Western NY (Tonawanda WMA)

[Alfred Houde]

Good morning:

Not looking for anyone's spot, as I have hunted the WMA for years. Just a general question of the conditions this year. I know that New York had a very dry summer. Is the WMA worth a trip this year, or focus my time in CNY?

Thanks in advance for any information.

[Craig Larter]

Water levels are VERY low this year. I would call the DEC region responsible. Howland island marshes are very low and the Seneca River is so low they can't pump. We are pumping from the Erie Canal into our marsh in the Clyde Savannah area. We still may not be able to access our marsh for the opener 10-17

[Double Lab]

Originally Posted by Craig Larter

Water levels are VERY low this year. I would call the DEC region responsible. Howland island marshes are very low and the Seneca River is so low they can't pump. We are pumping from the Erie Canal into our marsh in the Clyde Savannah area. We still may not be able to access our marsh for the opener 10-17

Sorry to hear that Craig. But there's always the SD, plan B, if you want. The Puffers said lots of ducks and good pheasant numbers. We got room.

[Craig Larter]

Daryl thanks for the invitation but we are all set for November for SD. Hopefully hurricane delta will come our way next week and provide us with some heavy rain. Fingers crossed. Headed to northern NY this week for three days of ducks. Reports are encouraging for good hunting.

[Wilmurt]

Alfred, we hunt in north central ADK Park and can attest that this year the grouse in good numbers are there.

[Kevin McCormack]

Ditto Craig's report - very dry in upstate NY this year. The areas where we hunt just south of Utica had mostly dry streambeds and near-empty ponds. There seemed to be plenty of food for the grouse but there were very few birds. In two days of hunting we only put up one bird, heard 3-4 more drumming and heard one distant flush, but that was it. This against prior Columbus Day weekends in the past where we have put up as many as 3 dozen birds, most times bagging at least one bird per hunter. We drove up through Skeneatelas and right by the boundary of Montezuma WMA on Sunday and saw little or no water compared to prior years. The NE drought had much more effect than I expected.