Outdoors category, Page 12
How to fish for free – no license required – in Pennsylvania this weekend
Sunday, May 30, is the first of 2 Fish-for-Free Days in Pennsylvania this year. The second will be Sunday, July 4. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission annually designates a couple days during holiday weekends when anyone may legally fish in Pennsylvania without buying a fishing license or trout/salmon permit....
Pa. wildlife officials swamped with callers who have picked up or taken in wild animals
Wildlife centers and the Pennsylvania Game Commission say they have been deluged with calls from people who have picked up wild animals, often in an attempt to help them. Game Commission spokesman Seth Mesoras said the agency has received a number of calls from people who tried to take in...
Cheswick hunter nails triple trophy for big game
Nathan Sipes of Cheswick not only bagged three big-game animals during the 2020-21 hunting season, but he also nailed two of them on Sundays. Sipes, 24, has been hunting since he was 11. Like many hunters, he never had such a sensational season. He harvested an eight-point buck in Upper...
Erie bait shop owner reels in record-breaking yellow perch
An Erie angler caught the heaviest yellow perch on record in the state, according to an announcement Friday by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Kirk Rudzinski, 63, of Erie, landed the record-breaking perch on April 9 in Lake Erie, Harborcreek Township, Erie County, near the Brevillier Village high-rise. The...
Laughlintown man earns local chapter of Trout Unlimited’s highest award
When Monty Murty returned to Westmoreland County after retiring from careers in the Army and as a business consultant in Washington, D.C., he rekindled his love of trout fishing and became more active in the local Trout Unlimited chapter. “In particular, I love fly-fishing,” said Murty, now 76. “I began...
Washington County hunter bags turkey in 49 states to fulfill U.S. Super Slam
A Pennsylvania hunter has completed one of the most challenging goals in turkey hunting. Travis Thompson of Bulger, Washington County — formerly of Davidsville, Somerset County — has harvested a mature gobbler in 49 states. The accomplishment is what the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) calls the U.S. Super Slam....
More deer hunting opportunities will lower spread of CWD in Pennsylvania
To reduce the spread of chronic wasting disease in deer, the number of deer in an infected area must be reduced. That’s one of the takeaways Wednesday from the first of five virtual meetings to discuss the fatal disease in deer and elk. The National Deer Association, in conjunction with...
Paddling sojourn on Conemaugh, Kiski rivers returns after pandemic hiatusVideo
Paddlers will have an opportunity to explore the “Past, Present and Future” of a key local waterway when the Stony-Kiski-Conemaugh Rivers Sojourn returns on June 3-6, after last year’s cancellation because of covid-19 pandemic concerns. The 44-mile float downstream from Johnstown to Apollo, on mostly flat water, is appropriate for...
Grand Canyon opens lottery for shooting bison in the park
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The National Park Service is opening a rare opportunity for skilled shooters to help reduce the number of bison roaming the far reaches of northern Arizona. Come Monday, potential volunteers will have 48 hours to submit an application to kill the massive animals at Grand Canyon National...
240-pound fish, age 100, caught in Detroit River
Now that’s a whopper — a very old whopper! A 240-pound sturgeon that could be more than 100 years old was caught last week in the Detroit River by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The “real life river monster” was nearly 7 feet long, the agency said Friday on...
Fishing activity increases as temperatures warm in Monroeville
Tony Borelle, 63, of North Versailles took advantage of warm, sunny weather on an April day to fish along Turtle Creek in Monroeville. The retiree says he spends a lot of time fishing for trout in the creek. On this particular day, he hadn’t caught anything but remained hopeful as...
Gypsy moth spraying set for gamelands in eastern Westmoreland
Parts of a 2,472-acre piece of game lands in eastern Westmoreland County likely will be sprayed sometime between the middle-to-the-end of next week to prevent the infestation of leaf-eating gypsy moths, which damage trees and impact wildlife habitat, the state said Monday. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is targeting blocks of...
Study: Fungal disease killing over 90% of 3 bat species in Pa., elsewhere
Southwestern Pennsylvania bats were part of a new large national study that flagged a die-off nationally of more than 90% of certain bats in less than 10 years. The bats in question are the northern long-eared, little brown and tri-colored bats. Researchers also found declines in Indiana bat and big...
Pa.’s spring turkey hunt: Here’s what you need to know
It’s almost turkey-hunting time in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania’s spring turkey season kicks off Saturday with a one-day youth hunt open to junior license holders and mentored hunters under 16 years old. Then on May 1, the statewide spring gobbler season opens and runs until May 31. It is Pennsylvania’s only springtime...
New GAP trail marker installed in Cumberland, Md.
Travelers on the Great Allegheny Passage will see a new marker at the start or end of their journey on the 150-mile trail that goes through Southwestern Pennsylvania. The Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy on Wednesday unveiled a 48-inch granite medallion set in the ground at Mile 0 in Cumberland, Md.,...
Pa. Game Commission approves 2-week deer season, bans rifles from turkey hunts
HARRIBURG — The Pennsylvania Game Commission has approved concurrent hunting for antlered and antlerless deer through the duration of the 2021-22 firearms deer season. LNP newspaper reports that commission members acknowledged at their spring meeting Saturday that much of the feedback received since the two-week deer season was proposed in...
Black bear spotted in Pittsburgh’s Mt. Washington, Overbrook neighborhoodsVideo
A black bear was spotted several times early Wednesday in Pittsburgh, authorities said. Officers in Zone 3, which covers a swath of Pittsburgh’s southern neighborhoods, responded to several sightings of a bear early Wednesday morning, said spokeswoman Cara Cruz. Cruz said officers spotted a bear on Groveland Street in Overbrook...
Support sought for purchase of Brilliant Line rail corridor for bike/ped trail from Aspinwall to Pittsburgh’s East End
Residents from Sharpsburg to Pittsburgh’s East End could be connected by a four-mile bike/pedestrian corridor that would provide access to fitness, recreation, shopping and dining in a project that’s expected to cost nearly $14 million. Allegheny Valley Railroad has agreed to sell the Brilliant Line to Aspinwall Riverfront Park. The...
Trout season gets off to a chilly startVideo
For several of the folks casting lines the first day of trout season Saturday on the chilly shores of the lake at Northmoreland Park, the efficient work of a passing osprey accounted for much of the early morning excitement. “I think that osprey was the only one to catch a...
McCandless mulling organized archery hunt to help reduce town’s prolific deer populationVideo
McCandless council is mulling whether to move forward with the second phase of its program to curtail the deer population — an organized archery hunt. Following recommendations from state game officials and other experts in deer population management, council in March enacted a ban on residents purposely placing food out...
Pennsylvania Game Commission says 2020-21 deer harvest surpassed previous year
Pennsylvania hunters killed an estimated 435,180 deer during the 2020-21 hunting seasons, the state game commission announced Friday. That topped the previous license year’s harvest of 389,431 by about 12%, the agency reported. In the past 21 years, since 1993, the state’s hunters have harvested more than 400,000 deer in...
Last chance for skiers as Seven Springs plans to open for final run of season
Area skiers whose appetite for one last ski run were whetted by Thursday’s snowfall will get their chance this weekend at Seven Springs Mountain Resort, the area’s only area slope still open for the season. The Somerset County resort, which is closed weekdays, plans to reopen Saturday. Briefly. “Saturday is...
Scientists: Grizzlies expand turf but still need protection
BILLINGS, Mont. — Grizzly bears are slowly expanding the turf where they roam in parts of the northern Rocky Mountains but need continued protections, according to government scientists who concluded that no other areas of the country would be suitable for reintroducing the fearsome predators. The Fish and Wildlife Service...
Ligonier area dam removed; trout stream to be restoredVideo
A 1940s-era reservoir that once held close to 7 million gallons of drinking water for the Ligonier-Laughlintown areas is empty. A New Kensington company is removing the dam — a project that eventually will allow the stream that fed the reservoir to be rechanneled so it flows freely into a...
Great Allegheny Passage, named 20 years ago, continues to grow in popularity, importanceVideo
The task of naming the network of trails stretching from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, Md., was brought up at an initial planning meeting in the mid-1990s. Ideas were thrown out. But naming something that didn’t yet exist took a backseat to the actual work, Linda McKenna Boxx said. “Let’s see if...
