Predator calling, rescuing adventurers and more outdoor newsVideo
Take a quick look around the outdoors world with a tip, a new piece of gear and more: Tip of the week Just how much time do you spend outdoors? What do you do while out there? What kind of success do you see? Keeping a logbook is a fun...
Pennsylvania rules for tagging deer under discussionVideo
This is one possible rules change sure to get Pennsylvania deer hunters talking. As if any wouldn’t. Pennsylvania Game Commissioners are meeting Jan. 24-25 in Harrisburg. They preliminarily will adopt seasons and bag limits for the 2020-21 hunting and trapping year at that time. One proposal expected to be on...
Study examines the mindset of the American hunterVideo
You are not alone. Not if you’ve got hunting on the brain pretty much all the time. At work, at school, at the dinner table, in the truck, everywhere. Plenty of other folks are dreaming the same dreams and doing so just as often. According to some new research, 51.5...
Glamping a camping trend here to stayVideo
Nessmuk didn’t camp because he liked an occasional bout with misery and woe. Far from it. But he’d probably find this level of comfort shocking. Nessmuk, the pen name for George Washington Sears, was a Massachusetts-born, Pennsylvania-bred outdoorsman. He rose to fame in the mid- to late 1800s, writing for...
12 possible changes for Pennsylvania hunting seasons in 2020-21
This is neither the time to celebrate nor to panic. Not yet. Pennsylvania Game Commissioners won’t give preliminary approval to hunting seasons, or trapping ones, along with bag limits for 2020-21 until their January board meeting. Final approval won’t come until April. That’s five months off. But during a working...
The case for snowflake baskets and more outdoor news
Take a quick look around the outdoors world with a tip, a new piece of gear and more: Tip of the week There’s a reason winter tires exist. They’re specially designed to provide extra grip and traction in seasonal conditions, especially snow. Well, snowflake baskets for trekking poles do the...
First Day Hikes a great way to start the year outdoorsVideo
Chances are, last New Year’s, you resolved to lose weight or exercise more. Or both. How’s that working out? Not too well, if you’re like most people. Resolutions centered on health are, annually, among the top goals people across America set for themselves as they head into the New Year....
A peek inside our annual fishing gift guide
In some houses Christmas sounds like carols or laughter or wrapping paper tearing. Then there are fishing households. In those places, you’re as apt to hear phrases like “be careful casting that in here,” “please don’t hook yourself” and “now I know why they call it stinkbait” as anything else....
Five reasons winter hiking is healthy and fun
The conversation was the same one we have every Thanksgiving. And Christmas. And New Year’s. I looked at my brother across the table. “So,” I said, “what time should I pick you up?” “Pick me up? For what?” he asked. “For hiking. It gets dark sooner now than before, but...
Mentored youth trout program to continue despite complainers
It’s Pennsylvania’s biggest youth fishing outreach program, one that appears popular with its target audience. And yet a small but vocal minority would kill it. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission makes available two mentored youth trout fishing days annually. One is the Saturday before the regional opening day of...
Looking at how leasing might impact hunter access long term
Truly scientific polls are conducted at random. This does not appear to be that, so the results have to be considered in that context. But it’s interesting nonetheless. The survey The American Hunting Lease Association is an organization that connects hunters and landowners, sells lease insurance and generally serves as...
Winter driving advice and more outdoor news
Take a quick look around the outdoors world with a tip, a new piece of gear and more: Tip of the week Enjoying a winter outdoor adventure starts with being able to get where you’re going and, just as importantly, get back home again. That can be difficult when snow...
Late-season squirrel hunting tips for the winter sportsman
This is not the game you might think it is. Mention squirrels to the average hunter, and he or she probably recalls early October days afield, likely as a young hunter, spent sitting under an oak with dad’s old hand-me-down shotgun. Memories of warm sun, bright leaves and almost foolishly...
West Nile Virus not impacting turkeys like other birds
Seeking answers through science is often a process of eliminating variables. Consider this one checked off. Unlike with ruffed grouse and many species of song birds, West Nile Virus is not hurting wild turkey populations. Some first-of-its-kind work begun in Pennsylvania recently revealed that. Biologists with the state’s Game Commission...
KOA project envisions fantastic possibilities for camping of future
It’s undoubtedly true many campers enjoy setting up near the water. But how about under it? In an aquarium-like cabin, where they’re the ones on the inside looking out? Accessible by an underwater hiking trail? That’s one possible future for camping outlined in the “KOA Campground of the Future Project.”...
A look inside our annual adventure gift guide
There’s nothing better than getting outdoors. But, as second choices go, getting to unwrap a new toy that you’ll use outside later isn’t all that bad. So, here’s a chance to treat yourself or be a hero to someone else. We take a look at some new tools sure to...
A look at ancient canoes and kayaks and more outdoor news
Take a quick look around the outdoors world with a tip, a new piece of gear and more: Tip of the week Walking quietly in the woods is a skill that can be learned. How to do it? Take smaller steps and, most importantly, move using what’s known as the...
Blaze pink for hunters spreading, but oh so slowly
If this is ultimately to be a tidal wave, it’s still far from cresting. But maybe that’s how things work. Head into the woods during a big-game hunting season these days and, in more places than not, you’ll see men and women sporting orange clothing. At least 40 states require...
5 fun winter outdoor activities for children
It’s almost inevitable. Chances are this Christmas season someone — maybe even you — will give your children or grandchildren an electronic gift of some kind. And they most likely will love it. But it most likely will keep them inside. That’s OK, to a point. However, if you love...
Purple paint laws expanding across country
In fashion circles, they might explain this by saying purple is the new yellow. Or orange. Or white. Hunters, hikers, paddlers and adventurers of all sorts across the country have long known to look for posted signs before venturing onto what might be private property. Those signs are familiar, colorful...
Examining the ‘orange army’ and more outdoor news
Take a quick look around the outdoors world with a tip, a new piece of gear and more. Tip of the week It’s a simple thing that can make a big difference. If you’re hunting deer from the ground this season, standing at the base of a tree, take a...
A look inside our annual hunting gift guide
They were stumped. The first Christmas after my love of the outdoors took root, my nonsporting parents asked what I wanted under the tree. “Hunting and fishing stuff,” I said. That did nothing to clear things up for them. Maybe you’re in the same situation, unsure what to buy the...
Fly fishing in Japan proves familiar and rewarding
It was unusually spectacular in its familiarity. This was August, and lush seasonal streamside vegetation made casting a fly an occasional challenge. Low water flows and high humidity were constant ones. Still, Eric Hussar found himself working the usual summertime terrestrial patterns every trout fisherman knows — caddis flies, stoneflies...
Forget waiting for them, here’s how to successfully track deer
No one hunts whitetails from a tree stand in Randy Flannery’s world. Not if they hope to actually, you know, see deer. The country is just too big, too remote, too rugged, too vast. Owner of Wilderness Escape Outfitters and a state-certified master guide, he leases 400 square miles —...
Green Lick Lake walleyes struggling, but help coming
This is a story that reveals perspective. Those who are glass-half-full types will see it as evidence the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s walleye stocking program works. Those who fall on the glass-half-empty side of things will see this as a case of good intentions unfulfilled. Maybe it’s a story...
