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Outdoors

Time to head north for some elk viewing

Hearing a bull elk bugle in the distance on a crisp autumn morning is a special experience for anyone who appreciates the natural world. The bugle is an eerie high-pitched, nasal squeal that bull elk employ to attract potential mates and establish dominance over rival males. The first time I heard an elk bugle, the shrill sound of it struck me as oddly out of place coming from such a large and magnificent animal. But after having the opportunity to observe and listen to bull elk several times here in Pennsylvania and out west in Yellowstone National Park, their haunting mating call ...

Fall fishing opportunities are on the near horizon

Although the official first day of autumn is still three weeks away, the Labor Day weekend represents the traditional beginning of fall activities for many folks. Some hunting seasons are, in fact already underway with the opening of the dove and early goose seasons on September 1 and squirrel season begins next Saturday, September 9. I’m still trying to adjust to the change in recent years of starting the squirrel season to mid-September. Something about all the green foliage and the many summerlike days this time of year just doesn’t say small-game hunting to me. Hopefully, the ...

Dove, early Canada goose seasons start next week

Scanning the calendar for perspective on this week’s topic, I was mildly stunned to discover that this coming week marks the beginning of September, which is the traditional opening of the dove and early Canada goose seasons. The arrival of those early hunting seasons always seems to catch me a bit off guard. I certainly enjoy bird hunting, but I also love summer and the many outdoor activities it provides. And summer never seems to last long enough to suit me, and that makes it even harder to think about dusting off the shotguns in preparation for another bird-hunting ...

Fishing with live bait long-standing tradition

Like most anglers of my generation, I started my fishing career using live bait. My first catch was a brook trout that gobbled a garden worm on a long-ago first day of trout season. And while my first recollection of catching a bass was a big largemouth that clobbered a topwater lure, most of the bass I caught as a youngster were with minnows, crayfish and even some night crawlers. I always harbored a considerable fascination for artificial lures, even though my youthful angling budget limited the number of them I could acquire. As I got older and had more money to spend on fishing ...

Spinnerbaits are versatile, bass-catching lures

By Walt Young sports@altoonamirror.com Largemouth and smallmouth bass are undoubtedly the most popular freshwater gamefish in North America. It’s also probably safe to say that more lures have been designed to catch them than all other freshwater fish species combined. Like many bass anglers, I have a deep fascination for all types of bass lures. I own many more lures than I could ever hope to fish with, but each season I continue to add to that lifetime accumulation. There’s always some new model or new color that is a “must have” and somehow gets crammed into an ...

Bad start for new doe license system

By Walt Young For the Mirror Back in April when I reported on the new system that had just been approved for the application and sale of antlerless deer licenses, I saw some possible glitches in the process. I refrained from commenting on them at the time because doing away with the mail-in applications to county treasurer offices was long overdue. And hopefully, those potential problems wouldn’t come to pass or only be minimal anyway. Hunting licenses are valid from July 1-June 30 of the following year. Under the previous system, new hunting licenses went on sale on the ...