Syracuse.com - Ask the Outdoors Guy: Given three choices, which firearm should be used to hunt deer in a rifle zone?

[HuntingNY-News]

Other readers wanted to know why the Nine Mile aqueduct was recently drained and what's going on with the building of "dirt bridge" over Nine Mile Creek

I pose with a buck taken last fall with my father's Ithaca Deerslayer 12-gauge shotgun.Nancy Neiley photo 

Readers are constantly asking me questions concerning the outdoors on subjects ranging from birding to bear hunting.

Questions this week came from a man who can't decide what firearm to use this fall to hunt deer in a rifle zone, an angler who's concerned about the Nine Mile aqueduct being drained and a man wondering about work taking place on Nine Mile Creek.

1). Question: "This season I plan on deer hunting in a rifle zone for the first time in about 15 years. I usually hunt shotgun in the Central New York area. I have three choices for a gun and am having a really hard time choosing one to hunt with this year. All three guns I shoot often and they shoot well. My choices are: a Mossberg 500A 12 gauge; a Remington Woodmaster Model 742 Carbine .308 or a Remington Woodmaster Model 740 30.06. The .308 and the 30.06 were both manufactured around 1960. The Mossberg is only a few years old. I am somewhat partial to the .308 due to the fact that it was my grandfather's gun, and by hunting with it I feel I am in way honoring him. What are your thoughts?

-Chris Coccia, of Baldwinsville

Answer: It's tough to say. There's some missing information. You don't mention what kind of bullets you're using, the type of action on these firearms -- or whether they have scopes or iron sights. I shared your question with several friends who are knowledgeable about firearms. The Mossberg is good out to about 100 yards, they said. As for the rifles, in the hands of an accomplished shooter, the range increases out to about 300 yards. The two rifles are quite similar in performance, I was told. They have similar bullet weights and diameters. But that said, all three of these firearms are more than capable of bringing down a deer. And from a hunter's standpoint, shot placement is the key. Chris, you mention all the guns shoot well and you shoot them often. It comes down to a subjective thing. Personally, I'm sentimental and like the idea of using your grandfathers' gun. But that's me. I'd like to hear what other readers say about this.

2). Question: "I have been fishing the Erie Canal at the Nine Mile aqueduct for the last few years and today when i got there the canal was drained. All of the fish were held up the in few pools of water that were deep enough for them to fit. I'm assuming this was done to kill of the algae bloom, but at what point do the powers that be just choose to do this and possible kill off all of the fish? It's my understanding that the same type of thing was done out at Gillie lake and they killed off most of the bass that were in the pond. I'm hoping this doesn't happen here as well. Any info you can share would be great."

- Brad C. Stalter, of Syracuse

Answer: I chatted with Eric Bacon, director of parks and recreation for the town of Camillus, which oversees both the aqueduct and Gillie Lake. Bacon said the aqueduct is "occasionally taken down for maintenance.

"This will be temporary," he said. "We want to keep water in the canal, to keep it wet. "

He explained the most recent drainage was prompted by some leakage in the northeast corner of the aqueduct. 'We hope to address that," he said.

"We're the parks department. We want people to recreate -- to use and fish in the canal," he said.

As for Gillie Lake, he said the parks department takes it down every year "on or about Nov. 1" He said it helps keep aquatic weeds in the 77 ½- acre lake in check. One of the positive effects of doing this, he added, is that the swimming area has "really been cleaned up."

Bacon said a couple of years ago, the water level "went down further than we had hoped. We lost some fish, but not a ton of fish.

"After that, we've been monitoring things closer," he said.

Bacon said he was unaware of a large fish kill involving bass in Gillie Lake, added he didn't know if any bass were in there. He said the primary species in the lake is gold fish, and that in recent years the lake has been stocked with trout.

3). Question: "Recently I was merging onto 690 West from 695 over by the fairgrounds and noticed something odd. It seems like the construction workers have dumped dirt into nine mile creek to drive their vehicles on. I know that they are developing trails over by the creek and I assume that these "dirt bridges" are a part of that. But wouldn't dumping all that dirt into the creek pose some kind of threat to the wildlife? And disrupt the flow of the creek? Any information you could share with me on this would great."

- John Brusa, of Solvay

Answer: The dirt bridges are part of the remediation of Nine Mile Creek. The work is being overseen by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to ensure there's no water quality issues, according to the DEC.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog