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Mentor programs may merge

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners gave preliminary approval to a measure that will bridge the mentored youth and mentored adult hunting programs at their meeting Monday. The mentored hunting programs are designed to increase hunter recruitment by providing an opportunity to experience hunting without the requirement to obtain a license. Hunters and furtakers in Pennsylvania can purchase their first licenses at age 12, after successful completion of a Hunter-Trapper Education course. The mentored youth program enables those younger than 12 to participate in ...

Man hikes trail over 226 days

PEABODY, Mass. (AP) — Paul Truesdale once came across a mother bear and three cubs while on a hike with his longtime friend, Frank Palazzi. “They were just sitting there, munching on vegetation, wandering back and forth,” Truesdale said. “I think the mother saw us and she started walking towards us and grunted at a cub. Eventually they wandered off. Just sitting there, watching the bears munch away, it was an incredible thrill, really.” It was just one of several encounters with bears and other wildlife Truesdale, 74, recalls over quest to hike the Appalachian Trail. But ...

Biologist composes stream ‘requiem’ as insects decline

PALMER (AP) — A caddisfly larvae wriggled on Pat Bradt’s steady fingertip as she nudged it onto a white plastic spoon, hoping to get a better look at the critter through the magnifying lens looped around her neck. She was perched on a concrete wall a few feet from the Bushkill Creek on the border of Forks and Palmer townships, the same waterway that the leggy, translucent creature calls home and Bradt, after four decades of researching its underwater insects, has adopted as her own. “This is my stream,” Bradt said, smoothing bug spray on her hairline to fend off the midday ...

Gun ranges big business, especially in Pennsylvania

COOPERSBURG (AP) — Pennsylvania is one of America’s most populous when it comes to gun owners. Almost one in three Pennsylvanians owns a firearm, or 31 percent. So where do they learn how to shoot? (Legally, that is.) I’m under-educated on the gun-owner side of our national debate. So, I persuaded my editors to let me take a gun class, learn gun safety, and understand more about gun culture. On Aug. 4, I took a group class with Ron Flowers, a retired Allentown police officer and professional weapons handling trainer based in Broomall. He and his wife, Kathleen, operate Citizens ...

Visit to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary worth the trip

DREHERSVILLE — Even in the pitch-black darkness of predawn the telltale rumble of crossing railroad tracks and the mist rising off the Schuylkill River indicate to visitors they are just minutes away from reaching their destination. They are winding their way to the top of the Blue Mountain where the visitor center parking lot and hiking trails of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary await them. For visitors living in central Pennsylvania these trips to participate in a sunrise hike requires little effort other than self disciple and dedication. For visitors such as Marissa Hipp, however, ...

September means time for geese

The first day of September always has been circled on my calendar. That date ushers in the official start to my hunting season with the opening of resident goose and dove seasons. For years I counted on a great goose hunt during the opening morning. Farmers cut their fields earlier, geese were plentiful and fellow hunters were few and far between. Back then my free time was also very abundant. Those variables made for a month full of great honker hunts with some afternoon dove adventures mixed in. The last few years, quality goose hunts have been minimal on the first morning. In ...