The biggest whitetail we've encountered killed so far this season was a 15-point buck taken by bowhunter Kevin Harris on Nov. 11 in Trumansburg.
The rack will be scored for the state's Big Buck Club, probably by Trumansburg-based scorer Merritt Compton, following the mandatory 60-day drying period.
Kevin, an Ithaca resident who works in the Office of Student Services at Cornell, arrowed the buck late in the afternoon of Nov. 10 and required the services of Deer Search volunteer Kevin Armstrong and his tracking dog. The buck field-dressed 192 pounds.
The Tri-County Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation recently completed its annual donation of complete turkey dinners — 125 of them this year — to feed the needy on Thanksgiving. Fundraising events and donations from individuals, Lakewitch Inn and the Wal-Mart in Auburn made the dinners possible.
The dinners include a turkey, potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce and corn.
Last week the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to the Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano urging support of legislation that would ban hunting by anyone younger than 18 in that state.
PETA is attempting to exploit media coverage of a Nov. 5 incident in which an 8-year-old boy allegedly shot and killed his father and a friend with a .22-caliber rifle. The organization claims that the violent act was fomented by a recent family prairie dog hunting trip.
According to the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, PETA told Gov. Napolitano that hunting teaches “children to see others as nothing more than living targets.” There is, of course, no reason to think that banning hunting for kids would have prevented the incident. But a ban on hunting by teens would prohibit hundreds of thousands of sportsmen and their children from hunting — which is exactly what PETA wants.
The New York Outdoorsmens Hall of Fame is accepting nominations for this year's inductions, which will be held in September.
The exact criteria and instructions on nominations are available through the web site www.nysohof.org.
CAYUGA LAKE FISHING CONDITIONS: Good runs of salmon and brown trout continue in Fall Creek, Six Mile and Salmon Creek with eggsacks and streamers seemingly the best attractants. Perch fishing has slowed somewhat at the south end but remains good to excellent at the north end for anglers using small jigs and/or minnows.
Henderson is The Journal's outdoors columnist; his columns appear on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you have any questions, comments, or data pertinent to the column or outdoors calendar, send it directly to: Henderson's Outdoors, 202 Prospect Street, Endicott, NY 13760; Or e-mail it to dddhender@aol.com
