The latest from ADKHunter…

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A Solid Opener: Despite some rain on Friday, May1 for the turkey season opener, hunters did quite well. All around the region, and beyond, reports came in from hunters having some luck. However, there appears to be a lot of pressure out there, especially on public land. With so many people not working because of the pandemic, folks are taking to the woods. That is good, we want people to hunt and enjoy themselves, but please be safe. 

While turkeys are being taken, as usual, there are some frustrations and that is usually due to hens. I interrupted a hen that was on her way to a pair toms right after taking an opening day gobbler myself. The next morning a tom came to my calling three times, but would not leave the woods and enter the clearing I was set up in. And Sunday (this morning), on a run-and-gun mountain hunt, a tom sounded off in the distance only to go silent after a brief rain shower; never to be heard from again. 

That’s turkey hunting, and just like deer season, it tends to go in stages. Eventually them hens will leave the gobblers lonely, and if you’re around at that time you may be able lure the old boy in. 

Good luck! 

-Dan’l 

ADKHunter’s Facebook page  •  Buck’s Blog in NY Outdoor News

Continue to 2019 deer season reports…

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DEC Releases 2019 Deer Harvest Stats

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Hunters in New York harvested an estimated 224,190 deer during the 2019-20 hunting seasons, State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced. The 2019 estimated deer take includes 103,787 antlerless deer and 120,403 antlered bucks. Statewide, this represents a nine percent decrease in antlerless harvest and a six percent increase in buck harvest from the last season. Regionally, hunters took 30,236 deer in the Northern Zone and 193,954 deer in the Southern Zone. The Northern Zone take is up  from 28,642 in 2018. So is the buck take of 21,459  compared to 19,041 in 2018. 

Across the state, hunters continued to voluntarily pass up young bucks. The portion of yearlings (1.5 years old) in the adult buck harvest dropped to 37 percent, the lowest level ever, and for the first time, harvest of 2.5-year-old bucks (41 percent) exceeded that of yearling bucks, demonstrating that New York hunters are adhering to the DEC campaign, Let Young Bucks Go and Watch Them Grow.

In addition, the 2019 season proved favorable for bowhunters, as take during the bowhunting season increased 18 percent from 2018. Deer take during the regular and muzzleloader seasons both dropped about six percent. 

DEC’s 2019 Deer Harvest Summary report provides tables, charts, and maps detailing the deer harvest around the state can be found on DEC’s website.Past harvest summaries are also available on DEC’s website. Continue reading →

April 1 Trout Opener: Go fishing, but keep your distance from others

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State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) reminds New Yorkers that trout and salmon fishing season opens on Wednesday, April 1. New York’s coldwater lakes and streams offer springtime trout anglers the opportunity to pursue trout in a wide array of settings across the state. During the current COVID-19 public health crisis, getting outdoors and connecting with nature while angling in New York’s waters is a great way to help maintain mental and physical health.

While enjoying the outdoors, please continue to follow the CDC/New York State Department of Health guidelines for preventing the spread of colds, flu, and COVID-19:

  • Try to keep at least six (6) feet of distance between you and others.
  • Avoid close contact, such as shaking hands, hugging, and kissing.
  • Wash hands often or use a hand sanitizer when soap and water are not available.
  • Avoid surfaces that are touched often, such as doorknobs, handrails, and playground equipment. 

When fishing, DEC recommends avoiding busy waters and following the guidelines on DEC’s website about fishing responsibly in New York State. If an angler arrives at a parking lot and there are several cars, they should consider going to another parking lot. If an angler is fishing upstream, they should fish downstream of the other angler or consider fishing another day. Anglers fishing from boats should be able to maintain at least six feet of distance between one another. For more information about the benefits of being outdoors safely and responsibly, go to DEC’s website. Continue reading →

The Future of ADKHunter.com

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The date was October 20, 2000 and I remember it like it was yesterday. It was the eve of the Northern Zone rifle season and I had just returned home from hiking Big Slide Mountain in the Adirondacks High Peaks region; kind of a tune-up for the deer season that awaited.

When I checked my email I found a note from a web hosting service saying my account had been set up and my new website – my first website – was ready to launch. That website was ADKHunter.com, and it was officially launched that night. 

The idea for a website that centered entirely around hunting in the Adirondacks had come to me months earlier. I had been learning the basics of HTML and web design at my full-time job and was fascinated by the freedom of the internet. I was also in the early stages of a part-time outdoor writing career, which I felt could be supported by a hunting-based web outlet. 

The idea then, just as it is now, was to keep things simple and provide a web-media outlet strictly for New York’s Adirondack/Northern Zone hunters. ADKHunter took off, and grew substantially every year as more and more hunters began using home computers and eventually tablets and cell phones. Photos, stories and reports came in and friendships developed. The website became a perfect companion to my outdoor writing; kind of a business card, if you will. 

I’ll admit that social media has had an impact during the past decade. The ability for one to post a hunting photo instantaneously often seems to the reader to be a better option than emailing a photo to a web author (like me) and then wait for that photo to be edited, captioned and posted. And photos, by far, have been the most labor-intensive part of running this website, but also the most rewarding. A hunter’s smile says it all. We still get plenty of photos, but a tad less than we used to. 

The temptation to take the website commercial, say by selling advertising, links, or allowing third-party promotional material, has seemed lucrative at times. But I’ve never gone down that road, always keeping it on the volunteer scale. That is mainly because of time restraints, and I’ve always kept the commercial option in the back of my mind, knowing the website has business potential should I ever want to explore that option. Meanwhile, the ads you’ve seen on this website are simply for friends, or those who have supported certain causes related to hunting and the hunters of the Adirondack region. 

Now things are about to change. Effective April 1, 2020, I will be accepting the reins as Editor of New York Outdoor News. My friend Steve Piatt is retiring from NYON and I will be working with him throughout this month (March) on the transition. I can’t tell you how excited I am to have the opportunity to devote myself full-time to outdoor writing and communicating the outdoor message. It is a real blessing. 

This all leads to the future of ADKHunter.com, which I’ve been asked about numerous times as of late. The truth is, at this time, I really don’t know. The timing for this change is good because this is generally a slow time of year for the website, which obviously sees peak activity during the last four months of the year. NYON has some solid resources, which we’ve linked to here in the past and will obviously do more of in the future. The bottom line is that at this time I do not know how much time I’ll be able to dedicate to ADKHunter.com in days, weeks and months ahead, and beyond. It remains to be seen. I’ll do my best, but my priorities have to lie with Outdoor News. 

That said, there is infrastructure in place here that could be expanded upon by the right person(s). Like I said, there is business potential here. If you are serious, and interested in taking over ADKHunter, then I’d be willing to discuss a transition at the business level. I even have a few ideas and suggestions, and of course would lend my support during the transition.

In the meantime I have two words for all who have supported this website these past two decades: thank you! The friendships I’ve made, the fact that hunters have made use of the content that has been provided, and that we Adirondack hunters – being the specialized group of hunters that we are – continue to stamp our own footprint in a hunting world that is always changing around us, has given me more satisfaction than I can ever begin to explain. Being part of it has been the ultimate reward.

Thanks again, and good luck to all! 

-Dan’l 

2019 New York Black Bear Harvest

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New York State bear hunters took 1,505 black bears during the 2019 hunting seasons, state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced today.

The 2019 bear harvest played out differently across the state. Hunters took a record 1,179 bears in the Southern Zone, while hunters in the Northern Zone took only 326 bears, the fewest since 2011. In part, the great success hunters enjoyed in the Southern Zone was a consequence of below average harvest in 2018 due to early snowfall and early denning by bears that year. Hunters were able to capitalize on the availability of more bears in 2019.

Bear harvest in the Northern Zone tends to alternate between strong harvests during the early season if natural foods are lacking and strong harvests during the regular season if natural foods are abundant. In 2019, soft mast (cherries, berries, and apples) and hard mast (acorns and beech nuts) crops were abundant and hunters were most successful during the regular season, taking 213 bears. Only 64 bears were taken during the early season. Additionally, the overall bear harvest in the Northern Zone generally follows a high-low pattern from year to year, and the 2019 harvest fit that pattern as a low year. Continue reading →

DEC RELEASES NEW YORK STATE HUNTING SAFETY STATISTICS FOR 2019

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New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced today that the 2019 hunting seasons in New York were the safest on record. DEC documented seven tree stand incidents and one fatality in 2019.

Of the 12 Hunting Related Shooting Incidents (HRSIs) that occurred last year, seven were two-party firearm incidents, five were self-inflicted, and one resulted in a fatality. All of these incidents could have been prevented if hunting safety rules had been followed. The one fatal incident was caused by a failure to positively identify the target.

Further examination of the seven two-party firearm incidents reveals that four of the victims involved were not wearing hunter orange, reinforcing the importance of identifying the target and beyond, and wearing hunter orange or pink when afield, two of the major principles of DEC’s hunter safety courses. For more information on hunter safety basics, visit DEC’s website.

New York State has recorded HRSI rates since the 1960s. In 1966, 166 incidents were recorded, 13 of which were fatal. In 2019, 12 incidents were recorded, one of which was fatal. While the number of hunters is declining overall, the hunting incident rate (incidents per 100,000 hunters) is falling even faster. Since the 1960s, the number of hunters in New York has declined about 20 percent, while the incident rate has declined almost 80 percent. The current five-year average is 1.8 incidents per 100,000 hunters, compared to 19 per 100,000 hunters in the 1960s. Continue reading →

DEC RELEASES DRAFT NEW YORK STATE FOREST ACTION PLAN

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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced the release of the draft New York State Forest Action Plan for public review and comment. The State Forest Action Plan is a 10-year strategic plan for DEC and New York’s forestry community that provides long‐term, comprehensive, and coordinated strategies for addressing the challenges facing New York’s forests today.

The draft Forest Action Plan leverages New York’s forests in the fight against climate change. New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act sets the state on a path to achieve a carbon-free electricity system by 2040, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions 85 percent by 2050. Forests and forest products are a vital resource for mitigating total greenhouse gas emission levels through carbon sequestration and long-term storage. The draft plan identifies ways that New York’s forests can realize this potential as part of the state’s comprehensive climate change solution.

The federal Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act requires each state forestry agency to develop “Statewide Assessment and Strategies for Forest Resources,” collectively referred to as the State Forest Action Plan. A final State Forest Action Plan, which will be an update to New York’s 2010 Plan, is due in June 2020. Continue reading →

DEC Turns 50

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New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos  announced that DEC will host a year-long celebration of its upcoming 50th anniversary in 2020. DEC was established in 1970 on the first-ever Earth Day. To support the celebration of DEC’s anniversary, the agency is releasing a commemorative logo that will be used on the DEC website, in printed materials, and other promotions throughout 2020.

Starting in January, DEC will highlight its history of environmental victories on the agency website, via email, social media channels using the #DEC50 hashtag, and in the Conservationist Magazine and Conservationist for Kids. In addition, beginning in January and continuing throughout the year, DEC will host special anniversary events and announce staff-led service projects across the state.

As part of the anniversary celebration, DEC is also launching a new Geocaching Challenge. DEC will designate 50 properties across the state where geocaching canisters will be hidden with information inside on how to receive a prize.

DEC’s Division of Fish and Wildlife will incorporate the DEC 50 logo in the yearly Habitat Access Pin to commemorate the anniversary. The new Habitat Access Pin will be available at license issuing agents statewide beginning in August.

For the latest updates on #DEC50 and DEC’s year-long celebration of its 50th anniversary, visit DEC’s website.

New Regs pertaining to CWD

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New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos announced that DEC is adopting regulatory changes that will further protect New York’s wild deer and moose from Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). 
DEC is working collaboratively with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (DAM) and the agricultural community to prevent CWD from gaining a foothold in New York.

The regulations’ most significant change is that hunters are now prohibited from returning to New York State with whole carcasses of deer, elk, moose, or caribou harvested outside of New York. Only the deboned meat, cleaned skull cap, antlers with no flesh adhering, raw or processed cape or hide, cleaned teeth or lower jaw, and finished taxidermy products of CWD-susceptible animals may be brought into New York.

Hunting should not risk losing their prized deer or elk because they failed to follow New York law.DEC Environmental Conservation Police Officers will be monitoring roadways and entry points along state borders and whole carcasses that are imported into New York illegallywill be confiscated and destroyed.

Transportation of carcasses through New York is still legal, provided that no parts are disposed of or remain in New York, but hunters should verify importation rules in their destination state or province. 

Other adopted changes include:

  • Increasing the ease with which DEC’s Environmental Conservation Police Officers can enforce DAM regulations to ensure compliance by owners of captive cervids (animals in the deer family); and
  • Clarifying disposal requirements for taxidermists that process CWD-susceptible animals.

These regulations took effect on November 13, 2019. Continue reading →

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