A point of clarification. Most of the duck hunters and guides out there are conducting themselves perfectly legally; however, there are a tiny handful of bad apples out there. A high amount of activity is expected in the area this weekend—the final weekend of duck season—and attentive eyes is useful and the purpose of this notice is to encourage the documentation and reporting of any witnessed violations.
Also, there was a maths error below. The 3 shells per gun example of three guys firing off more than their allotment would be 10+ (more than 3 shells per guy); and the example should have been for visibly only two guys in a boat firing off 7+ shots (that’s more than 3 per guy). Finally, don’t call Office Krueger to ask what you can do. Only call to report an actual violation if you knowingly witness one. If you have general questions, you can call 1-800-TIPP-DEC (1-800-847-7332). Thanks for your attention. Sincerely, Chris T-H On Jan 10, 2025, at 10:54 AM, Christopher T. Tessaglia-Hymes <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Sending this again, as there were formatting problems with my previous email. ========================== I want to alert birders in the Ithaca area of a concerning situation at the south end of Cayuga Lake. As some of you may be aware, in recent weeks, there has been a sizable mixed Aythya sp. flock of Redheads, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, and Gadwall as well as other species (including the rare visiting Tufted Duck, a Eurasian species). The flock size has numbered into the several thousand, which is not too uncommon down here, but with ice-up at the north end of Cayuga Lake, this is driving the birds south. This increase in duck numbers has not gone unnoticed by birders, and it similarly has not gone unnoticed by regional duck hunters. I have witnessed certain illegal activities myself, such as driving or rallying birds and shooting from a moving boat, and issues of trespass by boats tied up to and using Cornell University docks at the Merrill Family Sailing Center. This morning, I received a call from DEC Officer Krueger. Officer Krueger's number is 607-227-9584. He and another officer are working this entire weekend. He is asking for support from the birders in this area. In sum, this is the busiest they have seen it down here in over 10 years. They now have guides who are bringing people from out-of-state and from out-of-area to this specific location to hunt the Redhead and scaup flock. The guides will run multiple trips per day, bringing out duck hunters for the opportunity to bag their birds. If there is any evidence of "rallying birds” or "driving birds" specifically in flight or toward another team of hunters to shoot them, that is illegal. If you see this, get photos or video of the boat and immediately call Officer Krueger. They will respond. There are also "over limit issues” they are dealing with. They are only permitted to have 3 shells per gun. If for example, you see a boat with definitely and visibly only three guys in it, but you hear 7+ rounds go off, that's illegal. Get photos or video of the boat and immediately call Officer Krueger. They will respond. He said this has been a logistical nightmare with the duck hunting guides running people in and out multiple times per day and trying to figure out how many birds they are actually shooting (bag limit per person). Bag limit is only 2 Redheads or 2 scaup per guy, but if someone is shooting more than their limit and "averaging it for the boat," that's illegal. Document and call Officer Krueger. They will respond. He asked me to spread this word widely. Sincerely, Chris Tessaglia-Hymes 607-351-5740 -- Chris Tessaglia-Hymes Listowner, Cayugabirds-L Ithaca, New York [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Cayugabirds-L – Archives<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> Cayugabirds-L – Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME.htm> Cayugabirds-L – Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES.htm> Cayugabirds-L – Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME.htm> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> ABA<https://www.aba.org/birding-news/> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") Cayugabirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/cayugabirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) aba_DOT_org/birding-news/ Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
