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Outdoors

Sankey joins state Game Commission board

Two vacancies on the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners were filled recently when Haley J. Sankey, of Tyrone, Blair County, and Allen J. Di Marco, of Allenwood, Lycoming County were appointed to serve. Sankey was selected from District 4, which includes Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Fulton, Huntingdon and Somerset counties. This position was left vacant when former Game Commissioner Timothy S. Layton’s term expired. Di Marco was selected from District 5, which includes Bradford, Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Sullivan, Tioga and Union counties. This position was left ...

Wondering if non-residents should pay more to hunt, fish

By Walt Young sports@altoonamirror.com For my first column of 2022, my theme will be a rhetorical question that occurred to me earlier in 2021 in what was another bizarre year. By definition, a rhetorical question is one that is posed to produce thought regarding a subject and does not require an answer. And although the topic of the question is probably somewhat controversial, it is to my intention to provoke letters or emails about it. For that reason, I will offer the two most obvious answers before I reveal the question. They are: “It’s all about the money” and ...

PGC offering up studies on predators in the wilderness

By Shirley Grenoble sports@altoonamirror.com The day after Christmas, deer hunters should have a fairly good season, since the weather forecasts are far more favorable to hunting than the unrelenting snow and cold we had during the rifle deer season. The constant wind and cold, at least where I hunted, discouraged many hunters from spending as much time hunting as they usually would. In the mountainous areas, there should be a good tracking snow in most places and temperatures that don’t freeze your bones. I’m sure the ugly weather of regular season spared many deer so those who ...

Winter doesn’t always paint a pretty picture

By Shirley Grenoble sports@altoonamirror.com For wild creatures, these next months are simply an ugly struggle for survival. Bad snowstorms,which I suppose will be coming upon us any day now, make life and survival difficult for them than for us. The pretty deer we admired last summer, that were standing in the middle of a far-off field grazing on clover will soon be yarded-up in the snow somewhere just trying to survive. Most will be hungry. Their food is buried under huge snow banks or ice that they cannot dig through. You don’t navigate the outdoor world long before you see ...

Hunting opportunities abound this time of year

By Walt Young sports@altoonamirror.com With the regular deer season for 2021 now completed, hunters can now turn their attention to a full slate of wintertime hunting opportunities. The late small-game hunting seasons for ruffed grouse, rabbits, pheasants and squirrels are already underway and continue through Dec. 24. After the Christmas weekend hiatus, the seasons for rabbits, pheasants and squirrels extend until February 28. Due to severely decreased grouse numbers throughout the state, grouse hunting does not continue after Christmas. To bolster late-season pheasant hunting ...

There are rules to follow involving venison and beef

The question I get asked most often is without doubt whether or not I actually eat what I bag during hunting seasons. After I assure everyone that I most certainly do — it actually comprises a large part of my diet — the next question always is: how do you cook wild meat? Beef and venison recipes are interchangeable. However, how you like your beef cooked is the way to cook venison with one exception. Venison is not marbled with fat as is beef. Therefore, venison must not be cooked as long as beef. No doubt the biggest reason why people tell me their venison was tough is that ...