There are a raft of season openings in October. The southern zone early big game bow hunting season opened Oct. 1, as did the ruffed grouse season in the southern and western zones; the statewide woodcock season also opened Oct. 1 and so did the statewide cottontail rabbit season, the varying hare season in the northern zone, the pheasant season in the northern and southern zones, and the fall turkey season in the southern and northern zones.

To complete the picture, the big game muzzleloader season opens in the northern zone Oct. 13, and the northern zone regular big game season opens Oct. 20.

AUTUMN IS HERE

Saturday, Sept. 22, was the first official day of autumn. After checking the weather reports I took the following day off from everything I had planned and my wife and I headed north for the day.

We started out going to Speculator, then Indian Lake for the Moose Fest, then Blue Mountain Lake, Inlet and finally Old Forge before heading south to the Thruway for the drive home. Only time constraints prevented me from retracing my steps and taking Route 30 south again.

The temperature was about 10 degrees colder than it was back home, but still pleasant, though it did rain sporadically (and often quite steadily) beyond Inlet and just about the entire time we were in Old Forge.

CHECKING IT OUT

The reason for our day-long jaunt was to do some leaf-peeping, try out my new single lens reflex camera on foliage and any critters that wandered within range, and, more importantly, escape, at least for a day, those pesky autumn chores. We also hoped to take a few short hikes, but the sporadic rain put an end to that.

However, we did help keep five counties a tad “greener” by spending money in each one: Montgomery, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer and Oneida. As for critters, I saw a big flock of turkeys on the side of Route 30 just past Speculator, no doubt picking up grit off the roadside. Then I saw a lone doe between Blue Mountain Lake and Inlet, and a goodly number of other whitetails in and around Old Forge. The ones in Old Forge were literally “in” Old Forge, walking around one of the parking lots.

READY FOR DEER SEASON

My new camera worked fine and is now ready to be put in my backpack for my first deer-hunting jaunt of the season later this month. Actually, I take very few SLR photos during my deer hunting trips, preferring instead the ease and compactness of a point and shoot camera. I save the SLR for times when I have some control over subject matter and location.

As long as we’re on that subject, about a year ago I published some hints for taking good, publishable photos. This might be a good time to repeat those tips.

GOOD GAME PHOTOS

Loads of deer and bear photos will soon begin arriving in my email or snail-mail. There isn’t room to print all of them so it becomes a case of “survival of the fittest.”

In other words, only the better photos will have any chance of appearing in any publication, and they may not necessarily be of the biggest buck or bear. Here are some easy tips to increase your chances of seeing your photo in print.

1. Choose your background carefully. Photos taken in trucks or on game poles rarely turn out well. Take some time to  “set up” your shot and look for a background that’s appropriate for that type of photo, preferably with no buildings, vehicles or other distractions. Red sumacs, yellow cornfields or spruce trees covered with snow are usually good backdrops for buck or bear photos.

2. Make sure the animal is clean. Remove any sign of blood and, if you can, take the photo before you field dress the critter. If you can’t do that, at least face the body cavity away from the camera. Also, don’t have the critter’s tongue hanging out; that makes a very unappealing photo.

3. Take several photos at different angles, preferably at eye level of the person in the photograph. Try to be a tad creative with your photography and keep the sun over your shoulder or back when you’re taking the photo, but avoid shadows. If the sun is high or directly overhead, ask the hunter in the photo to move his or her hat brim back so it doesn’t cast a shadow on their face.

4. Try to include items that tell the story of the hunt. The hunter should be dressed in camo or blaze orange hunting togs, and don’t hesitate to include the weapon used. A professional wildlife photographer once told me every photo should include some red: autumn leaves; a red hat, vest or shirt, etc. It’ll look much better with some red in it for contrast. Try it.

5. Never trash up your photo; no beer or soda cans, lunch bags, gut piles, cigarettes or cigars, etc. Never pose for a photo with a cigar or cigarette hanging off your lip.

6. Getting a good photo of a black bear presents a series of problems; they’re hard to photograph because of their uniformly black color. I’ve taken, and photographed, eight black bears so far and I doubt I’ve taken more than four or five photos I really liked.

In most of them the bruin looks like a black 50-gallon drum with legs. A bruin just doesn’t photograph well, but try putting them on a slight downhill angle and have the hunter kneel behind the critter, helping show the animal’s size. If the bear has a white “blaze” or throat/chest patch, try propping up the head so the patch shows. At least that will provide a bit of contrast.

Take loads of photographs, preferably both with and without flash, and at different angles. At least a few will be good enough for your album and perhaps they’ll even be good enough for publication.

7. Don’t settle for one photo. Take several, or a bunch, both vertical and horizontal and with and without a flash. The more you take, the more apt you are to get at least one that has all the elements you want.