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Outdoors

Permit required for pheasant hunters

HARRISBURG — Even though pheasant production has been trimmed, hunters heading afield this fall might not notice much difference in the number of pheasants they flush. The Game Commission still plans to release about 170,000 pheasants, a modest reduction from the goal of 200,000 pheasants in recent years. And nearly all of those birds are being released on public lands, which have the best hunter access and pheasant habitat, and highest harvest rates. Additionally, with a new, interactive stocking map available at www.pgc. pa.gov, it’s easier than ever for hunters to find out ...

Enter your buck in The Sentinel’s contest – open to archery hunters, too

LEWISTOWN — Hundreds of local hunters will be successful in bagging bucks this year and we look forward to seeing them in The Sentinel’s annual Big Buck Contest. Antlered deer that meet the three-point standard and are killed during the archery season are eligible. Winners will be declared in adult and junior divisions (junior license or mentored youth hunters), with the first-place deer featured on the cover of the Big Buck edition to be published after the traditional rifle season ends. Winners will be rewarded with a gift card. As always, photos of all deer entered in the ...

Chance at Atlantic salmon adds to lure of Salmon River

PULASKI, N.Y. — Back in the early years of the 19th century, Lake Ontario had the greatest population of landlocked Atlantic salmon in the world. So many ran the tributaries each fall to spawn, men could drive horse-drawn wagons into the streams and spear or net a load full. Housewives ...

Five reasons you may come to love fall turkey hunting

Each time I speak to individual hunters or speak in front of a group, the mention of fall turkey hunting gets knowing smiles and cringes of non approval all at the same time. 42 states offer fall hunting opportunities for turkeys and not all hunters who have the opportunity to try fall hunting take advantage of it for a number of opinions and reasons. Which is the center focus of this — if you haven’t tried it, here are five reasons, in order of least to the best, that you may love it: * No bugs: There are no (maybe just a few) ticks or mosquitoes to bother you. If you spring ...

Kayakers embark on 301-mile journey for a cause

BUSHKILL (AP) — When Carolyn Choate was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer in 2003, her tumor had already grown the size of a golf ball. Doctors gave her three years to live. Fourteen years later, Choate is kayaking the Delaware River for a cause that’s close to her heart: ...

Conservationist turns oyster farmer

WILLIAMSPORT — After a collapse in the mollusk population, many — including a few Lycoming County natives — are farming oysters in a new wave of effort to bring back the industry that once was a staple of the Florida coast. Apalachicola Bay is a stretch of about 30 miles on the Florida panhandle that produces 90 percent of Florida’s oysters. It’s there that Williamsport native Deborah Keller has set up an oyster farm she works with others, including another native of the area. With an education in environmental studies, Keller has worked on major fundraising and lobbying ...