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Don Bare of Amsterdam shows off the 22-inch landlocked salmon he caught in Lake Champlain.

Once a year, I set my alarm for 4 a.m., and that day is the opening day of the Southern Zone’s deer hunting season. 

You would think by now this old hunter would stay in bed at least a little longer. Well, last Saturday morning my alarm did not ring, because I was up a little after 3 a.m. anxious to get in the woods. When I walked outside the house, the thermometer in my truck read 19 degrees. 

Making my way in with a flashlight, I put out my deer lure and sat down on my hunting pad. There was a little wind blowing in my face, which made it a bit colder.

The first shot I heard was definitely too early. Then, right at sunup, there was more legal shooting off to my right.  Around 7 a.m., I watched a doe walking 35 yards below me — definitely live bait.  I was hoping a buck followed, and one did. It was a legal 3-pointer and I quickly had the crosshairs on him and the safety on my rifle off. Did I want this buck? Nope! I decided to wait for “Mr. Big Buck.”

I heard several more shots during the day, but the 3-pointer was the only deer I saw that day.

That evening, I visited my friend Dann Ladd’s website-www.adkhunter.com and found some really nice photos of North Country bucks. Successful hunters included Kevin Zieniuk of Scotia, a 170-pound, 8-pointer taken in Washington County; Greg Carlisle of Hudson Falls, 205-pound, 8-pointer in Warren County; and Joe Iuliano of Saratoga Springs, 150-pound, 6-pointer taken with in Saratoga with a bow and arrow. Don’t forget, if you get a deer and want to share it with other hunters, send it to me at enoonan@nycap.rr.com and I will add it to Buck Tales.

DEC NEWS

Unfortunately, there are hunters who know the rules and regulations, but continue to not abide by them. Here are several who got caught. 

DEC officers Shane Manns and Jason Hilliard responded to a report of someone shooting from a pickup truck along a road in Broadalbin. When they got there, the dead deer had been left in the field and shortly thereafter, the suspect vehicle was stopped by a Fulton County Sheriff’s deputy. When interviewed by the ECO, the two inhabitants of the truck admitted to shooting the deer from their vehicle and from the road. 

ECOs Brian Toth and Matt LaCroix, along with K-9 Diesel, also found a second deer. The two deer-jackers were issued a total of 18 tickets.

HUNTERS FEED THE HUNGRY

If you want to donate your deer to “Hunters Feed The Hungry,” they will pay the processing fee. The deer must be legally harvested, tagged, field-dressed and taken to a participating meat processor. For full details, go to http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/8351.html.

At the request of the Iroquois Rod and Gun Club, three DEC officers recently were guest speakers for a meet, greet and question-and-answer session at a recent member meeting. Other clubs interested in arranging DEC speakers should contact ECO Lt. Lisa Bobseine, Region 4 headquarters, New York State ECO Police.

FISHING

Most of us who fish have winterized our boats and put them in storage, but there are those who do not let the weather interfere with fishing. I have two friends who do not let cold weather interfere with fishing. Ed Skorupski of Stillwater and Don Bare of Amsterdam recently headed north and launched at Lake Champlain’s Port Henry.

Ed decided let Don do all the fishing, and he would just watch the catching, and missing. The wind was biting — and so were the fish. They began downrigger trolling a medium sized No. 40 purple/black Honey Bug 25 feet down in 105 feet of water. Don hooked up with 23 fish and landed 11 of them. The biggest were a 25-inch, 7-pound lake trout and a 22-inch landlocked salmon.

STAY WARM

As an all-day sitter on the ground or in a treestand, keeping warm used to be a problem; but it isn’t any more. I did try layering, but it did not keep me warm. There were times I would actually carry a blanket into my treestand. However, several years ago I found the answer — a battery operated vest. I admit I wasn’t optimistic about it, but had to give it a try and placed the order for one that operated on an M12RedLithium rechargeable battery that would last for up to six hours. When it arrived, I headed out to my treestand on one very windy/cold morning.

For the first hour, I did not turn it on and purposely waited until I was definitely cold and turned it on. For about five or 10 minutes, I felt nothing and immediately thought I had wasted my money. But then I felt warmth across my lower back and the warmth continued all the way up to my neck. I now wear this on most of my late fall and winter hunts. I also have added an extra charged battery to carry with me. Check “heated vests” on the internet.

Have a very happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your day with your family and friends.