NYS DEC forest ranger report for week of Oct. 12-19, 2025 Forest rangers coordinated a search for amissing 67-year-old hunter from Remsen who failed to return from a day of hunting on Oct. 16. (NYS DEC)

A 67-year-old deer hunter from Remsen was reported missing by his spouse at 10:48 p.m. on Oct. 16 after he failed to return from a day of hunting.

Otsego County requested assistance from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in a search for the missing hunter.

Forest rangers assigned search areas to personnel from the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office, Otsego County Emergency Services, Garratsville Fire Department, Laurens Fire Department, New York State Police, and New York State Park Police.

Search crews combing Gilbert Lake State Park found the missing hunter dead in his tree stand at 3:34 a.m. Rangers used a rope system to help extricate the body and turned it over to the county coroner.

NYS DEC forest ranger report for week of Oct. 12-19, 2025 Rangers last week conducted a prescribed burn on four acres at the Albany Pine Bush. Prescribed fire is an important land management tool used to improve habitat for lands and wildlife. (NYS /NYS DEC) The following reports are excerpted from DEC:

On Oct. 17, rangers, along with DEC staff from the Office of Emergency Management and Divisions of Lands and Forests and Fish and Wildlife, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and Albany Pine Bush staff, conducted a prescribed burn of four acres at the Albany Pine Bush. Prescribed fire is an important land management tool used to improve habitat for lands and wildlife.

A concerned mother from Potsdam called ranger dispatch on the night of Oct. 14 to report her daughter overdue from hiking Mount Marcy, the state’s highest peak. Rangers soon located the 18-year-old’s vehicle at the Mount Van Hoevenberg Complex and then searched the trails from the trailhead to Marcy Dam. At 6 a.m., a ranger found the hiker on the Van Ho Mountain trail in good health but without a light source and escorted her back to her vehicle.

An 86-year-old from Vestal went missing on the afternoon of Oct. 14. Four rangers assisted police the next day, assigning linear searches of nearby roads. A neighbor found the elderly person behind his house calling for help. They had fell into a bush and hurt their back, but wasn’t strong enough to get up or yell loudly enough for searchers to hear.

A 36-year-old from Alpine went missing on the afternoon of Oct. 13. A friend located the person’s car in a parking area on Connecticut Hill Wildlife Management Area. On Oct. 15, rangers joined the Schuyler County Sheriff’s Office, Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office, Amigo Search and Rescue, and 40 volunteers from eight fire departments in the search. On Oct. 17, search crews found the missing person’s body in the WMA’s woods and turned it over to the Tompkins County Coroner’s office.

Three hikers got lost near Mount Van Hoevenberg on the evening of Oct. 21 while attempting to climb Cascade Mountain. Their only light source was their phones. Rangers located the lost hikers and escorted them to the trailhead. While phones can be helpful, batteries often die in the wilderness, which is why rangers always recommend traveling with headlamps and extra batteries.

A 67-year-old from Connecticut became separated from their spouse while hiking back to Adirondak Loj from Mount Marcy on the night of Oct. 17. Rangers located and reunited the coouple shortly after midnight.