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A fun day turkey hunting with Casalena

A few decades back, when I heard that the Game Commission was going to hire a woman to be the wild turkey biologist for the Commission, I was incredulous. I was at that point still suffering the darts and insults I received almost daily because I was a woman hunter. So I was delighted that the Game Commission would hire a woman — Mary Jo Casalena — and also a bit jealous because I would have loved to have that position, but I was born too many years prior to that announcement for it to become a reality for me. Mentally, I wished her well and hoped I’d meet her one day. I did ...

Nothing like hearing youthful stories about the love of hunting

By Shirley Grenoble sports@altoonamirror.com I barely got the church door open until a report of gobblers bagged the day before on youth day was thrown my way. When I got home, I got a call from a good friend, Connie Mertz of Danville. A fellow outdoor writer, now retired was ecstatic that her grandson had also bagged a nice gobbler. Opening up the youth days for youngsters to be able to hunt was one of the productive programs the Pennsylvania Game Commission features. All the excitement felt this day after opening day is a testimony to that. When this program was announced ...

Memorial Day weekend means Fish-For-Free Day in our state

By Walt Young sports@altoonamirror.com In an effort to help introduce more folks to the sport of fishing here in our state, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission introduced an annual Fish-For-Free Day in 1984. On Fish-For-Free Day, no license is required to fish anywhere in Pennsylvania. A few years later, that program was expanded to two Fish-For-Free Days a year. The specific dates of the Fish-For-Free Days have moved around somewhat since their inception but, in recent years, have settled into one on Memorial Day weekend and the other on the Fourth of July. That means the ...

There’s nothing like getting into fishing kayak

In May of 2006, I headed to Erie, Pennsylvania, for a few days of fishing. The main event on that trip was a walleye charter on Lake Erie, which was a grand success. The next day I met a friend to fish together at Presque Isle State Park. He lived in Erie County and had been coaxing me to try fishing from a kayak with him for a couple of years. Back then, I had no faith that a kayak could be a practical fishing craft and resisted his invitations. But knowing I would have plenty of time on this trip, he refused to take no for an answer, so I relented. My friend brought one of his ...

Gypsy moth gets a name change in the form of … the spongy moth

By Walt Young sports@altoonamirror.com Last month, the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced it’s plans to spray more than 109,000 acres of state game lands to protect the forests from spongy moths. For those who may not have heard of the spongy moth, it might help to know that this invasive pest was known as the gypsy moth until March of last year. This insect, of course, has done extensive damage to hardwood forests, particularly oaks, throughout the Northeast. Spongy moths were first brought to Massachusetts in North America from Europe in 1869 for an experimental ...

Hunters prefer an earlier spring gobbler season

By Shirley Grenoble sports@altoonamirror.com Spring gobbler season opens Saturday with the youth season having already opened up last weekend. Yet many hunters have been voicing their wishes that the spring season would start a week earlier than it currently does. It truly seems that the gobblers and hens have abandoned their romantic notions by then. I support that idea. Like many others, I don’t much enjoy hunting the last week of the four-week season.The foliage is so thick you can’t see or hear well, and it’s pretty tough to get a gobbler in the clear to get a shot by ...