By Fred Stabbert III
SULLIVAN COUNTY — November 23, 2001 – Hunters in the Catskills Region set a new all-time record for harvesting bear with the bow and arrow — 95 — and the first week of the deer hunting season (firearm) also appears to be going well, according to New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials.
“It’s been a very good season,” Bill Rudge, DEC Natural Resource Supervisor, said. “Hunters have harvested over 55 deer so far at Ten Mile River Hunting Cooperative in Narrowsburg.”
“I’m estimating over 30 of those were bucks and we’ve had 5 or 6 eight-pointers,” Rudge said. “We just weighed a 145-pounder and on Tuesday we had one that was over 150 pounds.”
On Monday, which was opening day of the firearm season in New York State, 100 cars entered the Ten Mile River area. Eighty cars went into the area on Tuesday and on Wednesday their were 40 cars, Rudge said.
“It’s been an excellent season, certainly the weather has been real favorable. That helps,” he said.
Tomorrow, November 24, hunters can go after bear in the Southern Zone. “A couple of bears were spotted (at Ten Mile),” according to Rudge.
And on Monday, November 26, the big game season begins in Pennsylvania.
On a statewide level, at least one fatality occurred in New York State.
“In Oneida County a hunter shot another hunter,” Peter Constantakes, DEC spokesman, said. “The number of licenses are up about 7,000 statewide to over 700,000.”
In Sullivan County, one hunter shot himself in the foot with a .270 Weatherby rifle when he pushed the gun against his boot as he was standing up.
The gun accidentally discharged, injuring the man’s foot. He walked out of the woods were he was taken to Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris for treatment.
The man, 40-year-old Salvatore Ruggeri of Brooklyn, reportedly lost the middle toe of his right foot in the incident.