Rochester hunting guide, New York

How far Rochester is from state land

The boundary column runs in a straight line from Rochester to the closest edge; the center column runs to the mapped point, so a big wild forest can start far nearer than its center figure.

Braddock Bay Wildlife Management Area brings the most ground to the ring, at 2,865 acres. Marsh, field and woodlot hunting nearby: Braddock Bay Wildlife Management Area.

What the land pages say near Rochester

• Braddock Bay Wildlife Management Area (7.4 mi). Its DEC page puts it in the towns of Parma and Greece, Monroe County. The DEC page lists 16 parking areas and 1 map. Access is free and year-round. DEC notes: “The entire complex is open to archery hunting.” DEC notes: “No waterfowl hunting in designated waterfowl refuges on Long Pond and Rose Marsh (posted with yellow and green signs).”
• Rush Oak Openings Unique Area (15 mi). DEC places it in the town of Rush, Monroe County. 1 parking spot and 1 downloadable map are on file with DEC. DEC notes: “Target shooting is prohibited.”
• Honeoye Creek Wildlife Management Area (24 mi). Location on the DEC page reads: Town of Richmond, Ontario County. 3 parking spots and 1 downloadable map are on file with DEC. Access is free and year-round.

Lands, acreage, WMUs and access from DEC property pages, the DEC WMU layer, NYS Parks, NYC DEP and federal pages (lands.json); boundary distances inside 10 miles from places.json; center distances are straight lines from the Census point for Rochester. Checked October 27, 2026. Statewide public land map.

WMUs, dates and DMP odds around Rochester

WMUs 8G, 8C, 8A, 8F and 8H divide Monroe County, which sits in the Southern Zone. Check WMU 8A first: Braddock Bay Wildlife Management Area sits inside it. WMU 8C is bowhunting only for deer, with bows and crossbows. 8G, 8C, 8A, 8F and 8H are unlimited DMP units, so antlerless permits keep coming. Rifle limits for big game: Monroe County. Under the 2026 Earn-a-2nd-Buck rule, the second Antlered Deer Tag follows a reported antlerless harvest. DEC maps Monroe County public land into the Western duck zone and West Central for Canada geese.

WMU shares and 2026-27 dates from the DEC WMU season layer (counties.json); DMP targets and odds from the DEC 2026 DMP table; antler, bowhunting-only and rifle rules from the 2026-27 guide; bear areas and fall turkey from the guide bear pages. Checked October 27, 2026.

Monroe County take figures for Rochester

DEC calculates that hunters took 4,550 deer in Monroe County in 2025, 2,155 of them adult bucks. 5,287 deer in 2013 is the high mark on the chart. Town tables end in 2019; that year the city of Rochester produced 2 deer. At the unit level, 8A logged 4,260 deer in 2022. For WMU 8A, the 2025 bear count reached 0. Spring turkey take in the Great Lakes Plain group of WMUs (which includes 8A) was 1,820 in 2026.

Deer take from DEC deer reports (latest county table, take by town 2007-2019); bear from the DEC bear take by town and county and the 2025 bear harvest summary; spring turkey from the DEC turkey WMU aggregate layer. Figures are DEC calculated take, printed as DEC labels them. Checked October 27, 2026.

Within a short drive of Rochester

3 upcoming events within about 30 miles as of October 27, 2026.

Booked dates

Planning a dinner or trial close by? Add the date.

Nearest DEC desks to Rochester

For a license, use HuntFishNY or a clerk. For local wildlife questions around Rochester, these are the DEC desks to call.

From the DEC statewide office list (services.json; Region 9 phones from the DEC permit administrators page), checked October 27, 2026.

Town pages close to Rochester

Hilton, Canandaigua and Hemlock are the three nearest town pages to Rochester, then Honeoye. Inside Monroe County, also see Hilton.

What to confirm before leaving Rochester

Before a dawn start out of Rochester, check the legal light table for Monroe County and know which side of the WMU line you will hunt.