There has been a ground swell of opinions and accusations over the new state record black bear and how it was taken (see comments from post below). We've followed the forums and watched intently as the facts finally unfolded.
We are relieved that the findings of the PA Game Commission have found nothing wrong was done and all regulations were followed. Mike Kuhns, Sports Editor of the Pocono Record, has published the following:
How dare David Price legally hunt record bear
November 20, 2010 12:00 AM
Let's all point the finger at David Price, the hunter from Cresco who killed a so-called tame bear, and call him the bad guy.
He's the guy who's wrong for killing Bozo, the record 875-pound black bear near Fernwood Resort on Monday afternoon.
He's the guy who fired the fatal shot from his crossbow.
He's the guy who knew there was an innocent, overweight bear walking the woods of Pike County.
He's the guy who "» did absolutely nothing wrong.
That's right, Price did nothing wrong when he, three brothers, a cousin and friend eventually tracked and killed what the Pennsylvania Game Commission is calling the largest weighing bear on record.
Many on Internet forums are calling out Price for killing the bear — an animal that was fed for years by Leroy Lewis, 71, who lives near Fernwood Resort. It was Lewis who fed the bear to the point where the bear would come to Lewis' doorstep looking for food. It was Lewis who fed the bear cakes and sweets to keep him around.
"He didn't do the bear any favors getting him acclimated (to people)," said game commission Northeast Regional Director Steve Schweitzer. "We have lots of bears that will take as much free food as they can get."
And Bozo ate. And Lewis fed him — obviously a bunch.
"I knew there were some large bears in the area," said Bill Marks, a member of Indian Mountain Gun Club. "I used to work in the park. I've seen my share of them."
Each year, the park is swarmed by hunters like Price, hoping to bring home a bear. And yet it's the opinion of many in the community — hunters and non-hunters — that it was Price who was in the wrong.
Really? Let's assume that Price knew the bear was in the area. That's no crime.
In fact, the game commission says Price didn't break any laws, but in fact it was Lewis who was cited in October for illegally feeding the bears.
And now the bear is dead, shot by a hunter who was following every rule in the book. Let's all point the finger at him and say what a bad guy he is.
The record bear should be remembered as the trophy it was. As for Price, the negative publicity has caught him off guard.
Maybe some day Price can enjoy the moment of harvesting a record bear. He deserves that much.
Related Articles:
'Tainted' trophy: Poconos hunter's record-setting bear kill spoiled
Bushkill man 'devastated' by death of bear he'd fed for years
For those who think this was just a tame "pet" bear doing no harm, please read the following:
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/Monroe_County_Fatal_Bear_Attack_10_05_09
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
New Pennsylvania State Record Bear Taken With Crossbow
From the hunter's nephew:
"This bear has some really cool history, It was right in the area we shot him for the last 17 years or so. Also, It has been caught in NJ numerous times which means he isn't afraid to swim the Delaware River.
He was trying to mate with a female bear who was in a snare in NJ. The female was caught by the NJDEP for testing and the big boy was trying to get his groove on with her. They had to tranquilize him so he didn't injure the female. As you can see in the pics, he has a tattoo on his lip. He was 711 pounds last year when he was caught by the Game Commission...so he put on some weight since then. He has an AWESOME blaze on his chest. 
I have never seen a bear with a "U-shaped" blaze...seen lots with diamond shaped ones though. The bear had 6" of fat on him. Thursday, November 11, 2010
Bear Climbs Tree Stand
OK, imagine you're out in the deep woods by yourself high up in a tree stand. But you're not hunting with a gun. Just a video camera. Suddenly a large black bear comes along and starts climbing up the ladder beneath you...well...what would YOU do?
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Flock Mentality
Sunday, November 07, 2010
By Ben Moyer
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
For wild turkeys in the fall, it's all about the flock. As far back as spring when the chicks pecked out of their eggs, the hen's clucks bonded the brood as a unit. They left the nest together, fed and roosted together and regrouped to her calls after every encounter with coyote or hawk.
By mid-summer, broods of different hens combined as larger flocks, which will remain together into the winter sharing the best habitats and food sources they can find. Flocks in Pennsylvania this fall are abundant and large, said Game Commission wild turkey biologist Mary Jo Casalena.
"The state's wild turkey population is above the five-year-average thanks to good reproduction the past three springs and generally conservative fall season lengths, which minimizes the overharvest of hens," she said. The most experienced and successful fall turkey hunters understand the wild turkey's compulsion to flock, and use that edge to their advantage.
Pete Clare spends a lot of time hunting wild turkeys in southern New York, where the fall season is seven weeks long. There, he runs Turkey Trot Acres (www.turkeytrotacres.com), guiding visiting turkey hunters into southern tier hardwood hills on every day of the New York fall hunt.
Clare is a big advocate of the "scatter and call" style of fall hunting, especially since he uses Appalachian turkey dogs to find and break flocks (using dogs to hunt turkeys became legal in Pennsylvania in 2008). He notes, though, that flock dynamics change as the fall progresses and that hunters in Pennsylvania's late seasons may need to make adjustments.
"It's amazing how we can observe the flock maturing during our longer season," Clare said. "Getting toward mid-November, when your season [in Pennsylvania] will just be starting, younger birds do not seem so frantic to get back together when scattered. Also, the young gobblers get bigger than their mothers and they try and take over the flock."
Maturing gobblers can be a huge factor.
"If hunters break birds and call to them only with hen yelps, it won't work if young gobblers are running the reassembly," he said. "Calling back a broken flock this late may take a lot of patience and experimentation."
Clare said he's learned that no matter when the season is scheduled, woodsmanship and knowledge of the landscape are valuable assets to the fall turkey hunter. "The best approach is to follow the sign," he said. "Find what birds are feeding on and then look there for fresh scratching. Go easy and slow and you will walk up on them, then scatter them for the call-back."
Especially for hunters without turkey dogs, Clare said that following fresh sign through open hardwoods such as oak or cherry stands is a good way to hunt. "The most effective break [of the flock] is in open hardwoods by total surprise," he said. "You come over a hill and they're out there feeding and you rush into them for a 360-degree scatter. A woods break is a golden thing -- way better than a field break where the birds will see you and fan way in the same direction."
Success at calling the birds back, though, can take more than just a thorough scatter.
"When birds flush, pay close attention. Try and pick up visual clues to the makeup of the flock," Clare said. "Try to see if it is a flock of old gobblers, hens and young of the year, or a flock of jakes. The flock makeup will determine how you call. You don't want to send out 'kee-kee' whistles for a flock of longbeard toms. It won't work." Clare said a common mistake made by fall hunters is to scatter turkeys from their roost site high on a ridge at early morning.
"If you flush them out of the trees high on a ridge they will most times sail all the way to the valley and it will be tough to call them back," he said. "Let them get away from the roost site and then scatter them. Your success will be much better."
Clare's experiences tell him that the ideal time to scatter turkeys is about 1 1/2 hours before dusk. A break then allows enough time for the woods to settle down before calling, yet the turkeys are eager to regroup before dark. If a turkey isn't bagged that evening, said Clare, don't expect the flock to remain broken at dawn.
"I've seen it so many times. They have some way of getting back together at night," he said. "I don't know if they hop from branch to branch or what, but it rarely works that you can go back in there the next morning and call one in." Clare's most reliable turkey tip? "Do not ignore the break site," he said. "Those turkeys will come back there some time during the day. Don't be tempted to follow two or three from the group. Stay at the break site and call and you will have a good hunt."
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10311/1101069-140.stm
By Ben Moyer
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
By mid-summer, broods of different hens combined as larger flocks, which will remain together into the winter sharing the best habitats and food sources they can find. Flocks in Pennsylvania this fall are abundant and large, said Game Commission wild turkey biologist Mary Jo Casalena.
"The state's wild turkey population is above the five-year-average thanks to good reproduction the past three springs and generally conservative fall season lengths, which minimizes the overharvest of hens," she said. The most experienced and successful fall turkey hunters understand the wild turkey's compulsion to flock, and use that edge to their advantage.
Pete Clare spends a lot of time hunting wild turkeys in southern New York, where the fall season is seven weeks long. There, he runs Turkey Trot Acres (www.turkeytrotacres.com), guiding visiting turkey hunters into southern tier hardwood hills on every day of the New York fall hunt.
Clare is a big advocate of the "scatter and call" style of fall hunting, especially since he uses Appalachian turkey dogs to find and break flocks (using dogs to hunt turkeys became legal in Pennsylvania in 2008). He notes, though, that flock dynamics change as the fall progresses and that hunters in Pennsylvania's late seasons may need to make adjustments.
"It's amazing how we can observe the flock maturing during our longer season," Clare said. "Getting toward mid-November, when your season [in Pennsylvania] will just be starting, younger birds do not seem so frantic to get back together when scattered. Also, the young gobblers get bigger than their mothers and they try and take over the flock."
Maturing gobblers can be a huge factor.
"If hunters break birds and call to them only with hen yelps, it won't work if young gobblers are running the reassembly," he said. "Calling back a broken flock this late may take a lot of patience and experimentation."
Clare said he's learned that no matter when the season is scheduled, woodsmanship and knowledge of the landscape are valuable assets to the fall turkey hunter. "The best approach is to follow the sign," he said. "Find what birds are feeding on and then look there for fresh scratching. Go easy and slow and you will walk up on them, then scatter them for the call-back."
Especially for hunters without turkey dogs, Clare said that following fresh sign through open hardwoods such as oak or cherry stands is a good way to hunt. "The most effective break [of the flock] is in open hardwoods by total surprise," he said. "You come over a hill and they're out there feeding and you rush into them for a 360-degree scatter. A woods break is a golden thing -- way better than a field break where the birds will see you and fan way in the same direction."
Success at calling the birds back, though, can take more than just a thorough scatter.
"When birds flush, pay close attention. Try and pick up visual clues to the makeup of the flock," Clare said. "Try to see if it is a flock of old gobblers, hens and young of the year, or a flock of jakes. The flock makeup will determine how you call. You don't want to send out 'kee-kee' whistles for a flock of longbeard toms. It won't work." Clare said a common mistake made by fall hunters is to scatter turkeys from their roost site high on a ridge at early morning.
"If you flush them out of the trees high on a ridge they will most times sail all the way to the valley and it will be tough to call them back," he said. "Let them get away from the roost site and then scatter them. Your success will be much better."
Clare's experiences tell him that the ideal time to scatter turkeys is about 1 1/2 hours before dusk. A break then allows enough time for the woods to settle down before calling, yet the turkeys are eager to regroup before dark. If a turkey isn't bagged that evening, said Clare, don't expect the flock to remain broken at dawn.
"I've seen it so many times. They have some way of getting back together at night," he said. "I don't know if they hop from branch to branch or what, but it rarely works that you can go back in there the next morning and call one in." Clare's most reliable turkey tip? "Do not ignore the break site," he said. "Those turkeys will come back there some time during the day. Don't be tempted to follow two or three from the group. Stay at the break site and call and you will have a good hunt."
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10311/1101069-140.stm
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Turkey Population Above 5-year Average As Season Arrives
By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Pennsylvania's new-look fall turkey season is set to begin.
In years past, the fall season was a one- to three-week affair, depending on what part of the state you were hunting in. Everywhere, though, the days of the season ran consecutively.
This year, in an effort to attract more hunters, Pennsylvania Game Commissioners changed the dates of bear season. It will open on a Saturday, Nov. 20, take Sunday off, then resume Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 22 and 23.
That resulted in the fall turkey season getting split. It opens as early as this Saturday in some units, as late as Nov. 13 and 16 in others. In all cases, it closes no later than Nov. 19 and stays closed until Nov. 25, after the bear hunters have left the woods. What hasn't changed is that there will be plenty of birds out there.
Mary Jo Casalena, the commission's wild turkey biologist, rated populations as "excellent," at an estimated 360,000-plus birds. "The state's wild turkey population is above the five-year-average thanks to good reproduction the past three springs and generally conservative fall season lengths, which minimizes the overharvest of hens," she said. All of those birds are scattered, though, with flocks excellent in some places and just fair in others.
Doug Dunkerly, land management group supervisor for the commission in Allegheny, Beaver, Greene and Washington counties, said those latter two counties in particular have flocks containing as many as 200 birds.
"This area continues to produce lots of turkeys," he said. In Butler County, some of the birds hunters encounter this fall might be smaller than usual — a byproduct of late besting resulting from a later winter — but birds remain numerous and widespread, said wildlife conservation officer Randy Pilarcik. "They are being seen in all types of habitats from the big woods of Moraine State Park to the farms and even in the residential areas of the district," he said.
In the more mountainous areas of Somerset and Cambria counties, though — where deep snows lingered all winter — turkey numbers may be down a bit, according to field reports.
Roger Brown rates the fall turkey hunting in Somerset to be only fair, for example. "The birds I have seen have been with one or two other birds, rather than the larger flocks I usually see them in," Brown said. The real trick for hunters, no matter where they go, may be finding the turkeys.
Casalena said this year's widespread abundance of acorns "will keep turkeys and flocks dispersed throughout the woods, making them harder to locate and hunt." "Acorn production seems good locally and the key to locating birds will be finding roosting and feeding areas," agreed Stephen Leiendecker, a wildlife conservation officer in southern Westmoreland County.
Fall turkey hunter success peaked in 2001, when 21 percent of hunters bagged a bird. That dropped to 16 percent in 2007 and 2008 and fell to 13 percent last year, when hunters killed 20,934 birds. That was 20 percent less than the five-year average of 26,082.
Casalena said she's expecting something similar this year. The key, as always, will be to just get out there and give it a try. "While turkey sightings in the county are down from last year, the area still supports a large number of birds," said Beaver County conservation officer Matthew Kramer.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/s_706939.html
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Pennsylvania's new-look fall turkey season is set to begin.
In years past, the fall season was a one- to three-week affair, depending on what part of the state you were hunting in. Everywhere, though, the days of the season ran consecutively.No more.
That resulted in the fall turkey season getting split. It opens as early as this Saturday in some units, as late as Nov. 13 and 16 in others. In all cases, it closes no later than Nov. 19 and stays closed until Nov. 25, after the bear hunters have left the woods. What hasn't changed is that there will be plenty of birds out there.
Mary Jo Casalena, the commission's wild turkey biologist, rated populations as "excellent," at an estimated 360,000-plus birds. "The state's wild turkey population is above the five-year-average thanks to good reproduction the past three springs and generally conservative fall season lengths, which minimizes the overharvest of hens," she said. All of those birds are scattered, though, with flocks excellent in some places and just fair in others.
Doug Dunkerly, land management group supervisor for the commission in Allegheny, Beaver, Greene and Washington counties, said those latter two counties in particular have flocks containing as many as 200 birds.
"This area continues to produce lots of turkeys," he said. In Butler County, some of the birds hunters encounter this fall might be smaller than usual — a byproduct of late besting resulting from a later winter — but birds remain numerous and widespread, said wildlife conservation officer Randy Pilarcik. "They are being seen in all types of habitats from the big woods of Moraine State Park to the farms and even in the residential areas of the district," he said.
In the more mountainous areas of Somerset and Cambria counties, though — where deep snows lingered all winter — turkey numbers may be down a bit, according to field reports.
Roger Brown rates the fall turkey hunting in Somerset to be only fair, for example. "The birds I have seen have been with one or two other birds, rather than the larger flocks I usually see them in," Brown said. The real trick for hunters, no matter where they go, may be finding the turkeys.
Casalena said this year's widespread abundance of acorns "will keep turkeys and flocks dispersed throughout the woods, making them harder to locate and hunt." "Acorn production seems good locally and the key to locating birds will be finding roosting and feeding areas," agreed Stephen Leiendecker, a wildlife conservation officer in southern Westmoreland County.
Fall turkey hunter success peaked in 2001, when 21 percent of hunters bagged a bird. That dropped to 16 percent in 2007 and 2008 and fell to 13 percent last year, when hunters killed 20,934 birds. That was 20 percent less than the five-year average of 26,082.
Casalena said she's expecting something similar this year. The key, as always, will be to just get out there and give it a try. "While turkey sightings in the county are down from last year, the area still supports a large number of birds," said Beaver County conservation officer Matthew Kramer.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/s_706939.html
Friday, October 29, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Pennsylvania Elk Stampede on Winslow Hill 10/16/10
From PaElk.com, submitted by member Jim Martin. Amazing footage of an elk herd taken, appropriately, near the Elk View Restaurant on Winslow Hill in Benezette, Elk County, PA.
Post comments below!
Post comments below!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Pheasant Hunters Should Seek Stocked Lands
By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
At first glance, Pennsylvania's pheasant hunting season doesn't seem like much to get excited about.
Wild birds are scarce to nonexistent in most places. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is, because of budget cuts, stocking 108,000 birds, half as many as a decade ago. The number of pheasant hunters is down dramatically, with most of those remaining crowded onto public lands.
But plenty of diehard bird hunters remain, and they are surely looking forward to Saturday's opening day.
"Though wild pheasants have vanished across most of Pennsylvania's landscape, thousands of pheasant hunters and the state haven't lost interest in the bird," says a season forecast for Pennsylvania put out by Pheasants Forever, the nation's largest pheasant-conservation organization. "Hunters and their dogs get their field time in through the state's put-and-take hunting."
That will definitely be the case again this season.
Wildlife conservation officers across the region say that pheasant hunting will be fair to good, but only on those lands that get stocked with birds. The commission and Pheasants Forever are working to re-establish wild pheasant populations in a couple of places, but if and until that works, stocked birds remain the only option.
Typical is the assessment of the upcoming season offered by Daniel Sitler, the commission's officer in northern Washington County.
"Most hunting should be focused on lands stocked with pheasants," he said. "Game lands and a few public-access properties offer the best bang for the buck. Wild populations remain low in the northern part of Washington County, and therefore the hunting will remain poor. The stocked areas will be good."
The season starts Saturday and runs through Nov. 27. The daily limit is two birds. Only male pheasants are legal game in wildlife management units 2A, 2B, 2C, 4C, 4E, 5A and 5B. Male and female pheasants are legal game in all other units.
The commission will stock birds Wednesday, then again Oct. 28 or 29 and Nov. 4 or 5. A third in-season stocking will be conducted Nov. 10 in areas surrounding the Somerset, Central Susquehanna and Hegins-Gratz Valley wild pheasant recovery areas.
Of the 108,000 birds to be stocked, 16,800 were already released for the junior season. Several thousand more are being held for the late season that opens in mid-December.
The result is only a little more than 80,000 birds will be put out for the bulk of the season. That's prompted a change in how much information is shared about those stockings.
"As financial considerations have forced us to reduce the number of pheasants we are stocking, it was decided that we should provide hunters with additional information to assist them in deciding when and where to hunt those pheasants stocked," said commission executive director Carl Roe.
Pheasant hunting will again be, as Lawrence County conservation officer Jeffery Kendell said, "strictly put and take."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
At first glance, Pennsylvania's pheasant hunting season doesn't seem like much to get excited about.
But plenty of diehard bird hunters remain, and they are surely looking forward to Saturday's opening day.
"Though wild pheasants have vanished across most of Pennsylvania's landscape, thousands of pheasant hunters and the state haven't lost interest in the bird," says a season forecast for Pennsylvania put out by Pheasants Forever, the nation's largest pheasant-conservation organization. "Hunters and their dogs get their field time in through the state's put-and-take hunting."
That will definitely be the case again this season.
Wildlife conservation officers across the region say that pheasant hunting will be fair to good, but only on those lands that get stocked with birds. The commission and Pheasants Forever are working to re-establish wild pheasant populations in a couple of places, but if and until that works, stocked birds remain the only option.
Typical is the assessment of the upcoming season offered by Daniel Sitler, the commission's officer in northern Washington County.
"Most hunting should be focused on lands stocked with pheasants," he said. "Game lands and a few public-access properties offer the best bang for the buck. Wild populations remain low in the northern part of Washington County, and therefore the hunting will remain poor. The stocked areas will be good."
The season starts Saturday and runs through Nov. 27. The daily limit is two birds. Only male pheasants are legal game in wildlife management units 2A, 2B, 2C, 4C, 4E, 5A and 5B. Male and female pheasants are legal game in all other units.
The commission will stock birds Wednesday, then again Oct. 28 or 29 and Nov. 4 or 5. A third in-season stocking will be conducted Nov. 10 in areas surrounding the Somerset, Central Susquehanna and Hegins-Gratz Valley wild pheasant recovery areas.
Of the 108,000 birds to be stocked, 16,800 were already released for the junior season. Several thousand more are being held for the late season that opens in mid-December.
The result is only a little more than 80,000 birds will be put out for the bulk of the season. That's prompted a change in how much information is shared about those stockings.
"As financial considerations have forced us to reduce the number of pheasants we are stocking, it was decided that we should provide hunters with additional information to assist them in deciding when and where to hunt those pheasants stocked," said commission executive director Carl Roe.
Pheasant hunting will again be, as Lawrence County conservation officer Jeffery Kendell said, "strictly put and take."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/outdoors/
Sunday, October 10, 2010
2010 Bull Creek Youth Pheasant Hunt
Elk County Visitor Center Has Something For Everyone
By Bob Frye, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Benezette will never be confused with Pittsburgh. The city has three professional sports venues, skyscrapers, bridges, traffic and hundreds of thousands of people.
The tiny Elk County community, by comparison, has a post office, a handful of businesses scattered along miles of two-lane road, less than two dozen houses, lots of trees — and elk.That last feature allowed Benezette to enjoy a Pittsburgh-like celebration for a day.
On Wednesday, in a ceremony mimicking the excitement of Consol Energy Center's debut, Benezette celebrated the grand opening of the Elk Country Visitor Center. The 8,420-square-foot, lodge-like center is full not just of stuffed heads - though it's got a beautiful elk display in its main room - but interactive exhibits for adults and children, making it sort of nature center on high-tech, Disney World steroids. The 245 acres on which it sits feature hiking trails, viewing blinds and frequent visits by the area's elk, too.
The Center exists because of those animals, and - at the deepest level - because of hunters and the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Together, they brought the state's elk back from zero a century ago to a herd of maybe 750 today.
Without hunters, there are no elk, and without elk, there is no center. But it wasn't built for hunters, and that might prove its legacy.Take the center's "4-D" theater, for example. It features a three-sided screen, vibrating floor, campfire, falling snow, scented rain, starry sky and other effects, all of them are very cool. But equally interesting is the narration. Through the voice of a grandfather and a biologist talking to a teenage boy more interested in computers than the outdoors, the movie gives hunters and the Game Commission their due as conservationists.
But it's clearly speaking to the non-hunting, non-rural tourists — such as Gov. Ed Rendell, who grew up in the city — who will visit by the thousands. The center is designed to explain the ins and outs of conservation and get them involved in it, said Rawley Cogan, executive director of the Keystone Elk Country Alliance, which will run the facility.
"That's not aimed at (hunters)," Cogan said. "They know the history of hunting and conservation. This is for everyone else. We want them become a part of conservation."
That's not to say the center takes hunters for granted or that they won't enjoy visiting. But they already know the history of conservation. The center is trying to reach everyone else.
"For you, it's routine," Rendell said. "For us, who grew up walking on cement, it's amazing."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)