Notes off a soiled cuff: Should Pennsylvania’s youth hunters get a buck season before the regular opener?

A new youth-hunting opportunity would be created in Pennsylvania by a bill Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa, R-Fayette County, introduced last week. Reader reaction to her proposal will be interesting.

House Bill 1915, titled “Inspiring Young Outdoor Enthusiasts Through Early Youth Antlered Hunting Day,” would direct the Game Commission to establish a Youth Antlered Deer Hunting Day (or days) prior to the regular firearms season each year.

“It is extremely important to encourage, educate, and involve our youth in Pennsylvania’s outdoor heritage — including hunting, trapping, and wildlife conservation,” Grimm Krupa said in a memo seeking cosponsors for the bill in early September. “By designating a dedicated day or days for young hunters to pursue antlered deer early in the season, we can provide a unique and memorable introduction to hunting that fosters future generations of responsible sportsmen and women.”

The bill would extend early antlered opportunities and tags to both mentored youth hunters and junior license holders. This would be in addition to the existing youth mentor buck tag available during the regular firearm season.

“As we look ahead to our Commonwealth’s future, we must invest in our children’s connection to the outdoors,” Grimm Krupa said in a memo announcing the bill. “This proposal is about more than hunting – it’s about health, heritage and helping young Pennsylvanians discover a lifelong passion for nature and conservation.”

Read the full memo announcing the bill here.

MORE COVERAGE FROM PENNSYLVANIA OUTDOOR NEWS:

What’s the progress of Pennsylvania’s three newest state parks?

Pittsburgh doubles the number of parks it allows deer hunting in

Utilize a shooting brace to improve your accuracy this fall

* A record-breaking night of bird migration was detected Sept. 25 by BirdCast, a platform devised by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that uses the same weather radar technology behind daily forecasts to track migrating birds.

On its live migration map, BirdCast tracked more than 1.2 billion birds streaming south to their wintering grounds after sunset Sept. 25 – the largest single-night total ever recorded since the collaborative research project began mapping live migrations in 2018.

This surge surpassed the previous milestone of one billion birds, observed in October 2023.

Many of those would have passed over Pennsylvania. What’s it mean … why were so many birds traveling that night? Who knows?

* Awhile back I mentioned here that Gregg Ritz, president and CEO of Thompson/Center Arms, and host and executive producer of Hunt Masters outdoors show, drew one of 16 archery bull tags for a Pennsylvania elk hunt.

Turns out, he took a massive bull on the sixth day of the season, hunting with a compound bow in Elk Hunt Zone 5. The animal had a 6×8 rack. The hunt reportedly will be featured on his TV show.

* One other note about the archery elk hunt … An Oil City teen became the youngest female to get a Pennsylvania bull, according to the Game Commission.

Samantha Bartlett, 14, used her crossbow to harvest a bull Sept. 16. The commission reported while there have been younger hunters to get an elk in Pennsylvania, she is the youngest female to take a bull with archery equipment.

* Over the years many of us have made fall pilgrimages to Oswego County, New York, to fish for salmon in the Salmon River. A word to the wise if you plan to go this year: Inquire about conditions first, due to a growing drought.

Just before this issue’s deadline it was reported that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation took actions to mitigate impacts of unusual low water flows in the river during the annual salmon run, which attracts thousands of anglers. These included delaying the opening of the river’s lower fly-fishing section ahead of the annual run.

The part of the river that is shut down is immediately below the Salmon River Fish Hatchery located just outside of Pulaski.

* Which venison is better, buck or doe? It’s been debated for decades. A story on the National Deer Association’s website, written by Matt Ross, of Saratoga Springs, New York, takes a deep dive into the question.

He concludes that doe meat is better and offers some interesting and perhaps convincing reasons.

* After marveling at the talent of Cumberland County wildlife artist extraordinaire Jerry Putt for decades – he just won his astonishing 15th Pennsylvania Duck Stamp competition. I loved his rationale for not painting overcast, moody, foggy days.

“We have enough of those days in our lives,” he said. “We don’t need to put them on the walls.”