The date was Saturday, Nov. 7, 1998. My brother, Tim, and I had made a few short pushes that morning before deciding to still-hunt one of the bigger mountains in our hunting area. This was well before our FRS/GPS radio days – and for Tim, a wristwatch. Our plan was to hunt our way to the top of the mountain…
Opening morning of the Northern Zone crossbow season found me sitting in the same spot where I had brought Joey, age 14, on the first two mornings of New York’s Columbus Day weekend youth big game hunt. Having only three days to hunt with a crossbow before the muzzleloading season, I figured I’d squeeze in a morning hunt before getting…
This Halloween is going to be different, even for those of us who spend time outdoors. It falls on a Saturday this year, which is always fun, and it’s also the second weekend of the Northern Zone rifle season. The hunter’s full moon will be in the sky, and being the second full moon in October, it will be a…
Labor Day weekend found Adrienne and I camping at Lake Eaton (near Long Lake) in the Central Adirondacks. Although we had camped here many times over the years, for one reason or another I had never taken the time to hike up Owl’s Head Mountain, which has a fire tower on it, and thus a 360-degree view. Camping is relaxing,…
In the June 26 issue of New York Outdoor News, I wrote in my column about last summer’s consuming project of building an Adirondack lean-to in my yard. Adrienne and I have been enjoying it a great deal as of late, having weekend campfires and morning coffee in recent weeks now that things are cooling off a little. The lean-to has…
The August 21 issue of New York Outdoor News has news story by Jane Anderson in which she reports on the amount of traffic and congestion at popular hiking trailheads. I took the accompanying photo with that article this past spring following a morning turkey hunt on some private land nearby in the Lake George region of the Adirondacks. After…
Anyone who is willing to tie up tens of thousands of dollars in a boat simply to fish bass tournaments is obviously quite serious about bass fishing. For the average evening or weekend angler, a canoe, kayak, johnboat or even a small motorboat will do. But not for these anglers. Professional bass fishing, or perhaps better put as “tournament angling,”…
Is it me, or are there more woodchucks around than normal this year? It seems like I’m hearing quite a few people complain about ‘chucks attacking their gardens and I’m also seeing several along the side of the road; both dead and alive. I’ve got some woodchuck problems around my own homestead too. Fortunately, I live in the country where,…
My wife Adrienne and I are not exactly summer people. Neither of us like hot weather and the steamy heat wave we’ve been enduring in New York in recent days has us borderline grumpy. We always say that we’d retire in Alaska or Canada before ever considering a place like Florida or the south. But one thing we do enjoy…
Water temperatures mean everything to the trout angler, or at least those who care enough about the species they covet so much that they’ll back off when conditions are not favorable for optimal fish survival. That is especially the case with brook trout fishermen and those who chase them around on Adirondack ponds. Unfortunately, it is never an exact science…
What has been and up-and-down turkey season continues to be just that. Following the snow and cold of the second weekend in May, as well as that of the season, things warmed up and turkey season entered yet another phase. Suddenly, it seemed like hens wanted to talk. Now I hadn’t seen a hen since opening day, but when mid-May…
When I saw the weather forecast for the approaching weekend calling for snow, I actually got excited. I don’t mind it a little on cool side when I’m turkey hunting. In fact what I dislike the most about the late season is the hot weather and insects. None of that was a factor for New Yorkers on Mother’s Day…
As a mentor, Ladd has witnessed some interesting youth hunts.As New York’s youth turkey hunting weekend fast approaches, I have almost a sick feeling in my gut over it. For the first time in I don’t know how many years, I’ll have to sit this one out. Mentoring new hunters is something I believe strongly in, and whenever possible, I’m…
Trout season is here and turkey season is on the way. Eventually the writer will wet a line, but the chores are coming first. Come May, however, he plans on being in the turkey woods.
It didn’t happen this year, but it sure has in the past. While out checking my tapped maple trees I’ve returned with ticks crawling on me. Sometimes they were deer ticks, which happen to carry the Lyme agent, while others they were dog ticks. Neither is pleasant. During this year’s late-February and early-March sap runs the conditions were prime for…
Not only might you have some happy wildlife, you’ll have some nice apple wood to use in a food smoker, and the satisfaction of doing something yourself.
Whether it’s taps, traps or just a walk in the winter woods, snowshoeing is great exercise and a viable cure for cabin fever.
We’re now in mid-February and instead going ice fishing I’ve been getting my maple syrup-making gear together. Why? Because other than a snowstorm the weather forecast for the days ahead calls for daytime temperatures to climb into the 40s and then cool down into the 20s at night. Perfect for maple sap to run, not so good for ice fishing….
More than any other type of ice fishing, this angler would much rather spend a day on the hard water either running and gunning or setting out tip-ups in hopes of landing a pair of keeper lake trout.
I’m not one of those people who is obsessed with the vehicle I drive. But when the time came to say goodbye to the Jeep Wrangler I’ve had for the past 14 years, I did so begrudgingly. This, despite the fact that it was simply time to let it go. You see, I’m a Jeep guy, and by that I…
Don’t tell my sister who lives in Georgia, but once again she’s getting venison jerky from me as a Christmas present. Same for my brother who lives in Arizona. But for him, it’s not actually a gift as he earned some of this meat during his hunting vacation back here at home. Every year around the holidays members of my…
As I write this, the end of deer season across New York is fast approaching. This year the Northern Zone and Southern Zone rifle seasons end on the same day, Dec. 8, with the late muzzleloading seasons following. They end Dec. 15 and 17, respectively. For those who hunt the Southern Tier, that’s business as usual. But for Northern Zone…
I’ve always considered myself lucky to be raised in an extended family of Adirondack deer hunters. While that’s the primary reason I’ve likely become an avid whitetail hunter myself, the fact that I was born in mid-November may have also contributed. Yes, I was a rut baby. Some of the hunts that have transpired on my birthday have shaped me…
For the second year in a row a significant weather event put a dent in the plans of deer hunters, especially those in and around the southern and eastern Adirondacks and beyond – this writer included.
Opening day in New York’s Northern Zone is just as big as it is in the Southern Tier. In fact, we have two of them! A week prior to the regular big game season opener, there is a week-long early muzzleloading season in the Northern Zone that always opens the Saturday following Columbus Day. Since the state began allowing additional…
This year I know of at least 10 new hunters who will be experiencing their first deer hunts come November. Likely more. They are part of the Field to Fork program, which in New York is a collaborative effort between the Quality Deer Management Association and Cornell Cooperative Extension office. QDMA began developing the program a few years ago, modeling it…
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