Kris Brown was doing some early-January deer scouting in the Catskills when he found a patch of deer hair that left him feeling confused as to what happened. See if you can help him out!
Winter is a great time of year to scout for wildlife sign, or to simply take a nature walk. The leaf-off season means you can see long distances in the woods and snow-covered ground serves as a short-term record of wildlife using the area.
This blog collection is all about white-tailed deer (and a few other game species), covering topics such as deer impacts on the land, deer habitat management, scouting, and hunting.
Who doesn’t get excited for spring, especially in the northeast United States? When I finally emerged from winter torpor, I started hiking in the woods like it was my job. Along the way, I came across several signs of spring.
Have you ever treated the clothing you wear to the woods with permethrin? I was late to the game with regard to this tick prevention practice, but I was able to treat my deer scouting clothes safely and efficiently one mid-July morning. This blog demonstrates how I did it.
I started using trail cameras in 2019 to scout for deer and to capture photos of other Catskill Mountain wildlife I might not easily see on woods walks. I did my homework before I got started, but sometimes the best way is to learn by doing. Hopefully some of these takeaways will help you out.
The lack of squirrels in the woods didn’t seem like a big deal to me at first, but after seeing one predator after another, I couldn’t help but link the two.
This summer, I found a berry patch loaded with blackberries and blueberries and I had it all to myself. Use this blog to help you know when and where to look for your own wild berries in the Catskills.
Back in 2016, WAC Watershed Forester Tom Foulkrod wrote a blog about a white raptor he saw near his home in Stamford, NY. I spotted a white red-tailed hawk in the same area during the 2022 hunting season and again in the summer of 2024. Could it be the same one Tom wrote about?
Earlier this fall I was walking a woods when I rounded a bend and came upon a field of Christmas trees. I walked up to one, and it was a gem of a tree. It had a deep green color, a nice cone shape with soft needles, and a rich balsam smell. In short, it was the perfect Christmas tree.
Feeling blue about emerald ash borer (EAB)? Don’t just throw your hands in the air. You can help scientists find EAB-resistant trees (which provide great hope for ash restoration) by tracking the health of some of the trees in your woodlot.
Yorktown’s popular Sylvan Glen Park Preserve has a rich land use history that has shifted from mining to hiking trails, but one thing that has remained constant through the years is the need for a strong riparian zone.
I was doing some deer scouting in early October and I found myself on the edge of a Norway spruce stand. I was following a deer trail and slipping through the dead branches in the understory, when I noticed a spruce log decaying on the forest floor. There were wafer-thin wood strips laying around the log. I had never seen this before.
The observations you make in the woods can tell you quite a bit about land use history and forest disturbance events, like windthrow and logging. Once you know what to look for, your woods walks will become even more meaningful.
