256-3033

State Assemblyman Thomas J. Abinanti (914) 631-1605; abinanti@assembly.state.ny.us

State Senator Terrence P. Murphy (914) 962-2624; murphy@nysenate.gov

Rockefeller State Park Preserve

125 Phelps Way

Pleasantville, NY 10570

914-631-1470