Saturday, June 13th, 2026

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Saturday, June 13th, 2026

Breaking News for

Sportsmen Since 1968

Jeff Mulhollem

Notes off a soiled cuff: Reader offers an interesting reason for Pa. leading the country in deer/vehicle collisions

Driving home from a great nephew’s birthday party recently – deep in thought, pondering what I might write this column about – a big doe burst from brush alongside a highway near my home and bounded across the road 10 yards in front of me.
I instinctively braked, but I was going too fast to avoid hitting the buck I believed was chasing her. Fortunately, he never materialized. Still, it was a close call, and I thought about what a hassle it is to hit an adult deer these days, and what that doe would have done to the sensors and awesome electronic safety system I value so much in my kinda new van.

Notes off a soiled cuff: Reader offers an interesting reason for Pa. leading the country in deer/vehicle collisions Read More »

Notes off a soiled cuff: Unfinished business for sportsmen as Pennsylvania legislative session winds down

As this legislative session comes to an end in Harrisburg with two final days for voting by the Senate Nov. 13-14, there is some important unfinished business for outdoor sportsmen. But at this writing, there is no way to know whether lawmakers will complete it. First, there is Senate Bill 67, that would lift the ban on Sunday hunting and allow the Game Commission to schedule as many Sundays for hunting as the agency wants.

Notes off a soiled cuff: Unfinished business for sportsmen as Pennsylvania legislative session winds down Read More »

Invasive flathead catfish are impacting the food chain in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River

Flathead catfish – native to the Mississippi River basin – were first detected in the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania in 2002, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
In the two decades since then, the invasive species has spread throughout the river basin. The impact of the large predator on the waterway’s food webs and ecology was unknown, but now a research team is beginning to understand what Susquehanna flatheads are eating and how their presence is affecting native aquatic species in the river.

Invasive flathead catfish are impacting the food chain in Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River Read More »

Notes off a soiled cuff: Time ticking to lift Sunday hunting ban in Pennsylvania this session

Just before this issue went to press, the House Game and Fisheries Committee voted to move a bill that would lift the prohibition on Sunday hunting in Pennsylvania to the House floor for a vote. During a lengthy meeting, committee members voted to pass Senate Bill 67, which gives the Game Commission the authority to institute Sunday hunting on any dates it wants to.

Notes off a soiled cuff: Time ticking to lift Sunday hunting ban in Pennsylvania this session Read More »

Notes off a soiled cuff: 50 straight years of canoe trips for Pennsylvania’s Paul Misko an amazing tradition

Way back in August 1974, when Paul Misko started his 50-year unbroken string of annual canoe trips on the Juniata River, the Watergate scandal was peaking. U.S. President Richard Nixon announced his resignation and Vice President Gerald Ford was sworn in as the 38th president. That was a different time, obviously.
When I met Misko in 1980, he owned a hole-in-the-wall bar-restaurant across the street from the Mirror newspaper building in downtown Altoona called the Eureka.

Notes off a soiled cuff: 50 straight years of canoe trips for Pennsylvania’s Paul Misko an amazing tradition Read More »

Notes off a soiled cuff: Why so little talk of forward-facing sonar in Pennsylvania?

Why no talk here? We continue to be surprised that there is no conversation in Pennsylvania about the threat posed to fisheries by anglers using forward-facing sonar like there is in other states.
Mississippi recently lowered its crappie limits because the relatively new fish-finding technology makes anglers so deadly.

Notes off a soiled cuff: Why so little talk of forward-facing sonar in Pennsylvania? Read More »

Study led by Penn State looks at fate of eDNA in streams

A bottle of water sampled from a lake or river can reveal what fish, amphibians, insects and bacteria are present, thanks to environmental DNA – or eDNA – the genetic material shed by organisms.
This way of measuring transforms scientists’ ability to determine the extent of aquatic life in various water bodies, according to a team led by Daniel Allen, associate professor of aquatic ecology at Penn State. The U.S. National Science Foundation awarded Allen and his team, which includes partners at the University of Alabama and the University of North Texas, a $1.95 million, five-year grant to support a project focused on analyzing how eDNA moves in streams across the continent.

Study led by Penn State looks at fate of eDNA in streams Read More »

Notes off a soiled cuff: Story piques curiosity about disappearance of B-25 bomber in Pennsylvania’s Monongahela River

The lede of our story about dredging up tons of junk from Pittsburgh’s rivers made me curious. If you want to know more, read the Heinz History Center’s blog, “The Mystery of Pittsburgh’s ‘Ghost Bomber.’”

It tells the story of a B-25 bomber in 1956 gliding low over what is now Homestead Grays Bridge and making a wheels-up splash landing in the Monongahela River near the Glenwood Bridge in Hays.

Notes off a soiled cuff: Story piques curiosity about disappearance of B-25 bomber in Pennsylvania’s Monongahela River Read More »

Notes off a soiled cuff: All quiet on campaign to reintroduce pine martens in Pennsylvania

We’ve been asked several times recently for an update on the Game Commission’s campaign to reintroduce pine martens in the state. Seems like the commissioners who tabled the motion don’t want to discuss it further.
Perhaps they are respecting the wishes of a clear majority of our readers who don’t want to see another predator released here.

Notes off a soiled cuff: All quiet on campaign to reintroduce pine martens in Pennsylvania Read More »

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