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Outdoors

Winter weather presents challenges for wildlife

As one who has always been close to the outdoors and the natural world, the recent bout of harsh winter weather with high winds and cold temperatures brings home the reality of how tough wintertime can be. Forests that just a few months ago were green and lush while hosting a symphony of bird calls now appear mostly stark and deserted, little more than a collection of lonely, bare trees. Fields that hosted countless wildflowers, alive with visiting bees and butterflies, are also now flat and mostly vacant except for a few lonesome stalks of dried weeds waving in the winter wind. ...

Success story

Peyton Sylvester, 12 of Duncansville, recently shot a 6-point buck while hunting with her father, Drew, and grandfather, Don Sylvester. Peyton got the buck hunting at the family’s camp in Robisonville. She is a seventh grade student at Hollidaysburg.

Now comes winter

Winter officially arrives this weekend in the Northern Hemisphere, at 10:03 on Sunday morning to be precise. Known as the winter solstice, it is also the shortest day of the year. Each day from then on will get a little longer until late March when the first day of spring arrives, known as the vernal equinox, when the day and night are the same length. The days continue growing longer until the first day of summer in June, also known as the summer solstice, when the days begin getting shorter again. Although all four seasons of the year are identical in length, winter can often seem ...

Getting through the cold winter

The regular deer season comes to a close this weekend, but because I’m composing this column with several days left in the second week, I can only report I haven’t acquired any venison for the freezer so far. But I plan to be out trying to rectify that situation before time runs out this season. Having snow on the ground for almost all of the first week was enjoyable. One afternoon last week I sat on the side of a steep hollow. I had shot a nice 8-point at that spot a couple of years ago on opening day, so I was hoping for a repeat of that success. No deer happened by on that ...

The first one

Haleigh Coppersmith, 10 of Duncansville, recently got her first bear while hunting with her dad, Kevin Coppersmith. She shot it in the Blue Knob area with a .308. It weighed in at 135 pounds. She has also had successful hunts for turkey and deer.

Saying farewell to an old friend

Last weekend, I attended the memorial service for my longtime friend and colleague Shirley Grenoble who passed away on Oct. 22. She was 90. The past year and a half had not been an easy time for her. In August 2024, her beloved son Mark died from injuries he sustained in an auto accident. ...