# Duck hunt the Finger Lakes..N Y



## M R DUCKS (Feb 20, 2010)

A friend and I just returned from the Finger Lakes of New York. It was kind of a "trade a trip". The trip was enjoyable, but we didn't get a lot of birds. Diver hunting the big lakes...new to us, both in birds and techniques. We probably saw 10,000 divers....but this time of year the number should have been 50,000-100,000.
Other observations: we saw a flock of Snow Geese....numbering in the multiple thousands...this white cloud lifted miles away, distance and numbers unknown. Eagles and osprey all over us the first day. A couple of thousand canada geese....but most of them were suburban and urban areas. The city we stayed in also has tens of thousands of crows that roost there. Wineries and micro-pubs everywhere.
the weather, like here, has been WAY too warm. Friday high was 50ish...they need COLD (<20) to have the bird numbers.
Unfortunate info for the Atlantic Flyway hunters. Next season the Mallard bag limit is reduced to 2 and the Canada goose season is 30 days.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

M R DUCKS said:


> A friend and I just returned from the Finger Lakes of New York. It was kind of a "trade a trip". The trip was enjoyable, but we didn't get a lot of birds. Diver hunting the big lakes...new to us, both in birds and techniques. We probably saw 10,000 divers....but this time of year the number should have been 50,000-100,000.
> Other observations: we saw a flock of Snow Geese....numbering in the multiple thousands...this white cloud lifted miles away, distance and numbers unknown. Eagles and osprey all over us the first day. A couple of thousand canada geese....but most of them were suburban and urban areas. The city we stayed in also has tens of thousands of crows that roost there. Wineries and micro-pubs everywhere.
> the weather, like here, has been WAY too warm. Friday high was 50ish...they need COLD (<20) to have the bird numbers.
> Unfortunate info for the Atlantic Flyway hunters. Next season the Mallard bag limit is reduced to 2 and the Canada goose season is 30 days.


Which Finger Lake? Did you happen to stop at Montezuema? Never saw a place with more waterfowl.
Should have checked out the White Deer when you were in the neighborhood.


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## M R DUCKS (Feb 20, 2010)

the local guy we were with mentioned/told us about the white deer. We stayed just above Owasco, hunted Cayuga and Seneca. Drove through Montezuma area.
The first day we literally had an eagle 10 yards above our boat blind.


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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

M R DUCKS said:


> the local guy we were with mentioned/told us about the white deer. We stayed just above Owasco, hunted Cayuga and Seneca. Drove through Montezuma area.
> The first day we literally had an eagle 10 yards above our boat blind.


The white deer are right in the middle between Cayuga and Seneca Lake


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## kingfisher72 (May 14, 2016)

Hopefully the weather is better for you next year. I do a lot of sculling for waterfowl and the Finger Lakes are ideal. Between the five lakes and all the public access it is tough to not find somewhere to get out any given day. 

Consider going back in the spring for snow geese. They linger longer on the spring leg of the trip and some even winter on the lakes as I assume they will with a mild year like this. There are a number of guides who specialize in the field hunting. 

These are shots from sculling the north end of Cayuga one spring. There were 100,000 some birds on the lake that day out off the State Park.


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