Steve Featherstone

Syracuse

Freelance Contributor at Freelance

Outdoors Reporter at The Post-Standard

Guy who knows a guy who knows more about that thing. @NewhouseSU @NYTMag @NewRepublic @Harpers @GrantaMag @PopSci @SciAm @Slate @TheBafflerMag @BestAmEssays

Articles

NY crossbow bill flies through legislature, lands on Hochul’s desk

1 week ago | thedailynewsonline.com | Steve Featherstone

New York’s crossbow hunters are celebrating after the state legislature approved a bill Tuesday permitting the use of crossbows for taking big game in any area longbows are allowed. The state legislature demonstrated overwhelming support, with the Senate passing the bill with a vote of 57 to 2. The Assembly reportedly passed the bill on June 17 with a unanimous vote, though an official tally has not yet been released.
Wayward wallaby is located but evades capture in Upstate NY

1 week ago | syracuse.com | Steve Featherstone

Capturing a wallaby is hard work. Mac the wayward wallaby, who escaped Sunday, was located late Wednesday night half a mile from her Oswego County home at G&G Animals. A thermal drone was used to locate her, but Mac was always one hop ahead of her pursuers on the ground. “We got her, we spotted her, but we didn’t get to catch her,” said Dan Oostdyk, owner of G&G Animals. “Within the three hours of trying to catch her, she really didn’t go anywhere,” he said.
NY crossbow bill flies through legislature, lands on Hochul’s desk

1 week ago | syracuse.com | Steve Featherstone

New York’s crossbow hunters are celebrating after the state legislature approved a bill Tuesday permitting the use of crossbows for taking big game in any area longbows are allowed. The state legislature demonstrated overwhelming support, with the Senate passing the bill with a vote of 57 to 2. The Assembly reportedly passed the bill on June 17 with a unanimous vote, though an official tally has not yet been released.
NY’s aging fish hatcheries will undergo $100 million overhaul

1 week ago | syracuse.com | Steve Featherstone

New York State’s aging fish hatchery system will undergo a $100 million overhaul in the next few years, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The funding supports the first of three phases planned for all 12 of DEC’s hatcheries across the state, including Oneida Hatchery in Constantia, Salmon River Fish Hatchery in Altmar, and South Otselic Hatchery in Chenango County.
WATCH: SUNY Oswego students unravel the mysteries of thundersnow

1 week ago | thedailynewsonline.com | Steve Featherstone

If you’ve lived through more than one upstate New York winter, the term “lake effect snowstorm” is permanently part of your vocabulary. But the region is home to another weird winter weather phenomenon that occurs when lake effect snow combines with lightning storms. kAm%9F?56CD?@H[ :E’D 42==65[ 2?5 62DE6C? {2<6 ~?E2C:@ :D @?6 @7 E96 36DE A=246D :?
Help find Upstate NY’s runaway wallaby

1 week ago | syracuse.com | Steve Featherstone

A wallaby named Mac is on the loose in Oswego County after escaping its home at G&G Animals on Sunday. Dan Oostdyk, owner of G&G Animals, is asking anyone who sees Mac to call 315-326-1434. G&G Animals is a nonprofit wildlife sanctuary and rehabilitation center located near the intersection of NY State Route 104 and Tug Hill Rd.Mac was spotted earlier this morning, between Oswego High School and Fajita Grill, said Oostdyk.
SUNY Oswego students unravel the mysteries of thundersnow

1 week ago | nny360.com | Steve Featherstone

If you’ve lived through more than one upstate New York winter, the term “lake effect snowstorm” is permanently part of your vocabulary. But the region is home to another weird winter weather phenomenon that occurs when lake effect snow combines with lightning storms. Thundersnow, it’s called, and eastern Lake Ontario is one of the best places in the world to experience it, according to Scott Steiger, professor of meteorology at the State University of New York at Oswego. Why here?
Liverpool angler lands behemoth carp after epic battle on B-ville bridge

1 week ago | syracuse.com | Steve Featherstone

If you’ve driven over the bridge in Baldwinsville recently, there’s a good chance you passed a guy standing at the rail holding a nine-foot fishing rod. That guy is Nicholas Deapo, 26, of Liverpool, and he’s been fishing for Seneca River carp on that bridge since he was in high school. Last month, Deapo caught his personal best: a 36.5-inch, 40-lb. whopper of a carp on a 3/0 circle hook—which Deapo prefers for humane catch and release—baited with canned corn.
As New York’s boating season gets underway, boaters must now carry safety certificate

1 week ago | nny360.com | Steve Featherstone

With recreational boating season finally underway in Northern New York, boat operators need to be certified under Brianna’s Law, which took effect in January. Brianna’s Law requires all operators of motorized vessels, including personal watercraft, to carry a boater safety certification card with them. The card certifies that operators have completed the New York Safe Boating Course, which teaches basic boating skills and encourages common sense and courtesy on the water.
Bass season opens tomorrow: land a lunker with these pro tips

2 weeks ago | syracuse.com | Steve Featherstone

New York state’s 2025 regular bass season opens tomorrow, June 15 and runs through Nov. 30. There’s also a catch-and-release season from Dec. 1 through June 14. Smallmouth and largemouth bass—collectively known as black bass—are the state’s most popular and widespread freshwater sportfish. They can be caught just about anywhere, from boat or shore, shallow or deep, and on a wide variety of bait.