A Two-For-One Deal!

Phil Rutt of Quarryville, PA shows off his two-for-one catches.

Rutt was fishing a small lake in Bradford County on May 14 when he hooked the small largemouth on the right. As he was reeling in that fish, the bigger largemouth — 24-inches long, 8 pounds — swam out of the depths and inhaled the smaller bass.

Rutt managed to hook the big bass in the lip with the hook that was also stuck in the mouth of the smaller fish, and he landed both.

After a few pictures, both fish were released.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/396414_A-two-for-one-deal.html

Wet Spring Could Hamper Fall Game Bird Hunting

Sunday, May 29, 2011
By Scott Shalaway

The end of summer seems a long way off, but the rain we've received over the last six weeks will affect the success of ground-nesting game birds. This includes ducks, geese, ruffed grouse, turkeys and, to a limited degree because there are so few, bobwhite and ring-necked pheasants.

These birds are particularly susceptible to wet springs because when the ground is saturated, it is difficult to keep eggs dry and warm. When rainfall is normal, hens use their bodies to shield the clutch from rainfall. But when it rains almost every day, chilling moisture seeps into the nest from the ground.

The nesting period for these game birds is fairly lengthy. Hens lay one egg per day and clutch size varies from four or five eggs for geese to 10 or more for bobwhite, grouse, turkeys, ducks and pheasants. Then add an incubation period that ranges from 23 days for bobwhite and grouse to 31 days for turkeys.

Unfortunately, the last month has been very wet. It has certainly been an unusual year and could result in very few successful nests. Game bird numbers could be down this fall.

Fortunately, most ground nesting birds renest if they lose their first attempt. They can recover, but late nests are more vulnerable to predators such as foxes and raccoons that have lots of babies to feed. And second clutches are often smaller than the first clutch.

Game birds have long incubation periods because their young are precocial. When these chicks hatch, they can leave the nest in a matter of hours. Precocial chicks stay with one or both parents for several weeks after hatching, but feed independently within a matter of days. During wet springs, however, even insect populations suffer and young precocial birds may have a hard time finding high protein food.

Watch for broods of game birds this spring and into the summer. Your observations will be best guide to predicting the status of fall populations.

Scott Shalaway is a biologist and author. His other weekly Post-Gazette column, "GETintoNATURE," is published in the GETout section. Shalaway can be reached at http://scottshalaway.googlepages.com and RD 5, Cameron, WV 26033.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11149/1149982-358.stm

New Deer Survive Due To Concealment, Timing

Sunday, May 22, 2011

By Ben Moyer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

There are thousands of them out there right now -- six to eight pounds each, warm brown dappled with white, looking like they're all legs and ears. The sight warms the hearts of animal lover and seasoned hunters alike.

They are whitetail fawns, nearing the peak of their springtime arrivals.

Doug Furin of Jumonville, Fayette County, saw a fawn last week, while digging "ramps" or wild leeks.

"I didn't even know it was there," Furin said. "I laid my bag of ramps on the ground and started to dig when I caught movement out of the side of my eye. There was this fawn, curled up in the leaves beside my bag. I'd almost stepped on it."

Furin did the right thing by the fawn and its mother. He left in a hurry.

"I know enough not to disturb them," he said. "I took a quick picture, heard the doe snort and got out of there. I think [the doe] had another one nearby because she kept looking back and forth."

Furin's encounter gave him a glimpse of the white-tailed deer's simple, but effective, strategy for ushering enough fawns into adulthood to sustain the species -- camouflaged young, concealed in the doe's absence, emitting little or no scent.

When a fawn lies motionless, the spots, numbering about a hundred on each side, give the appearance of dappled sunlight, an effective camouflage unless the young deer flinches, as did Furin's. Although Furin found the newborn lying down, it is likely that it had already taken some steps. Biologists' accounts document that fawns typically try to stand within 10 minutes of birth, and that most can stagger a few steps soon after. Young of large ruminants like deer, caribou and antelope must be able to leave the birth site quickly to avoid predators attracted to the scent of fluids lost by the doe. By six days of age, fawns can easily follow their mother anywhere.

Despite those built-in precautions, predators still exploit the protein windfall of whitetail fawns. In a two-year (2000-2001) study of fawn mortality on two sites in central Pennsylvania, Game Commission and Penn State biologists identified predation as the greatest source of fawn mortality. Researchers monitored marked fawns until the fall hunting season and found 46 percent of all spring and summer fawn mortality attributable to predators. Fawns were especially vulnerable during their first nine weeks. Bears and coyotes killed roughly equal numbers. Bobcat predation was minor.

Still, biologists concluded that enough fawns survived to at least sustain the herd.

"We have no evidence to suggest that the fawn survival rates we observed were preventing population growth," the authors wrote.

Another, more complex, ploy has helped whitetails thrive for hundreds of thousands of years, despite predators that find and eat as many fawns as they can.

"It's called a 'birth pulse' or 'birth synchrony.' The idea is that most fawns are born in a short window of time, which overwhelms predation. Even bears and coyotes can only eat so many fawns at the same time," said Marrett Grund, farmland deer project leader for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and a former deer biologist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

Grund explained that when the ratio of adult does to bucks in a population is balanced, bucks are able to breed all available does during a tight span in the fall rut. After a seven-month gestation, then, does drop their fawns at roughly the same time.

Among Pennsylvania's deer herd, 70 percent of fawns are born within 14 days of the first day of June.

But in herds with higher proportions of females, some does do not conceive until later 28-day estrus cycles, spreading out the birth pulse throughout the summer.

"If the pulse is extended, predators can feed on fawns for a longer period of time," Grund said. "Over the season, predators form a 'search image,' sort of like humans do when they are searching for mushrooms or something else that's hard to see. Given enough time, predators get good at finding [fawns]."

Grund explained that roughly equal numbers of male and female fawns are born each spring.

"But when deer densities become unnaturally high, the birth proportions shift to about 52 percent males. We believe that is a natural way for the population to self-regulate," Grund said.

Grund agreed that Furin did the right thing when he found his fawn. "It's a rare opportunity. Enjoy it," Grund said. "But do not touch. The proximity of a large predator, represented by your presence, is stressful to the fawn. If you handle or touch it, you only add to the stress."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11142/1148165-358-0.stm

This Hunting Season Is Over - For Good!



The Navy Seal was asked what he felt right before he
shot Osama Ben Laden and his response was, "Recoil".



Local Gun Maker Introduces High-end Pistol

By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, May 1, 2011

Pennsylvania gained fame more than two centuries ago for producing some of the finest, most accurate longrifles in the world, the misnamed "Kentucky" rifle.

Could it next be known for being home to some of the best pistols around?

Perhaps, if a Butler County manufacturer — the only gun maker in Pennsylvania — succeeds. Cabot Guns will officially launch a line of four high-end, 1911-style sidearms in January at the Las Vegas-based SHOT Show, the shooting industry's annual convention.

But shooters will get a sneak peak at the guns starting today, at Cabot's booth - No. 3508 — at the National Rifle Association's gun show at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The company's website, http://www.cabotguns.com/, goes live today, too.

All of the company's pistols are made by Penn United Technologies Inc. in Cabot. The manufacturer has ties to the defense, oil and gas and electronic technology industries, said Cabot president Robert Bianchin.

In fact, it's that background which sets the company apart. Penn United is making guns so fine that the parts from one gun can be interchanged with the parts from another, something that's never been possible before, Bianchin said.

"We build them where the parts are identical, clones every time. The tolerances are 0.001 inches all the time, every time," he said.

"As an example, if you took a human hair and split it three times, then split it again 10 times, that's what we're working with. That's why we believe this is the highest quality 1911 ever produced."

It might need to be if the company is to succeed.

The 1911 is a single action, semi-automatic, recoil-operated .45-caliber gun. Created by legendary gun maker John Browning, it's called the 1911 because that's the year it was adopted as the official sidearm of the American military. It remained in service from World War I through the mid-1980s.

They remain the most popular style of handgun with recreational and competitive pistol shooters, said Bruce Piendl, general manager of Anthony Arms and Accessories in West Mifflin.

"The way people talk about Corvettes and Harley Davidsons, that's how they talk about 1911s," he said.

But the competition for that market is intense. Virtually every major gun manufacturer produces a 1911, he said.

"So there are tons of 1911s out there," Piendl said.

That's OK, Bianchin said. Cabot Guns' 1911 are intended to satisfy a specific niche in that market. The quality of their manufacture — plus aesthetic features like grips made from Sonoran desert ironwood — make them the "Ferrari of the 1911 pistols."

The price reflects that, too. They will average $4,500 each, with some as expensive as $4,950.

"We weren't looking to save money anywhere. They're very expensive to make," Bianchin said. "So they aren't for everyone. But for connoisseurs, collectors, competitive shooters, people who expect top-of-the-line quality, I think they're going to be very impressed."

The company has bigger plans, too. Over the next 12 to 24 months, it plans to produce additional sidearms, including concealed carry and women's versions. It may develop factory tours and a museum of sorts to turn its facility into a destination for gun owners, too.

"We think Cabot Guns has the potential to become a major and enduring brand in the next five to 10 years," Bianchin said.

Read more: Local gun maker introduces high-end pistol - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/s_734843.html

Fishing Without A Pole!

These are silver carp, an invasive species that are getting close to the great lakes.  Pray they don't make it!

CWD Not Found in Pennsylvania Hunter-Killed Deer Samples; CWD Creeps Closer to Pennsylvania Border

From The Pennsylvania Game Commission

HARRISBURG, Pa., April 22, 2011 Chronic wasting disease (CWD) was not found in samples taken from hunter-killed deer during the state's 2010 hunting season, according to Dr. Walt Cottrell, Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife veterinarian.

In 2010, 3,882 samples from hunter-killed deer were tested, and CWD was not detected. This marked the ninth year for testing hunter-killed deer. In total, nearly 30,000 deer have been tested. CWD was not detected in any samples from previous years.

Results showing that the CWD tests of hunter-killed elk from 2010 were all negative were announced on Jan. 5. "We are pleased to report that Pennsylvania continues to have no confirmed or suspected cases of CWD in wild deer or elk," Cottrell said. "By conducting these tests from a random sample of hunter-killed deer and on all hunter-killed elk, we continue our efforts to find the disease in wild deer and elk in the state."

The CWD tests on deer and elk samples were conducted by the New Bolton Center, which is the University of Pennsylvania's veterinary diagnostic laboratory. Under a contract with Penn State University, the elk samples also were tested for brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis and found to be free of those diseases.

Heads from hunter-killed deer were collected from deer processors by deer aging teams during the two-week rifle deer season. Specific tissues were collected from these heads at Game Commission region offices by agency personnel and Pennsylvania and U.S. departments of agriculture animal health officials.

"The test results are good news," Cottrell said. "Although CWD has not been found in Pennsylvania, we must continue to be vigilant in our CWD surveillance efforts. The surveillance work we are doing is important for the early detection of CWD. Let's not forget that CWD has been found less than 10 miles away from our border in Maryland, which is likely to be part of the spread of the disease from West Virginia. There is no reason to expect that it will not eventually come into Pennsylvania.

"We already are planning to continue testing hunter-killed deer and elk during the 2011-12 seasons, and we are pleased that the Pennsylvania and U.S. departments of agriculture will continue to play an important role in this disease surveillance program. However, we will also be increasing our surveillance by sampling road-killed deer adjacent to Maryland and investigating every clinically suspect deer that our time and budget allows."

Bull Creek Member Featured in Pittsburgh Post Gazette Women In Shooting Sports Article!

Rise in Firearms Use by Women a National Trend

Sunday, April 17, 2011
By Shannon M. Nass, Pittsburgh Post Gazette

There is a new trend among women and it has nothing to do with high heels or hemlines. Conversations about caliber and kick back are swirling as across the country, the number of female shooters is on the rise.

"More and more women are coming into gun ownership and the number of women participating in recreational shooting has risen exponentially," said Rachel Parsons of the National Rifle Association, which will hold its annual national convention April 29-May 1 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Downtown. Included on the schedule is a women-only NRA Pistol Instructor Training class. (Registration ended Friday.)

The National Shooting Sports Foundation confirms the trend. In 2009, the last year for which the foundation has statistics, gun store owners reported a 73 percent increase in female customers. And while many of the women were using the guns for hunting -- there was a 28.5 percent increase in firearms bought for that purpose -- the number of women buying guns for personal defense increased 83 percent.

"Women are interested in learning how to use a gun," said Parsons, "not just frivolously going out and buying a firearm without being educated." Men often tend to come into firearm ownership at a young age from the sporting side and later develop an interest in self-defense, but Parsons said women typically have an opposite introduction to guns, driven by feelings of vulnerability. "Women tend to come in from the self-defense side and then realize this is really fun," she said.

In Wilkinsburg, Buddy Savage, owner of Braverman Arms, said training is imperative for women. "They need it more," he said. "The average guy will grow up and slowly learn it from his dad because of some interest in hunting, but a lot of women didn't partake in that."

Responding to calls from women wanting to learn how to hunt and shoot in the company of other women, the NRA developed Women on Target in 1999 for women-only instructional shooting and hunting excursions. Parsons attributes the program's popularity to camaraderie among the women and a less intimidating environment in the absence of men.

The program has grown by almost 20 percent since its inception with 326 clinics and over 10,000 women attending events all over the United States and in Ireland. Three dozen shooting clinics were added this year, and attendance has jumped by more than 2,000.

"[Locally] there's no question that there are more females getting involved in shooting sports," said Savage. Interest in self-defense initially brings women into his store, with the pursuit of recreational shooting quickly following.

"Once they get over the stigma of associating the firearm with something negative, they associate it with something positive and they get more actively involved in it," he said. "They see there is some recreation involved in the use of firearms. They're getting more training while they're having fun."

Responding to the trend, shooting ranges and sportsmen's clubs are offering discounts to encourage women's membership and participation. Manufacturers also have taken notice and are issuing smaller women-specific guns with thinner grips and softer recoil.

Lori Lojak of Fawn and Tarra Hazlett of Curtisville were raised in families that hunted and have used firearms since they were children.

"It's just natural for me because I grew up with it," said Lojak. "I didn't even think twice about it."

Hazlett's firearm experience began at 8 years old with a BB gun and quickly progressed to target shooting and hunting. It's an interest she has passed down to her 8-year-old son, Cody, with whom she now hunts.

"At this age, I don't think he realizes that I'm not the norm," said Hazlett. "I'm definitely outside of the box."

Hazlett and Lojak plan to attend a Women in the Outdoors activity June 4 at Bull Creek Rod and Gun Club in Tarentum. The event is sponsored by the Allegheny Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation. Included among birding and gardening classes will be instruction on handguns, rifle marksmanship, trap shooting and archery. Lojak said Women in the Outdoors draws 30-40 women each year, most of whom have never handled a firearm. She said fear among first-timers is present but short-lived.

"Once the women shoot that gun and they get comfortable with it, they love it," Lojak said. "It's hysterical, because the instructor starts out with these little guns and by the end of the class, they want to shoot the big guns."

Colleen Zaremski of West Deer said she was raised in an anti-gun family but changed her mind after attending a Women in the Outdoors event. "I was born and raised by an Eastern Orthodox priest and you didn't touch [a gun]," she said. "There are gun advocates and then there is the polar opposite, which is what I grew up with."

Zaremski attended a Women in the Outdoors event with Hazlett where she signed up for trap shooting. It was an experience she said she'll never forget.
"It was amazing. It's such a powerful weapon, and just as powerful is the experience of shooting something out of the sky," she said. Zaremski said she will definitely shoot again. "It's very fun to shoot a gun," she said. "It's liberating and empowering. I would encourage every woman to try it."

At Yough School District in Herminie, firearms training starts early. The Yough Outdoors Club introduces boys and girls grades 9-12 to numerous outdoor activities, including recreational shooting. Paul Yackovich of West Newton instructs students on gun safety and oversees their hands-on experience at the Herminie No. 2 Game Association. Yackovich said he believes an early introduction into firearms training instills respect for their power.

"I think every kid should shoot a 12-gauge shotgun before becoming an adult to see what it's like," he said. "A lot of kids just don't have the opportunity."

For more information on the NRA annual meeting, visit www.nraam.org. For more information on Women in the Outdoors, visit http://www.womenintheoutdoors.org./

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11107/1139929-358-0.stm

Pennsylvania Made Stink Bug Traps Lure Buyers and Bugs

Saturday, April 16, 2011

By Doug Oster, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When 36-year-old Andy Strube lost his job and had to sell his house, he never could have imagined it was a good thing. He used his equity to rent a house for himself and his three children in Columbia, Lancaster County.

He found out quickly the place was crawling with thousands of stink bugs.
"The house was so infested we had entomologists from Penn State University taking bags of stink bugs out to analyze," he said. He couldn't sit down to dinner without the bugs landing on his plate, and at night they would drop on his face while he was trying to sleep.

The pests actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Mr. Strube. When he couldn't find an effective control, he decided to invent something. He tested all sorts of different ways in his home, starting by trying to get the bugs to crawl onto a sticky substance. Through trial and error he realized the secret was to get the stink bug to take flight and land on the trap. He hung a coffee can covered in glue next to a lamp and that's when he realized they were drawn to light.

He began to refine the idea and, using skills from his former job in aircraft maintenance, he designed and built different traps. Each version caught more bugs. Mr. Strube continued to study the insects, keeping a colony in an aquarium and researching things that attracted them. He discovered they couldn't resist a cocktail he created of peppers and squash and put the mixture in an interchangeable cartridge inside the trap. When the fluorescent light heats up the cartridge, it releases the odor which humans can barely smell, but the bugs long for.

Friends who visited the house saw the traps and asked for one. As they reported back their successes, a business was born.

The Strube Stink Bug Trap is $50; a replacement cartridge is $20. Each cartridge will last about a month and is meant to catch hundreds of stink bugs. The traps are being sold at hardware stores near his home and can be found online. Since he began offering them online, he's sold hundreds that have caught tens of thousands of bugs, he says. Mr. Strube adds that a good portion of his business comes from the Pittsburgh area.

After I wrote about his invention, he sent me one to test on my minimal stink bug problem. I only see one or two a week. Inside the package was a flier warning that the glue is extremely sticky. I found that to be very true as I managed to get some cardboard, the power cord and the rope that hangs the trap stuck in it.

I installed it in an upstairs bathroom, where I know many of the bugs enter the house. I caught 10 bugs the first night, and the trap continues to lure the insects. The company's Facebook page is filled with photos of traps littered with dead stink bugs. But not everyone has been as lucky. Since I first wrote about the traps, I've heard from three people who have not had success. Mr. Strube has also talked to a couple.

He offers some tips to get the most out of the trap. The warmer the area, the more active the bugs will be, he said. That means upper floors and attics, where heat collects are most conducive to catching stink bugs. Leaving the trap in one place and letting it run all night are essential to catching stink bugs. Turn off any other lights in the room. The trap needs to be the primary light source.

Mr. Strube has been swamped with orders. His family and friends are helping him keep up, but he's sleeping just a couple of hours a night between shifts building traps. He's hoping to strike a deal with a bigger company soon to increase production. He's also working on setting up summer trials outdoors to improve the trap's efficiency in the field, and he hopes his trap will help farmers and gardeners this season.

Moving into a house infested with stink bugs might not be everyone's idea of a good thing, but for Mr. Strube and his family it's turned his life around.

"This has been a godsend to us," he said. "It's unimaginable. It's just so awesome to be able to help people. It's a feeling I really can't explain."

For information about the Strube Stink Bug Trap: www.stinkbugtrapsonline.com or 1-717-449-3015.


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11106/1139734-30-0.stm

Fayette County Pair's Hunting Licenses Suspended

Proof again that poaching doesn't pay (except to the state!)...
By Liz Zemba, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, April 14, 2011

Two Fayette County men accused of poaching two deer for a Super Bowl XLV party had their hunting licenses temporarily suspended and will pay $6,000 in fines.

Christopher Scott Layman, 21, of 123 Bethelboro Road, Uniontown, and James Richard Donaldson, 35, of 725 Penn Ave., Lemont Furnace, were charged last month with two counts each of unlawful killing or taking of big game in connection with the shootings of two whitetail deer on the day before the Super Bowl.

Jason D. Farabaugh, a wildlife conservation officer who conducted the investigation into the out-of-season killings, said the offenses were reduced from misdemeanors to less serious summary offenses.

The charges were reduced as part of a plea deal negotiated on Wednesday at the office of North Union District Judge Wendy Dennis.

"They made a mistake," Farabaugh said. "They weren't bad guys by any means, but they knew they did wrong."

According to criminal complaints, Layman told Farabaugh that he, Donaldson and a male juvenile decided to shoot the deer on Feb. 5 for a Super Bowl party. One deer was shot along Elliottsville Road in North Union and the other near a quarry on Jumonville-Coolspring Road, according to the complaints. The deer were butchered in a garage in Lemont Furnace.
Farabaugh investigated after receiving a tip, according to the complaints.

Terms of the plea agreement call for Layman and Donaldson to pay fines of $3,000 each, for a total of $6,000. Farabaugh said Donaldson's hunting license was suspended for five years. Layman's was suspended for eight years.

Charges against the unidentified juvenile are pending in juvenile court, Farabaugh said.