Press-Republican

Outdoors

Related Photos

  • Alvin Rabideau

    images_sizedimage_325232644

  • Photo Courtesy Ward Lumber

    images_sizedimage_325232645

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.
comments powered by Disqus
November 21, 2009

Hunting season spindrift

By DENNIS APRILL, Outdoor Perspective

With the deer hunting season winding down, some northern zone hunters are heading downstate to hunt the southern zone, the regular firearms season opening yesterday.

However, one thing seems certain: The pundits expounding the lunar theory for when the rut peaks may be wrong this fall. As of Thursday, not only are buck numbers down, but some that are being brought in are only showing beginning stages of the rut — the characteristic swollen neck. The lunar theory folks had the peak between Nov. 3 and 14.

Department of Environmental Conservation wildlife biologist Ed Reed in Ray Brook observes, "The number of bucks we've seen in the deer cutter meat lockers is down from last year. The rut seems to be just starting."

Reed adds that the warmer weather and lack of tracking snow have also contributed to the low amount of bucks coming in. From my own observations, I have seen only a couple of scrapes, and they were created later than expected. Reed expects the buck take to increase as we move toward December.

For the real lunar theory die-hards, there is another full moon Dec. 2 (December has two full moons this year), so there's still hope, as the regular firearms season in the northern zone runs until Dec. 6.

After that, Wildlife Management Units 5A and 5G that run from the Canadian border to southern Essex County, generally paralleling Lake Champlain, and 6A and 6C in the St. Lawrence Valley have late muzzleloader seasons from Dec. 7 through 13.

If the deer take has been down, the number of bear shot is up from 2008. According to Reed, as of last Monday 572 were reported in the northern zone compared to 406 last fall. The numbers are evenly spread out throughout towns in the tri-county area.

Wild Turkeys
Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and we cannot forget Ben Franklin's choice for a national bird — the wild turkey. This is a remarkable story of a successful introduction of a species to northern New York and elsewhere. From small transplants in the 1980s, there are now literally thousands of turkeys up here, and hunters have not only a spring hunting season, but a fall one as well that runs from Oct. 1 through 23. I did not hunt wild turkeys this fall, preferring instead the challenge of calling one in the spring, so my family will have to contend with a store-bought one this Thanksgiving.

However, if we wanted to go completely wild, we could serve trout, grouse and some of last year's venison (courtesy of me), along with Jerusalem artichokes and chanterelle mushrooms (courtesy of my wife). All this would be downed with some homemade highbush cranberry wine.



Rabbit Derby Sponsors
This is for those clubs or organizations that sponsor rabbit-hunting derbies this winter. I also write an Adirondack column for Vermont-based Outdoors Magazine that circulates in New York. If you want your hunt mentioned in my January column, you must get the who, what, where, prizes and contact information via e-mail or some other means to me as soon as possible as my deadline is the end of this month.

To all my readers, hunters and nonhunters alike, have a Happy Thanksgiving.

E-mail Dennis Aprill at daprill2000@yahoo.com and check out our Web site at www.pressrepublican.com/0105_outdoor_perspective for more photos and past articles.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Outdoors
Mountain Forecasts
Photo of the Day