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Outdoors

Academy ensures future of conservation lives on in youth

Teddy Roosevelt once said, “I recognize the right and duty of this generation to develop and use the natural resources of our land; but I do not recognize the right to waste them, or to rob, by wasteful use, the generations that come after us.” In Pennsylvania, high school students are being given an opportunity to help ensure and sustain wildlife, fisheries and natural resources in their own legacy for future generations by enrolling and completing the Wildlife Leadership Academy. Michelle Kittell, executive director, explains its goals: “The primary goal of the Wildlife ...

Commisioners set to OK hunting seasons

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners is scheduled to meet April 23 and 24 at the agency’s Harrisburg headquarters, where proposed hunting and trapping seasons for 2018-19 are expected to be approved. Both meetings begin at 8:30 a.m., with doors opening at 7:45 a.m. Individuals interested in offering public testimony — limited to five minutes — can do so at the April 23 meeting, and may register on a first-come, first-to-speak basis. PowerPoint presentations are not permitted during public comment periods. On April 24 the board will take up its prepared ...

Spring gobbler season holds plenty of potential

HARRISBURG — The approach of spring gobbler season has Pennsylvania hunters eager to get afield. That they’ll be participating in the state’s 50th anniversary spring-gobbler hunt further sweetens the pot. Properly licensed junior hunters and mentored youth can head afield April 21 to participate in Pennsylvania’s annual youth spring turkey hunt. A week later, on April 28, all hunters can head into Penn’s Woods in pursuit of spring gobblers. The forecast for the coming season is a statewide turkey population numbering between 210,000 to 220,000 birds, said Mary Jo Casalena, ...

Plenty to consider when buying custom call

I inherited my grandfather’s love for making turkey calls. Anyone who knows me knows that it’s a passion in my life deep rooted in both tradition and legacy. So as we move forward in a society that shifts it course from buying products from large box stores such as Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s and stores of their likeness that outsource their production overseas, we find a market for the local custom call market — items that are hand crafted by rural Americans with blood, sweat and even sometimes tears. Small business deep rooted in that same tradition and legacy that drives me in ...

Bluebird nest boxes help connect with nature, wildlife

HARRISBURG — It’s time to say goodbye to winter and hello to spring. The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Howard Nursery wants to help you spring into the season and connect with wildlife in your backyard. Bluebird nesting boxes built by staff at Howard Nursery are available for sale at the nursery office, as well as the Game Commission’s Harrisburg headquarters, region offices, and the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area. Nesting-box kits also are available. Nursery staff build bluebird and other nesting boxes during the winter for annual sales to the public. A single box ...

Loss of gun rights doesn’t prohibit hunting license

YORK (AP) — In the 1990s, John Wolfe lost the right to carry a gun. But Wolfe bought hunting licenses for many years without running into a problem. Wolfe used a shotgun that he bought when he was about 18 to shoot a nearly 11-inch turkey. Then one December morning in 2014, Wolfe decided to go hunting before work. He got caught by game wardens. A judge found him guilty of illegal gun possession in 2016. He now faces two-and-a-half to five years in state prison. Wolfe’s case points to a loophole in Pennsylvania’s gun laws. Each year, hundreds of thousands of people buy ...