Outdoors category, Page 28

Gear of the week Gear name: Beast28 Company: Matador (everybodyshops.com/matador-beast28-packable-backpack.html) Gear type: Backpack Product description: It doesn’t matter what type of gear it is you’re talking about. It’s only good if you actually use it. And let’s face it: Sometimes, if gear is too bulky or heavy, it gets left...

• Trout season has kicked off across the state, and few areas are seeing as many bites as Dutch Fork Lake, with reports indicating high catch rates for the lake. • Another hot spot appears to be Lake Wilma. Spinner baits or spoons typically make for a solid option as...

Those who love fishing and competing against other anglers can participate in the free fishing derby planned for Mammoth Park Lake, off Route 982, Mt. Pleasant Township, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 28. Registration will be conducted at Pavilion 12 at the park. All those who enter the...

• Jennings Environmental Education Center is holding a Spring Wonder Walk from 10-11:30 a.m. Friday. Join in for some family-friendly, free wheeling discovery along the park’s trails, led by Jennings’ staff. Email jenningssp@pa.gov or call 724-794-6011. • A forest naturalist will lead a full moon hike at 9 p.m. Friday...

We discovered the old chuck box tucked away in a corner of my mother-in-law’s basement. How long had it been there, forgotten? Twenty-five years, at least. We went on a lot of outings in the two and a half decades since I joined the family picture, but there’d never been...

The change — and it’s a big one — is official. Opening day of Pennsylvania’s statewide firearms deer season is moving. It has been the Monday after Thanksgiving each year since 1963. This year it will be the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Pennsylvania Game Commissioners on Tuesday — by a 5-3...

Notices Outdoors RIFLE/TRAP LEAGUES • In the Twi-Night Trap League on April 11, Youngwood finished in first place with a score of 195. Connellsville (194), Ruffsdale (188), East Huntingdon (187) and Hecla (186) rounded out the scoring. Connellsville (19) leads the season standings, followed by Ruffsdale (11.5), Hecla (10.5), Youngwood...

Lure of the week Lure name: Pistol Pete Company: Pistol Pete Flies (pistolpeteflies.com) Lure type: Fly Sizes and colors: Available in two sizes — #6 and #10 — in dozens of colors, from black, last supper, chartreuse and egg sucking to green, red, renegade and mafia Pete Target species: Trout...

• Forbes State Forest is holding its second annual public workshop on the habitat of the American Woodcock at 6 p.m. Thursday. Attendees will be shown a presentation on the recent management efforts to benefit the Woodcock before embarking on a short tour of the managed sites in hopes of...

Dozens of youth from the region came to White Bridge in Mt. Pleasant Township on Saturday morning for a Mentored Youth Fishing day. The event, sponsored by the Jacobs Creek Watershed Association, draws boys and girls to the popular spot for trout fishing. The program is managed by the Pennsylvania...

Birders have their returning tree swallows, hikers and other woods walkers their skunk cabbage, gardeners their daffodils and tree lovers their cherry blossoms. All are signs of spring. Oh, sure, the season officially began March 20. But for plenty of people, it only really arrives when their favorite brand of...

Gear of the week Gear name: NanoDry Company: Matador (everybodyshops.com/matador-nanodry-large-towel.html) Gear type: Large travel towel Product description: Fishing can get messy, especially if there are children involved. But lugging around a big, bulky towel that gets wet and muddy and stays that way is no fun. A solution? The NanoDry....

There’s not a lot that’s positive to report right now when it comes to ruffed grouse. Populations of the forest-dwelling bird appear to be on the decline throughout the Northeast and Midwest, according to reports from wildlife management agencies from Maryland to Michigan and all points between. The Ruffed Grouse...

NOTICES Outdoors RIFLE/TRAP LEAGUES • In the Twi-Night Trap League on April 4, Connellsville finished in first place with a score of 198. Hecla (194), Youngwood (193), Ruffsdale (190) and East Huntingdon (189) rounded out the scoring. Connellsville (15) leads the season standings, followed by Hecla (9.5), Ruffsdale (8.5), East...

Now this is what you call a good deal. Anglers taking part in Pennsylvania’s statewide mentored youth trout day this Saturday will be able to pursue fish a full week before anyone else. But get a free breakfast, too? That’s the deal awaiting those who fish at Blackleggs Creek Memorial...

• Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania is holding an outing at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve. Join a naturalist for a free walk on the Reserve’s trails. Register online at aswp.org/events/8220. • Moraine State Park is holding an Introduction to Reptiles and Amphibians of PA event from...

It won’t be a case of playing a hunch or taking a leap of faith, necessarily. Not entirely. But new information suggests if Pennsylvania Game Commissioners move opening day of the statewide firearms deer season from the Monday after Thanksgiving to the preceding Saturday, they will do so without certainty...

Lure of the week Lure name: Platinum curly tail grub Company: Mister Twister (mistertwister.com) Lure type: Soft plastic Sizes and colors: Available in 31/2- and 41/2-inch models in nine colors, including clear/goldfish, clear/chartreuse flake, clear silver flake/red flake, chartreuse silver flake/black and clear/neon pink silver flake Target species: Walleyes, sauger,...

We encountered trouble almost from the start. Well, some of us anyway. Backpacks cinched up, we set off, putting the group camping area in our rear-view mirror. Our destination, a set of Adirondack shelters, lay roughly six miles away. That’s not a great distance by backpacking standards. But half or...

NOTICES Outdoors RIFLE/TRAP LEAGUES • In the Twi-Night Trap League on March 28, Connellsville finished in first place with a score of 196. Hecla (186), Ruffsdale (186), East Huntingdon (184) and Youngwood (182) rounded out the scoring. Connellsville (10) leads the season standings, followed by Ruffsdale (6.5), East Huntingdon (6),...

• Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania is holding an outing at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve. Join a naturalist for a free walk on the Reserve’s trails. Register online at aswp.org/events/8220. • The Tri-County Trout Club is holding its annual Deer Creek Stream Cleanup event at Emmerling...

NOTICES Outdoors RIFLE/TRAP LEAGUES • In the Pittsburgh and Surburban Rifle League on March 13, Frazier-Simplex (13-0) defeated Irwin Post 228 (0-12), 1,445-1,126, and Dormont-Mt. Lebanon (10-3) beat Allegheny (5-8), 1,478-1,448. Murrysville (4-9) had a bye. Frazier-Simplex’s John Husk shot a 299 for the high score of the week. Irwin’s...

Gear of the week Gear name: Eat’N Tool Company: CRKT ( Gear type: Utensil Product description: When it comes to backpacking, where weight it so important — shoot, some people cut most of the handle from their toothbrush to save an ounce — equipment that serves multiple purposes rules. Enter...

Turkeys have taken Eddie Salter all over the map in the past five decades. He’s hunted the birds in 33 states. But then, his life has revolved around the birds forever, it seems. The Greenville, Ala., native known as “The Turkey Man” started hunting turkeys at age 8 and killed...