Kolodziej Outdoors

SPRING RETURNS
While the springtime pulse of American shad and striped bass in the mainstem Hudson remained largely unseen, the life in the tributaries was obvious. Incredible numbers of glass eels and river herring surged have upstream all week. The herring should be here in our local stretch of the Mohawk soon, if not already.
GSLFF RESULTS
Warm weather and a smooth lake greeted the 157 anglers who participated in last Saturday’s annual Spring Fishing Contest sponsored and conducted by the Great Sacandaga Lake Fisheries Federation.
Fishing was a tad slower than expected but that was likely due to the virtually cloudless skies, lack of any substantial breeze and bright sunshine. A cloudy day and a light “walleye chop” might have been better but few anglers complained about the weather we did have.
George Drygula of Amsterdam took first place in the northern pike division with a hefty 41 incher, followed by David Ryder of Broadalbin with a 37 3/8 incher and Jeff Smith of Schenectady with a 36 3/4 incher. In the walleye segment of the event Roger Dillenbeck of Glovserville took first place with a 23 3/4 incher, followed by Chris Graziano of Saratoga with a 22 5/8 incher and Bill Dingman of Gloversville with an 18 1/4 incher. In the trout division, three browns took the prizes. Josh Rumrill of Gloversville took first place and a plaque from the GSLFF for his 19 3/4 inch entry, followed by Beecher Lapan of Queensbury with a 15 7/8 incher and Steve George of Gloversville with a 15 5/8 incher.
GSLFF Committee members and helpers assisting at the event included Bob Nielsen, John Fura, Randy Gardinier, John Wszolek, Gus Muller, Brian Kedik, Rich Kedik, Tom Coughlin and Frank Maguire.
The next Great Sacandaga Lake Fisheries Federation event will be the summer fishing contest on June 15, the opening day of the statewide bass season. I’ll have additional details for you on that contest in a week or two.
TUMAN’S TAVERN TURKEY CONTEST RESULTS
Twenty-three two-person teams were entered in the annual Tuman’s Tavern one-day turkey contest held on Sunday, May 5.
The heat may have impacted the birds in much the same manner as it did the fish a day earlier because only three teams managed to score doubles, though several more of the teams did score with one bird anyway.
First place went to Nate Craig, Fonda, and Justin Craig, Amsterdam with two birds that came in at a combined weight of 43 pounds 7 ounces. Second place went to Andre Paro and Justie Paro with a total weight of 38 pounds 9 ounces and third place went to Nick Santiago and Rick Delos for two birds totaling 36 pounds 7 ounces.
Turkey takers during the first few days of Tuman’s Tavern season-long gobbler contest included: Alick Paro, 21 pounds 7 ounces, 9 inch beard 1 inch spurs; Ken Paro, 21pounds 1 ounce, 9 5/8 inch beard, 1 inch spurs; Chris Goldy, 20 pounds 5 ounces; Mike Auriemma, 21 pounds 14 ounces, 12 inc beard 1 1/2 inch spurs; and Blake Hart, 22 pounds 6 ounces, 11 inch beard 1 1/4 inch spurs.
TICKS AND LYME DISEASE
This is a good time to mention that deer ticks have become an increasing problem this year, especially for turkey hunters and deer ticks can carry Lyme Disease. The first cases of Lyme disease “clustering” were identified in Connecticut but reference to the disease dates all the way back to 1883 in Germany.
According to the NYS Health Department, Lyme disease is caused by bacteria transmitted by deer ticks. It can affect people of any age and persons who spend time in grassy and wooded environments, including but not limited to turkey hunters and hikers, are at increased risk of exposure. Adult ticks are most active from March to late-May but again from mid-August through November, depending of course on the weather, but they remain a threat during all the warmer months anyway.
Hunters are especially susceptible because of the nature of their pursuit which often involves sitting on the ground for extended periods or walking through vegetation.
After every hunting trip examine your clothing carefully and brush off any ticks you find, before they can attach themselves to any skin they come in contact with. In most cases tick attachment takes a period of 36 hours or more so you do have plenty of time to take preventive action before the tick begins its work. Not all deer ticks are infected with the disease but if one or more do embed themselves, the first symptom you’ll likely see is a rash resembling a bulls-eye or solid patch about two inches in diameter around or near the site of the bite. Early symptoms of Lyme Disease normally occur within three to 30 days after the bite of an infected tick and as it progresses, can include chills and fever, headache, fatigue, stiff neck muscles and/or joint pain, and swollen glands. If not detected and treated in these early stages, the above symptoms can worsen and more severe ones can develop as well. Lyme disease treatments have become more effective but if undetected or allowed to progress the disease can cause severe and long-lasting effects.
If you discover a tick that has embedded itself, your best bet is to seek medical attention as soon as possible. Early treatment with antibiotics almost always results in a full cure though the chances for a full cure decrease as symptoms increase and treatment is delayed.
Insect repellents can be effective deterrents against tick bites and those containing DEET or permethrin are particularly effective. The DEET acts as a repellent while permethrin actually kills the ticks and other insects that come in contact with it. However, some people may be sensitive to one or both of these products so care should be taken before using them. If you do use a chemical repellent, apply it sparingly but thoroughly around your boot tops, trouser and shirt cuffs. Also, wear gutting gloves when field dressing a deer.
Other simple tactics that can help minimize the possibility of tick bites involve tucking your trouser cuffs into your socks and being certain your shirt is tucked into your trousers, since these and other ticks can be found not only in turkey country but might even be picked up when walking through vegetation while taking your dog for a walk. Also, after your walk or hunt, be careful of the clothing you wear. I prefer to remove those in my garage or cellar and throw them into the washer immediately. If that’s not an option, put the clothes in a plastic bag and sprinkle in some deet or permethrin and seal the bag.
HALL OF FAME
Saturday evening, April 27, I attended the 30th Anniversary and Induction Banquet of the New York State Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame in Canastota.
I was inducted into the Hall of Fame (now located at the Wildlife and Sports Educational Museum in Vails Mills, NY) several years ago and look forward to these annual gatherings to meet and welcome the new inductees. As a matter of fact, I currently serve on the groups’s Board of Directors. This year we welcomed seven new members to the Hall, including Larry Becker of Gainesville, Chuck Booker of West Amherst, Greg O’Hara of Inlet, Diane Macielewski of Elma, Frank Miskey, Sr. of Elma, Stan Pascoo of West Nyack and Art Segool of Orchard Park. A special Media Award was also presented to Steve Piatt, publisher of the New York Outdoor News magazine. It was a very well-attended event that included guests, past inductees, friends of the new members and a number of dignitaries as well.
Greg O’Hara of Inlet is a NYS-licenses guide who has been involved in Adirondack Search and Rescue activities for many years. In 2003 he founded CASART (Central Adirondack Search and Rescue Team) which involved recruiting volunteers, raising necessary funds, obtaining equipment and providing training in the many skills necessary fo this midssion. In the past decade, CASART has been involved in some search and rescue 40 missions. Greg has also presented many seminars on his “Hiking Safety” program in schools, camps and to Adirondack visitors. His election to the Hall of Fame was well-deserved and a plaque dedicated to Greg will soon be placed in the Hall of Fame display at the above museum.
The NYS Outdoorsmen Hall of Fame was founded in 1983 and its first inductions followed. The Hall, including all its plaques and memorabilia was housed in the Gander Mountain Store in New Hartford, NY for several years but , thanks to the generosity of Bob Kazmierski, owner and founder of the Wildlife Museum in Vails Mills, the entire display was moved to his facility. Bob also arranged for a remodeling effort and gave up some of his museum gift shop space for the Hall of Fame, allowing it to have its own free-of-charge room. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the Wildlife and Sports Educational Museum is located near the intersection of Routes 29 and 30 in Fulton County and contains thousands of mounted animals from New York State and beyond, as well as old and modern fishing tackle, guns, trapping equipment and much more. It’s truly a fascinating place to visit.

ANTI-SAFE ACT RALLY
On Thursday, February 28, I attended the Second Amendment Rally in Albany along with over 5,000 other gun owners, though a few of the State Police I spoke with estimated the number as closer to 10,000. Prompted by those seeking repeal of the Governor’s SAFE Act, it was one of the largest such rallies held in Albany and I’m pleased to say it was orderly and to the point, with no confrontations from opposing groups. Despite that impressive number of rally attendees, it likely would have been even higher had the weather not been so bleak, cool and generally unpleasant. However, the weather did little to dampen the enthusiasm of those who did attend. Speakers at the gathering included: David Keene, NRA president; Tom King, NYSR & PA president; Sen. Kathy Marchione; former Assemblyman Amedore; Sen. James Seward, and many others.
For those of you unfamiliar with the issue, the rally was held in support of a repeal of the Governor’s hurried, middle-of-the night SAFE Act, which most gun owners feel was unnecessary, failed to consider other alternatives and was written and rushed through passage without the due diligence normally afforded such matters. It was essentially ramrodded through the legislature by the Governor on a “message of necessity” because then there would be little opportunity for dissent and he certainly didn’t want any. Legal gun owners also consider it a violation of their Second Amendment rights. The Governor offered little solace in subsequent interviews and said recent polls show New Yorkers favor tighter gun laws. Tighter perhaps, but not that tight. Unfortunately, that sounds much like the technique used six or seven years ago when a group wanted to reintroduce wolves into the Adirondacks. Remember that fiasco? Their surveys, initially taken primarily in the north country, showed little interest in the project so the group just moved to New York City for their next round of surveys. It should come as no surprise that the response this time was substantially more positive, but remember that this was the Big Apple, where people will agree to anything – especially if it doesn’t concern them directly. Many pollsters seeking increased validity for their efforts will go where they’re most likely to meet with approval. In all fairness, even many legal gun owners favor some form of gun control – but only those efforts needed to keep weapons out of the hands of criminals and other malcontents. Governor Cuomo’s SAFE Act is a few short steps removed from total gun confiscation – but don’t mention that to him because he’ll deny it. Thursday’s rally will also likely do little for the Governor’s ultimate presidential aspirations unless of course he repeals it, but don’t expect that to happen because he has to save face somehow.
In any event, the Governor has said he plans to reexamine the Act and tweak it a bit to address some shortcomings. Unfortunately, tweaking those shortcomings may not be enough for most Second Amendment adherents. Tom King, president of the NYS Rifle & Pistol Association has said that a formal court challenge to the SAFE Act is forthcoming and will likely be ready in a few weeks. I hope it works. I just don’t appreciate the ACT and the way it was forced upon us.

GUNS AND SPORTSMEN
There’s been a lot of saber-rattling recently -some good and some bad – but it basically amounts to seeing how much the public is willing to accept before caving in. If a weapon has the ability to keep firing whenever the trigger is depressed, then that makes it a “machine gun”, in common parlance, and they’ve already been outlawed for decades. Therefore it must be an auto-loader such as the Remington Model 742, AR 15 semi-automatic or many others – those that require only that the trigger be depressed for every shot. How about the many M1 Garands that many older veterans will remember from their military service? Those weapons are popular among rifle fans and many have been sporterized into hunting weapons. The M1′s history goes all the way back to the 1920′s. Might they be outlawed too? As with all questions relating to weapon definition – it’s all in the “eye of the beholder.”
Think registration will work? Not in my mind. Registration of long guns hasn’t worked wherever it’s been tried because the only people that will ever register theirs are those that have neither the intention nor the inclination to use them for a nefarious purpose. A recent survey showed that some 65 percent of legal gun owners would refuse to turn in their weapons, even if told to do so by the government. Criminals won’t register them. They never have and never will. This is, purely and simply, a more restrictive gun law that “targets” legitimate gun owners – the only people that are likely to obey it. Have our legislators ever considered just enforcing the plethora of gun laws already on the books? That would be too easy – too many of our legislators want total disarmament.
Use a gun in the commission of a felony and you go to jail – that’s the kind of gun law that works. No ifs, ands or buts. Possess a stolen gun? You also go to jail. No plea bargains. If the evidence stacks up, you go to jail. It’s really very simple. I like to use this analogy in explaining it. If I’m a driver who’s waiting for the light to go green in my lane at an intersection and then I’m t-boned by an illegal driver, high on some sort of medication, operating a stolen vehicle, the answer is to make it more difficult for me to own and drive a car. Not him – me!
Unfortunately, gun laws, like many other pieces of legislation, are drawn up with votes and reelection in mind. Some legislators just enjoy being legislators . Their salaries and perks far exceed anything I’m entitled to and they like it and want to keep it that way. Arguments that most citizens want additional gun controls are bogus – what’s coming down the road in gun control isn’t what they want, or even thought of. I guess I’m just one of those oddballs that doesn’t appreciate the government telling me what I can and can’t do when I’m engaged in a lawful, legitimate activity. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that you can’t legislate morality or common sense. Many legislators benignly describe the new gun laws proposed by Governor Cuomo and President Obama as “common sense” gunlaws – but what is the definition of common sense? Their definition is a lot different than mine.
Hey, did you notice the coincidence that the Governor’s announcement came on January 15, one day before the 94th anniversary of the establishment of the Volstead Act – prohibition? That sure worked well, didn’t it and that was supposed to be common sense legislation? The presidential “executive actions” came the following day, right on the 94th anniversary of the Act. Coincidental perhaps, but prophetic as well, and I don’t know, at this point, just what his executive actions entailed.
The next time you complain about the NRA, NYS Rifle & Pistol Association or any other pro-gun group just think where you’d be without them fighting for your Second Amendment rights. They do deserve your support.

Going a tad further in our examination of the Governor’s assault weapons ban, are you aware that virtually no shootings or murders in the City of Albany, or Albany County for that matter, involved long guns of any sort – so-called assault rifles included? Albany and Schenectady seem to be charter members of the “Shooting of the Week Club” but cheap, stolen handguns are still the preferred weapon because they’re easier to conceal. Not easier to shoot accurately but easier to conceal. I’ve said it before  and I’ll say it again – no plea bargains! You use a firearm in the commission of a felony and you go to jail for a long time. That’s the answer. Start enforcing the laws already on the books and don’t try to create new ones. They won’t help, especially if they’re done in such haste. Incidentally, if you’re confused about what to do next, join the club. Considering the amount of litigation that’s threatened or at least being considered in this matter, it may be a while before any particulars are ironed out. In the meantime, hang tight. When the time comes to act, you’ll be apprised somehow.

THE THANKSGIVING GOBBLER
You’ll no doubt be feasting on turkey in the next few days, and likely will be doing so for several more days after that as well. It has been more or less a tradition since the 1500′s and, NO, the Pilgrims didn’t have turkey at the feast that was a precursor of the current Thanksgiving Day so designated in 1941. I understand thepilgrims enjoyed a meal of goose instead.
Wild turkeys were plentiful and native only to North and Central America and they were “discovered” by Europeans when they arrived in Mexico in the 1500′s. Those birds were most likely of the Gould’s or Ocellated subspecies. By the 1930′s the wild turkey population numbered less than 30,000 birds as a result of market and subsistence hunting and widespread habitat destruction. Over the next half century, state wildlife agencies, funded by hunter’s dollars, began working with the fledgling National Wild Turkey Federation (founded in 1973) in an attempt to restore as much of the birds population as possible. Over the years they captured some quarter-million wild turkeys and released them in other suitable habitats. Being the hardy birds they are, these reintroductions worked and now some 7 million of them roam the woodlands and river bottoms across the country. They’ve even been released in Hawaii and parts of Canada. The NWTF, in cooperation with wildlife agencies across the country, continues to enhance turkey habitat and conduct restocking efforts.
To refresh your memory, there are essentially six subspecies of wild turkeys. The Ocellated subspecies. the most exciting to hunt, is generally found throughout the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, as well as Belize and Guatemala. The Gould’s subspecies is found further north in Mexico, and some Rio Grande turkeys are also found in the areas near the US/Mexico border. Here in the US we have the Eastern subspecies, the one we have around here but it also spreads down to northern Florida where it abuts the area where the Osceola or Florida subspecies predominates, and as far west as portions of Texas, Missouri and beyond. The Rio Grande subspecies is found throughout Texas and New Mexico but was also the subspecies that was introduced into Hawaii. There’s some overlap of populations as well. The sixth, and final subspecies, the Merriam’s is normally found in the northern portion of the mid=west, such as Nebraska and South and North Dakota, for example. The best way to see which states harbor which species is to get on the NWTF website and check the maps they have available there.
The turkey is truly an ancient bird and a survivor as well. Earlier this year, the National Geographic Channel offered a three-part series entitled MORPHED. Basically, it showed how various prehistoric species evolved into critters we see and recognize around us now and one of the series episodes was FROM DINOSAURS TO TURKEYS. This episode was particularly interesting and thought provoking since it took the viewer through a series of evolutionary steps leading from the Eoraptor of 223 million years ago, up through the Microraptor of 130 million years ago, then through the Velociraptor of 80 million years ago, a dinosaur many of you may recall from the Jurassic Park movies.
It seems that more recent discoveries and studies have determined that the Velociraptor was actually feathered, though incapable of fight, and had a number of other body characteristics found today only in wild turkeys. The scientific conclusions drawn were that today’s turkeys are direct descendants of those ancient Velociraptors. Of course there were a number of evolutionary steps in between but the lineage is one that begins with the Eoraptor, progresses through Microraptor and Velociraptor and ends with today’s gobblers. Think about that when you’re hunting that longbeard in May or carving the rest of that bird for your post-Thanksgiving meal. You’re hunting and/or eating a dinosaur.