by Jeff Jondle | Nov 25, 2023 | Conservation News
As sportsmen and women we all hope for a quick and successful recovery of wild game. Taking only high percentage shots and using the correct equipment are ethical and consistent with fair chase. Employing aircraft of any type including drones is not ethical or lawful in New York State. A good alternative is to contact Deer Search. Their team of recovery volunteers are licensed with the DEC.
Recently, DEC has received inquiries about the potential use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) to assist with the recovery of hunter-harvested deer or bear. However, tracking and recovery of a deer or bear are part of the hunt, and New York laws do not allow drones to be used in this way.
Drones are defined and regulated as aircraft by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and aircraft may not be used to aid deer or bear hunters. This applies to both hobby/recreational drone pilots and drone pilots flying under FAA commercial regulations.
Confusion comes because the same section of law that prohibits use of aircraft also prohibits use of dogs to aid in hunting deer or bear. However, a separate section of law authorizes DEC to regulate and license the use of leashed tracking dogs specifically to aid in the recovery of deer and bear. The law does not make a similar provision for aircraft, including drones, and DEC cannot regulate or license the use of drones without authorizing statute.
Jeff Jondle – ECFSC President
by Jeff Jondle | Oct 15, 2023 | Conservation News
DEC Announces WNY Fall Pheasant Season Opens Oct. 21st
Pheasant hunting season in Western New York opens Saturday, Oct. 21, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today. DEC will release approximately 3,700 adult ring-necked pheasants on Region 9 lands open to public hunting for this fall’s pheasant hunting season. Stocked pheasants will be provided by DEC’s Reynolds Game Farm in Ithaca, NY.
READ MORE ON DEC WEBSITE
by Dan Thomas | Oct 15, 2023 | Conservation News
October 2023 Great Lakes Basin Report
Based on 2023 trawl surveys of state water it conducts annually, the Ohio DNR is rating this year’s walleye hatch as exceptional. That marks the fifth time in nine years dating back to 2015 that the walleye hatch has earned the division’s highest ranking.
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by Jeff Jondle | Sep 22, 2023 | Conservation News
September is Tree Stand Safety Awareness Month
September is the month many hunters, especially bowhunters, start heading back to the woods to put up stands and get ready for upcoming hunting seasons.
Every year, hunters are seriously injured, paralyzed, or killed falling out of tree stands. Falls from tree stands have become a major cause of hunting related injuries and fatalities in New York.
READ MORE ON THE DEC WEBSITE
by Jeff Jondle | Sep 22, 2023 | Conservation News
Over 6 million gallons of contaminated water put into Oak Orchard Creek
Orleans County is suing its neighbor to try to stop a sewer line from coming into the Town of Shelby and depositing up to 6 million gallons of what Orleans says is “contaminated” water into the Oak Orchard Creek.
The county on Monday filed an Article 78 complaint in State Supreme Court, seeking to halt placement of a sewer line from the STAMP site to the Oak Orchard Creek, a 9.5-mile long pipe along Route 63 that has been under construction since Aug. 3.
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by Amy Plecas | Jul 8, 2023 | Conservation News
Like a vampire, the sea lamprey latches onto its prey and sucks the blood and nutrients out of fish in all five of the Great Lakes. Sea lampreys, an eel-like parasitic fish that’s native to the Northern Hemisphere, but is considered invasive in the Great Lakes, experienced a brief population spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, and authorities have spent the last year removing the lamprey surplus.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is contracted by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to apply lampricide to the creeks and tributaries throughout the Great Lakes corridor. The applications of lampricide are applied every three to four years. The treatment is specifically created to target the lamprey larva with minimal effects on other aquatic wildlife. Even though the lamprey control program has been effective, there’s still a chance that anglers may encounter one while fishing on the Great Lakes.
The United States Geological Survey reports that sea lampreys are “an ancient species” that have retained “primitive ancestral characteristics from millions of years ago,” which includes a slim body, two closely spaced dorsal fins, seven gill openings on each side, a large round mouth with curved razor-like teeth and a rasping tongue.
