Recreational and hunting opportunities increase as soon as Sept. 1 arrives in the North Country, with more to come in October.

The statewide squirrel and crow seasons open Sept. 1 and the ruffed grouse (partridge) season opens Thursday, Sept. 20, but big game hunters aren’t out of the loop either. The early bear season kicks off in the northern zone Saturday, Sept. 15, and the deer and black bear bow hunting seasons open Thursday, Sept. 27.

In October most small game and big game seasons really go into high gear. That doesn’t mean you should put your fishing tackle away just yet, but you’ll certainly be spending less time on the water and more time in the woods.

CROW HUNTING

Back on the subject of crows, some years ago the federal government decreed they are migratory birds and therefore worthy of protection, but against what? Considering the number of crows we have and the fact that their population levels have reached nuisance proportions in many areas of the state, that protection has been a tad too effective.

It has served to not only reduce the number of crow hunters but the number of crows taken by hunters annually as well. I’ll admit to having been an avid crow hunter decades back, but I do very little now, largely because I can no longer just go out and hunt them whenever I want to. I suppose crows have some value, though primarily as roadside scavengers.

NO SEASON NEEDED

The current regulations are tolerable but I can’t see any reason why there needs to even be a season on crows. There never were large numbers of hunters going after crows, just a loyal cadre that pursued the sport quite avidly, and they had little impact on the total number of crows around.

Here in New York state the crow season runs from Sept. 1 to March 31, not coincidentally a time span when many, though not all, crows have already left and headed a bit further south for sunnier, warmer climes. Those that remain have settled into large roosting flocks (called a murder of crows) that are an annoyance to many people and communities.

NO DAILY LIMIT

At least the hunting regulations impose no daily limit on crows, but you can legally hunt them only Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays and you can use a rifle if you choose. Electronic calls are also allowed. I never did use a rifle or electronic call for crows, preferring instead to do it the ol’ fashioned way - a 16-gauge shotgun, a plastic owl decoy and a mouth call to draw the birds.

I was moderately successful, it was fun and a great way to spend quality time outdoors when I didn’t feel like hunting squirrels. The farmers on whose land I hunted were pleased to see a few less crows. At one time there were attempts to elevate crow hunting by having organized crow hunts but the sport never really took off, at least not locally.

AUBURN CROW HUNT

For a number of years the Auburn area hosted an annual crow hunt that drew quite a few hunters from throughout the state. I haven’t heard anything about it in recent years but I suspect it’s still being conducted in some fashion.

I recall it drew a number of protesters as well, apparently people who didn’t mind seeing downtown Auburn populated by massive numbers of crows, over 60,000 was the last figure I saw. I believe one of the organizations dedicated to crow preservation was called Save The Crows.

I attended an October outdoor writers’ conference in that city a few decades ago. The noise made by the resident crow population was deafening every morning and evening and walking downtown was like walking through a minefield. The critters also did a real number on any car left outdoors, including mine.

Ordinarily, parking under a tree is a good idea but not then and not there, since the crows used virtually every tree for a resting or roosting location and any car underneath suffered mightily. I recall having to go to a local car wash three times over the four-day span of the conference. Crow droppings are akin to battery acid in their chemical makeup and results.

Crows may not be as annoying here in the North Country because of the vast amounts of forested land we enjoy, but they sure can be troublesome in rural and suburban areas.