Dick Andrews and Mike Auriemma will again host the 15th annual Youth Turkey Hunt on Saturday, April 20.
All youth hunters ages 12-15 with a valid hunting license and adult mentor are welcome to participate. Hunting shall be done at your own location. All previous rules apply. There is no cost to participate. Free food and beverages will be available to all who attend.
Every youth hunter will receive door prizes, and every turkey entered will also receive a prize.
The weigh-in will be held at the Auriemma Residence located at 197 Truax Road in the Town of Amsterdam from noon-1:30 p.m. on April 22.
To sign up or if there is a youth hunter that wishes to go out that is in need of a mentor, please do not hesitate to call Auriemma at 518-669-0460 or Andrews at 518-843-9086 or 518-461-2912. Please sign up by April 15.
DEC TO HOST VIRTUAL BROOK TROUT PLAN WEBINAR
This is an important webinar discussion for all fishermen who target brooks in remote Adirondack ponds. I would highly suggest jumping onto this meeting. You must sign up prior to the webinar, and a link will be emailed to join the day of the event.
The webinar will be held Thursday to discuss the draft Adirondack Brook Trout Pond Management Plan currently under development. The plan, once adopted following public review and input, will guide the state’s actions for managing pond-dwelling Adirondack brook trout for the next 15 years.
Earlier this month, the DEC held two in-person public information sessions in Old Forge and Warrensburg. Based on the high attendance at these meetings and interest from other parts of the state, the DEC is adding the virtual meeting scheduled from 6:30-9 p.m. Thursday.
Those interested in participating in the virtual session can register to attend. Attendees will receive an invitation to join the webinar once registration is approved.
During the meeting, fisheries managers will explain the proposed approach, answer questions and solicit feedback to inform completion of the draft plan under development. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions, provide comments and engage DEC fisheries managers and biologists in discussion. Public feedback will inform the ongoing development of the draft Adirondack Brook Trout Pond Management Plan, which will be released this year for formal public comment.
2023 BEAR HARVEST SUMMARY
Bear hunters harvested 1,356 black bears during the 2023 hunting season, an estimated 485 bears in the Northern Zone and an estimated 871 bears in the Southern Zone. This represents roughly 6% more bears harvested in the north and one percent more in the south than in 2022. The total bear harvest in 2023 was approximately 7% lower than the five-year average.
Black bear harvest data is gathered from two main sources: Harvest reports required of all successful bear hunters, and the physical examination of bears by DEC staff and cooperating taxidermists.
Harvest estimates are made by cross-referencing these two data sources and determining the rate at which hunters report bear harvests in each zone. In the fall, DEC will send a commemorative 2023 Black Bear Management Coordinator Patch and a letter confirming each bear’s age to all hunters who reported their bear harvest and submitted a tooth for age analysis.
Facts worthy of mention:
• The number of bears harvested per 100 square miles in WMU 3K was 16.1, the greatest bear harvest density of any WMU. This WMU is right along the edge of Pennsylvania.
• The heaviest dressed-weight bear reported to DEC in 2023 was taken in the town of Windsor, Broome County, and weighed 550 pounds. Scaled weights of dressed bears were submitted for 21% of bears taken in 2023.
• The DEC collected teeth of 648 bears to determine the bear’s age in 2023.
• The age of the oldest bear harvested in 2022 was 25 years old. The bear was harvested in the town of West Union, Steuben County, WMU 8X. Bear teeth from the 2023 season are still being analyzed.
• Only one bear was taken in WMU 7A in 2023. This was the first bear ever reported as harvested in the unit since DEC first began tracking bear harvest information in 1970.
To read the full summary report, download the full pdf from https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/hunting/deer-bear. Scroll down to the bottom and both deer and bear harvest statistics are present.
2024 JUVENILE EEL PROJECT
The Juvenile Eel Project is back for the 17th year. This could be a great opportunity for local biology teachers to have an incredible hands-on experience involving students working directly with the DEC at no cost. This also does not apply to only educators, anyone who wishes to partake may volunteer. The overall value here is high.
Eel collection takes place at 11 different sites along the Hudson River daily through mid-May. Since the project began, volunteers have caught, counted and released more than one million juvenile eels into upstream habitat.
The project was initiated by the DEC’s Hudson River Estuary Program and Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve to gather data for multi-state management plans for eel conservation.
American eels have one of the most unusual life cycles of any fish. The eels are hatched in the Sargasso Sea, which really is not a sea at all as it has no land boundaries, but moreso a giant area encompassing 2 million square nautical miles (approximately the size of the United States give or take) in the Atlantic Ocean between four major currents that create an almost whirlpool effect.
The eels arrive every spring in estuaries like the Hudson River as translucent, 2-inch long "glass eels." The DEC and volunteers check 10-foot, cone-shaped nets (fyke nets) specifically designed to catch these small eels during this life stage. Volunteer and student researchers then count and release the glass eels back into the water and record environmental data on temperature and tides. Most of the eels are released above dams, waterfalls and other barriers so that the eels have better access to habitat. The eels will live in freshwater rivers and streams and for up to 30 years before returning to the sea to spawn.
Coastal states from Florida to Maine monitor the young of the year migrations of American eels.
Those interested in volunteering for the eel project, can email eelproject@dec.ny.gov and should include their resident location to accommodate the closest collection site.