Some of my fondest memories as a kid are of the summer weekend picnics our family took to a favorite picnic grove along the Big Bear Creek in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. After arrival, my father set up a folding picnic table then placed the cooler of food my mother packed in a shady spot under a large hemlock tree. If memory serves, the cooler was a green…
Rummaging through a storage closet a few days ago I came upon the backpacking tent I frequently used on our overnight canoe trips down the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers. Back in the day, the Eureka tent company held an annual tent sale where they sold tent “seconds” at really cheap prices. My friends and I never missed it. At one sale I bought a two-person backpacking…
A non-professional bass fisherman’s opinion on the three best artificial lures for catching bass under difficult conditions.
Turkey season is over, and hunters will put away their calls, clean their guns and hang up their camo clothing. But there’s one more thing to do before calling it a season. Unfortunately, it’s a chore many hunters forget about. When it comes to outdoor equipment, hunting boots get little respect. We would never consider putting a gun away wet…
Ask any turkey hunter what’s the toughest turkey to hunt and you’ll most likely get a variety of answers. Nobody’s asked, but I’ll volunteer my opinion anyway. For me it’s the strutting tom in a field. Turkeys are likely to be seen in farm fields or other open areas for a number of reasons. First, on warm days there are plenty…
And toe tracks along muddy trails or other soft areas can be good indicators of turkeys, as well as fresh droppings, and they’re just as good as a gobble for betraying silent toms.
Quick now, if I ask which animals cause the most deaths in North America every year, what would you say? If you guessed bears, coyotes, mountain lions or wolves, you’d be wrong. I was surprised to learn that according to researchers at Stanford University, it’s farm animals. Not only that, the study reported people who are afraid of being bitten…
New York’s trout season opens April 1. This may pose a problem because April 1 is also Easter Sunday. Nevertheless, there are bound to be those diehards who will find a way to get out on the water. Early-season anglers are likely to find streams running high, but they can improve their chance of success by fishing deep and slow. Where…
Individually, we may not have much of an impact, but collectively, we can do something positive to help our waterways recover.
Ornithologists tell us birds only get about 20 percent of their food needs from backyard feeders, but these feeders can be very important during periods of extreme cold or when ice covers food sources.
Effort a half-century ago was a labor of love.
Like it or not, crossbows are here to stay, and more New York hunters are hunting with them every year. We talked to several archery pro shop owners about what new-to-the-sport crossbow buyers are looking for and just about all of them said price. It seems customers looking to buy their first crossbow don’t know very much about the type…
When the end of September nears, it’s a good feeling knowing where everything for the upcoming season is located and that I can get ready without forgetting anything.
In New York, it’s management of mute swans that’s causing a stir.
Remember, deer meat doesn’t taste “gamey.” Heat and improper field dressing of the animal will only make it taste that way.
A few years ago, a friend asked me whether I shoot standing up or sitting down while bowhunting. “Standing,” I replied. “Why don’t you sit; it’s a lot more comfortable,” he said. Actually, I never thought about it. Truth be known, I’ve never really stood while perched in a tree; I leaned. Years ago, a friend made me a small…
The number of deer I’ve seen so far has been minimal and I’ve yet to see a good buck, but November is almost here, and I’m counting on that to change.
In the deer woods, the trail camera doesn’t lie.
Resorting to catching crabs in traps – and with turkey necks.
Setting a trap to deal with a nuisance wildlife problem is the easy part; dealing with what happens after the trap door closes can be more than what most homeowners bargain for. When faced with having to deal with nuisance wildlife, it may be better to let a professional handle it.
Ethical hunting is defined as abiding by the rules, taking only appropriate shots, respect for the game being hunted and respect for the rights of fellow sportsmen. These are the values we should be teaching any youngster in our tutelage. Sadly, this isn’t always the case.
Numerous products now available to aid in both keeping ticks away and tick removal.
No luck with either for the author in 2017 seasons.
Today, fishermen have a choice of many high-quality braided or fluorocarbon fishing lines that are stronger, more durable and don’t abrade as easily as mono.
Sometime in the late 1970s or ’80s the weeds began to get thicker and the rocky shoals where we found walleyes were now engulfed in thick weeds. This had to impact the walleyes spawning in the lake and it began to show. However, more than weeds, it seemed crappies began to proliferate at an astounding rate.
I’ve encountered them before, but not often. A few years back, after an evening archery hunt, I found one slowly making its way along the ground, and because porcupines walk flat-footed and slow, I had an excellent opportunity for a close-up look at the animal.
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