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Ammo shortages could affect hunters

The statewide bear season opens next Saturday, followed by the beginning of the regular deer season the weekend after that. Each of these ranks among the most popular events for many Pennsylvania hunters each year. Having worked in the sporting goods business for many years in my younger days, I well remember lots of busy days in November as hunters lined up to buy every piece of gear imaginable in preparation for the upcoming hunting season, from a pair of gloves to a new rifle or scope. Although I somewhat enjoyed being part of the fray back then, I can’t say I miss those hectic ...

It could be banner black bear season

Statewide, the black bear season opens Nov. 20 and ends Nov. 23, extended seasons for WMU 4D is Nov. 27 to Dec.4, also part of deer season. So this will be a busy, noisy deer and bear season this year. This year could be the best black bear season in Pennsylvania’s history. The Game Commission says that we have at least 550,000 bears in the population, perhaps more. We’ve been hearing this song for quite awhile now. And sure enough some really big bruins have been harvested in recent years. The weather has not been bad so far this year so probably few bears have headed for winter ...

Paddling the Susquehanna something to be experienced

By Ad Crable The Associated Press WRIGHTSVILLE — Summer was fading into autumn as I glided into a labyrinth of wooded and grassy islands and exposed necks of mud — the Conejohela Flats in the lower Susquehanna River. There may be no other place on the Susquehanna that surrounds you by so much nature and history as this compact string of islands, accessible only by boat just off the opposing shores of Lancaster and York counties in Pennsylvania. The Conejohela Flats also are in the middle of the Susquehanna National Heritage Area, one of 55 such sites across the U.S. I was ...

Mother Nature steals big buck

By Brian Broom The Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. — He hadn’t shot a trophy buck in more than a decade, but when a 150-class 8-point stepped out on Oct. 5, Ken McGarrh couldn’t resist. As the deer ran away McGarrh felt good about his shot placement. However, what he didn’t know was a treacherous thunderstorm and the Mississippi River would conspire to take the buck away from him. McGarrh, of Merigold, said he was hunting an area he’d not hunted this season, but weather conditions were good. “I just went and hunted a spot because the wind was right to hunt that ...

Small window for turkey hunts

This week will be a busy one for hunters. Fall turkey season opens Saturday and runs one week until Nov. 6. That is a much shorter season than we are used to. Perhaps that is because of the reported decline in the turkey population in the last couple years. Many other management areas have longer open seasons this year than we have in 4D, so check it out in your hunting digest. Hunting turkey can be a different and harder pursuit the second week. The flocks of hens and young that most hunters ran into in the early part of the season have become educated by all the scattering and ...

Fall foliage happening later this year

By Walt Young For the Mirror One undeniable truth I’ve learned during a lifetime of work and recreation in the outdoors is that the natural world does not adhere to the same rigid calendar we humans use to track the course of a year. Nature operates by its own calendar. Even though so many natural events occur routinely every year, attempting to assign a specific day to some annual occurrences will almost always be wrong one way or the other. Just ask any fly-fisherman who tries to predict when a certain species of mayfly will hatch on his favorite trout stream. Despite the ...