Visit the Great Sacandaga Lake - The Best Kept Secret in the Adirondacks

In the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains - The Great Sacandaga Lake is close to Saratoga and Lake George!

Hunting on the Great Sacandaga Lake

Joe Antonucci from Fullers Store and his first Turkey of the Season
© 2008 Ony Antonucci

5/11/09 Sacandaga Valley Turkey Update
By Neil Skotarczak

Well, turkey season is well underway here in New York. There appears to be good numbers of mature birds with plenty of two year olds and the most jakes I have seen in the past 5 years as well.

The intermittent weather we have been experiencing has kept harvests sporadic. Those who are fortunate enough to be able to hunt daily are having some good action on the warmer, drier days, particularly the days following poor weather.

Opening day brought mixed reports. Some hunters, myself included, had a great morning with the birds being quite talkative and very receptive to calling, while others said they couldn’t buy a gobble. You can hunt a bird one day and he will be tight lipped and uncooperative then go back the next morning and he will gobble at every noise he hears, that is why patience and persistence are the two best tools a turkey hunter can use. Don’t give up and don’t get frustrated, if you don’t get that gobbler today go back and hunt him again in a day or two, he may have an entirely different attitude that day. Maybe he’s been “henned up”, we’re going into the second full week of the season and those hens will be spending more and more time on the nest leaving the longbeards lonely and lovelorn. The toms that wouldn’t even give you a courtesy gobble last week can come running right in with their heads changing colors!

So keep at it and remember, “If you’re lucky enough to be hunting this morning, you’re lucky enough” and Please take a kid hunting or fishing today, they are the future of our beloved sport.

*Neil & Amanda Skotarczak own and operate Kittler Creek Outfitters in Northville N.Y.

The Great Sacandaga Lake is Located in the DEC Region #5
Always ask the Land Owner for Permission
Railroad rights of way are private lands and may NOT be hunted upon

Big Buck Contests

Region 5 Fishing and Hunting Hotline

Sporting Licenses

Purchase Licenses online

©2005 Photo By Ony Antonucci of Fullers Store

Big Game Hunting Season Dates and Maps

2008-2009 DEC New York Hunting and Trapping Guide
(links to just about everything you need to know including maps!!)

Protected Wildlife
Most species including endangered species, song birds, hawks, owls,may not be taken.
Do NOT shoot Spruce Grouse. A hunting licence is required to take all unprotected species.

Region 5 includes lands in the eastern half of New York's Northern Zone hunting area,
including most of the Adirondacks and Champlain valley. Franklin,
Clinton, Essex, Hamilton, Warren, Fulton, Saratoga
and Washington counties make up this region.

Neil Skotarczak own and operate Kittler Creek Outfitters in Northville N.Y. © 2009

Turkey Season

Mandatory Education
A general course 10 hours in length is required for persons who cannot prove
they have ever possessed a hunting licence before. The DEC honors certificates
and licences from all other states and countries.
Bow hunters must take an additional 8 hour bow
hunter education course.
1-888-HUNT ED2

Kittler Creek Outfitters

Hunting | Fishing | Ice Fishing

Enjoy hunting whitetail deer and black bear
in the most beautiful and rugged country in New York.

(518) 863-6607 | email

Hunting around the Sacandaga
an historical article by L.L. Decker
written originally for the
Sacandaga Express

Sacandaga Hunting 1877
by L.L. Decker
written originally for the
Sacandaga Express

Batchellerville resident Wellington E. Gordon recounts, with much detail, a 13 day foray in the foothills in 1887.... read entire article