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Outdoors

Don’t overlook your reel’s drag

In a column last month discussing some routine offseason maintenance of fishing equipment, I suggested backing off the drag settings on your fishing reels. At the grocery store last week, I ran into a friend who asked me about my reasoning for that recommendation. I explained it was a practice I adopted decades ago when I was first able to afford some top-quality reels. Back then, the drag systems of certain better models included leather or cork washers that compressed slightly as the drag was tightened. To maintain the resiliency of those components, some manufacturers recommended ...

Venison delicious and good for you

“How do I cook venison? My husband got a deer and I don’t know what to do with it.” This is probably the question most often asked of me, especially immediately following deer season. My answer is always this: “exactly as you do beef, only not as long.” The next question is inevitable. “What do you do about the “wild taste?” This one raises my hackles. Venison has no “wild” taste, it simply has its own taste. Venison does not taste like beef any more than chicken tastes like pork chops. Frankly, I have often — and I do mean often — served venison in the form ...

Wildlife adapted for winter weather

A light coating of snow made it a white Christmas throughout most of our region this year. A blast of frigid Arctic air also brought single-digit temperatures and high winds for some brutally cold weather over the holiday weekend. During such harsh winter conditions, spending an evening on the couch, wrapped in a blanket with a good book or just watching TV, can be a simple and satisfying pleasure. But while enjoying those basic creature comforts, my thoughts often include the plight of the wildlife enduring the hazards of our Pennsylvania winters I think about deer bedded on the ...

It’s tough for wildlife in winter

Area hunters are complaining bitterly about the deer season just past. Even after fresh snow fell in some areas, hunters reported seeing few tracks. The conclusion: the same old one, that there are no deer left anymore. While most of us will spend the next few days surrounded by warmth, food, friends and parties, wildlife is engaged in a hard struggle for survival. The snow and ice storm late this week made life much more difficult for wildlife than for us. The “pretty” deer we admired last summer, that were standing in the middle of a far off field grazing on clover are now holed ...

There are DIY projects in the winter time for anglers

By Walt Young sports@altoonamirror.com With the close of the regular deer season, it often seems like the end of most outdoor activities until the longer, warmer days of springtime. I know, of course, that a fair number of outdoor opportunities exist during the coming weeks. For hunters, the late seasons for small game, ducks and geese are already underway. Varmint hunters can also pursue foxes until February 18, crows until April 9 and coyotes every day year-round. Anglers can look forward to lots of ice-fishing prospects throughout our region once the lakes have frozen to a safe ...

Can’t imagine ever growing tired of the hunting scene

In the past 70 years, since I embarked on my first deer season, a spirit of anticipation grips me in the 36 hours before daylight of the opening morning that I look forward to all year, every year. It’s in my blood folks. I’ve told my friends and family for each of those 65 years that when it is time for me to draw my last breath on earth, I hope I am somewhere in my beloved woods. The visions of big bucks that dance in my head, cooking the vegetable soup, packing all the gear, far more than I will ever use, but will take in case, traveling to deer camp, that drive I so look ...