A California fisherman may have broken records by catching a 10.25-pound canary rockfish
SAN FRANCISCO — A Northern California man caught a plump canary rockfish he says weighed in at 10.25 pounds, likely setting state and world records. Mendocino County fisherman Brendan Walsh, 26, said he caught the fish Tuesday off the coast of Albion, about 150 miles north of San Francisco. Walsh...
Firearms deer hunting season to wrap up in Pennsylvania
The window of opportunity to go hunting for deer in Pennsylvania is quickly shrinking, as firearms deer season closes this Saturday. The Pennsylvania Game Commission reminded hunters to make the most of the final days in the woods. After Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a bill in the summer lifting the...
Hidden Valley, Laurel Mountain resorts set to open Saturday, 1 week after Seven Springs
Hidden Valley and Laurel Mountain ski resorts will open Saturday, one week after Seven Springs Mountain Resort. Somerset County’s Hidden Valley Resort and Westmoreland County’s Laurel Mountain Ski Resort will open at 9 a.m. An opening day celebration — featuring a DJ, complimentary cookies, prizes and giveaways — is slated...
Hunter seriously injured in fall from tree stand in North Buffalo
Emergency crews used a side-by-side rescue vehicle to extract a hunter from a remote section of woods in North Buffalo early Saturday after the hunter suffered a fall from a tree stand. The hunter was then taken to a waiting life-flight helicopter to be transported to a hospital. Jamison Hughes,...
Westmoreland hunters find success in woods on opening day of rifle season
Just before 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Don Henry heard branches cracking near his hunting blinds in the woods near New Alexandria. Henry, 46, of Unity had spooked about a half-dozen doe. “I didn’t have long to shoot,” he said. But Henry managed to fell one of the largest of the group...
Is roadkill legal to eat? The laws vary by state. Here’s what you need to know
In some states, it’s illegal to catch fish with a lasso or hunt wild animals from a moving vehicle. But when it comes to roadkill, the rules are a bit more flexible — depending on the animal and the circumstances. Many states allow certain animals accidentally killed by vehicles to...
Atlantic’s Nicholas Thompson explores life, pain, and purpose in ‘The Running Ground’
When Nicholas Thompson isn’t busy overseeing The Atlantic magazine as CEO, he can often be found running to and from its lower Manhattan offices — or chasing records further afield. In 2019, he ran his fastest marathon in 2:29 and, in 2021, set the American record in the 50K for...
Glamping coming to some Pennsylvania state parks next year
Those looking to enjoy Pennsylvania’s state parks will no longer have to choose between comfort and roughing it. The commonwealth next year will offer glamping — glamorous camping — at eight state parks. The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources will offer “glampsites” at Poe Valley, Hills Creek, Laurel Hill,...
Public welcome at meeting on future of Agan Park, Riddle Run area
The Agan Park Joint Recreation Board and Rachel Carson Trails Conservancy want the public’s thoughts on the future of the Riddle Run woodlands. The two groups plan to hold their first meeting Thursday, Oct. 23, to solicit ideas for potential outdoor recreation opportunities and small-scale development. Riddle Run is small...
Controlled deer hunt expands to 10 Pittsburgh parks; hunters target overgrown herd
Deer found in 10 of Pittsburgh’s parks will be in the sights of 65 bow hunters as the Department of Public Safety expands the city’s controlled management program. The hunt started over the weekend and will continue for the next few months. City officials in 2023 approved the limited hunting...
‘Gear for Deer’ seeks to boost the number of 1st-time hunters
Pennsylvania hunting license sales peaked in the early 1980s. Since then, there have been ebbs and flows, but overall the state has seen a slow, fairly steady decline in the number of licenses issued, according to data from the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Two members of the Youngwood Sportsmen’s Association are...
266 acres added to State Game Lands in Indiana Township
A new 266-acre plot in Indiana Township is set to join State Game Lands 203. The property, located directly adjacent to Emmerling Community Park, hosts about 1 mile of the Rachel Carson Trail near Deer Creek. Initially acquired by the Allegheny Land Trust in March, the plot expands Game Lands...
Pa. Game Commission’s elk cam returns ahead of mating season
A constant livestream in the heart of Pennsylvania’s elk country has restarted as the species begins its mating season, called the elk rut. The Pennsylvania Game Commission announced Friday it had powered up its video and audio stream of an area near Elk State Forest and State Gamelands 311 for...
Deer hunter discovers rare subtropical wood stork in the wilds of Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. — A very rare and apparently very confused subtropical wood stork somehow found its way to the wilds of Wisconsin. A hunter scouting for deer first sighted the bird Sunday in a remote section of the Mud Lake Wildlife Area in Columbia County, about 35 miles northeast of...
Hunters planning more time in the woods after addition of 10 Sundays to hunting season
After the Pennsylvania Game Commission added 10 new Sundays to this year’s hunting season on Monday, local sportsmen say they’re gearing up for more time in the woods come September. The commission voted to instruct its executive director to open up 10 Sundays for hunting starting Sept. 14 and ending...
Sweat bee or corn fly? What’s bugging you if it isn’t a mosquito
The surefire way to know whether it’s a sweat bee or a corn fly buzzing around is if it stings. The halictid bee stings, but the corn fly, also called a hover fly, does not. “They’re mimics of bees, just annoying as all get-out,” said Michael Skvarla, a Penn State...
Game Commission adds 10 Sundays to fall hunting seasons
Pennsylvania hunters can now spend 13 consecutive Sundays in the woods this fall. In a unanimous decision at its Monday meeting, the Pennsylvania Game Commission voted to instruct its executive director to open up 10 Sundays for hunting starting Sept. 14 and ending Dec. 7. That’s in addition to the...
Pennsylvania Game Commission proposes 10 additional Sunday hunting dates for 2025
Hunters could get up to 10 additional Sundays to hunt this fall under a proposal going before the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s board of commissioners on Monday. The new dates are being proposed by the agency after Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a law earlier this month fully repealing the longstanding ban...
Shapiro signs bill lifting ban on Sunday hunting
Hunters across the state soon could find themselves afield — legally — on almost any Sunday. Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday signed a bill that lifts the state’s age-old ban on Sunday hunting, opening the door for the Pennsylvania Game Commission to build hunting seasons that include Sundays. “The Pennsylvania...
State senate approves Sunday hunting; measure moves to House
A state bill that would repeal Pennsylvania’s ban on Sunday hunting is headed to the House for a vote after the Senate passed it Thursday. Allegheny County Sportsmen’s League President Klint Macro said members of the group have been in favor of opening up hunting on Sundays for decades. He...
Pa. Senate approves bill to repeal Sunday hunting ban
A bill to fully repeal Pennsylvania’s ban on Sunday hunting passed the state Senate on Thursday. The proposal, House Bill 1431, gained approval June 11 in the state House of Representatives. However, a provision to allow the use of natural deer urine as an attractant was amended in the Senate...
Trump administration plans to rescind rule blocking logging on national forest lands
SANTA FE, N.M. — The Trump administration plans to rescind a nearly quarter-century-old rule that blocked logging on national forest lands, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Monday. The so-called roadless rule adopted in the last days of Bill Clinton’s presidency in 2001 long has chafed Republican lawmakers, especially in the...
Hunting licenses for 2025-26 season go on sale next week
It’s that time of year again — hunting licenses will go on sale starting next week, the Pennsylvania Game Commission announced. On Monday, hunting and furtaker licenses for the 2025-26 season will be available for purchase. Antlerless deer licenses can be purchased when general license sales open per usual, but...
Midway along the Appalachian Trail, weary thru-hikers find refuge and an ice cream challenge
GARDNERS, Pa. — Sam Cooper had just trekked 7 miles through a rain-sodden stretch of the Appalachian Trail when he sat down outside a little country store in Pennsylvania to take on its ice cream challenge. Nearly 40 minutes and 2,500 calories later, the dairy farmer from Chapel Hill, Tennessee,...
Foresters: Spread of beech tree leaf disease ‘concerning’
Pennsylvania naturalists are keeping an eye on a disease that has been killing beech trees in the eastern U.S. for more than a decade, but has begun spreading more rapidly in the past three years. Beech leaf disease is believed to be caused by a particular type of nematode, which...
