Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
Sorted by date Results 51 - 100 of 173
Skunks are common animals, especially in town where they have many places to hide and where they have reliable food sources. They are beautiful animals with lovely fur coats. Unfortunately, they smell, well, like skunks. This past winter Donna had to let her little dog, Sage, out during the night to take care of “business.” However, after taking care of business, Sage was sprayed by a skunk before making it back into the house. Donna gathered some Dawn dishwashing liquid and other cleansers, and we de-scented the dog. Several rugs where we had...
When I was a young fisherman, the veterans of that long-ago time gradually began to accept me. After all, I was constantly on the stream and occasionally bumped into notable season-long fishermen like Michael “Pike” DiBartolome and Sam Lower, often bugging them about fishing strategies and times to be on the water. A few other “old timers” might not have always been truthful; but when DiBartolome or Lower told me something, it was trout-fishing gospel. One piece of advice these local legends shared more than once was to be on the water as soon...
June 26 was the first day that Pennsylvania resident hunters could buy their first antlerless deer license for the 2023-24 hunting seasons. Many hunters figured this would be a good day to purchase their yearly hunting license as well. After an early morning of trout fishing, rather than trying to get a license online, I drove to Mill Hill Agway to buy a hunting license and a doe tag. I buy a doe tag for one reason: to finish off a wounded doe if I encounter one. What should have been a simple process turned out not to be. With the game...
When I use the word “skunked,” I am not referring to an incident of being sprayed by a skunk, although Donna and I endured an incident this past winter when her dog, Sage, was sprayed by a skunk in the middle of the night. Donna knew what to do, mixing a solution of Dawn dishwashing liquid with some other cleansers to get rid of the odor. It was not a pleasant night. Normally when I refer to being skunked, it means that I have failed to tag a turkey during a season or have failed to catch a trout during an outing. This happens more frequently t...
I have previously written of my disdain for cell phones. They are intrusive. However, my son, Bob, and my wife, Donna, both believe I should carry one when I am fishing or hunting alone; so in the interest of family harmony, I remember to carry the one they bought me about half the time I am out. I had it with me the morning I shot a nice gobbler this past spring. I called Bob quickly after tagging the beautiful turkey. When he picked up, I think he was happier about my success than I was. Most often, however, I use the phone to call Donna...
Sunday (June 18) is Father’s Day. It is one of the most important non-religious holidays of the year; others include Mother’s Day, Veterans’ Day, and Independence Day. Dad was a father who spent a great percentage of his time with me (and my brother, Bill) when he could have been doing other things. Though he didn’t coach sports, he nurtured our interest in athletics. When I was young, he often came out to the basket in our backyard and played basketball against my friends and me. In games of one-on-one, I could not beat him until I was a j...
State Representative Dave Maloney (R-Berks), Chairman of the House Game and Fisheries Committee, has been concerned with the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s (PGC) “management” of a number of things. One is that the PGC was found to be sitting on more than $72 million in escrow funds in 2019, including more than $6 million the PGC didn’t even know it had. Another is the moving of the rifle deer opener to Saturday, despite much opposition from the hunting community. The ruffed grouse population is at a 70-year low. (These are all problems I have...
Our minister recently preached a series of sermons entitled “Marked by God.” One of the themes of these sermons is that we are marked by God to make a difference in the things we are involved in. For me, that includes fishing and hunting ethics. I like to think I have made a small difference in fishermen’s attitudes. I often subtly refer to catch-and-release fishing as a major ethical consideration that today’s fishermen use to help maintain healthy populations of gamefish. I also hope I have made a small difference in anglers’ attitudes...
The Pennsylvania Game Commission recently released its estimated deer harvest figures for the 2022-2023 seasons. It estimated that hunters killed an incredible 422,960 deer, of which 164,190 were estimated to be bucks. Bowhunters were estimated to have killed more than a third of these deer: 145,640, of which 75,770 were supposedly bucks. David Stainbrook, PGC Deer and Elk Section Supervisor, says that Pennsylvania’s deer population is likely increasing. So, the PGC is planning to increase the number of doe tags by 147,000 to 1,095,000 this y...
“How many mushrooms have you found, Rich?” a friend recently asked. “The usual – nearly none.” I went on to tell him I don’t have enough time to hunt mushrooms – correctly named morels – during the spring. Between fly-fishing for trout and trying to squeeze in some spring gobbler hunting, I just don’t have enough energy to look for morels. By the end of the first week of gobbler season, I’m exhausted from trying to burn the candle at both ends; and when the big evening fly hatches begin, I have to make a choice between turkey hunting and fly-fi...
After my son had tagged a 25-pound gobbler on last spring’s opening day of gobbler season, we unloaded our guns and began our trek back to his parked truck. Since his gobbler was so large and we had quite a distance to walk, I toted both of our shotguns. We hadn’t walked far along the base of the grass cliff where Bob had killed the big tom when we saw two gobblers sprint across the jeep trail we were on, heading up the cliff. “Come on, Dad. We’ve got to get up there where we can set up to call one in.” “I’m not climbing up there again. My leg...
Occasionally someone will ask me what I was doing on a certain date. I laugh. “How am I supposed to remember that?” I wonder. “I generally can’t remember what I was doing yesterday.” However, I sometimes can recall something of importance. For instance, last spring I remember that I was hearing fewer gobblers hollering than usual before the season. Quite a few others, who are better hunters than I am, agreed that they were hearing fewer birds than usual. One thing that jogs my memory is leafing through my outdoor journals. For instance,...
Twenty years ago a new outdoor publication appeared in Pennsylvania, "Pennsylvania Outdoor News." This is a tabloid style newspaper/magazine that is published on a bi-weekly basis. The March 17, 2023, edition was the 500th issue of its publication. "Pennsylvania Outdoor News'" editor for all of this time has been Jeff Muhollem of State College, formerly of Altoona. He has worked to include both news items and feature articles in each issue. In addition, he has been willing to include articles...
We sportsmen need to be interested in items of environmental concern. Locally, one of these is that Rutter’s wants to build an unnecessary convenience stop at Pinecroft near the headwaters of the Little Juniata River, arguably the best trout stream in central Pennsylvania. The oily runoff from the stop would add pollutants to some of the river’s most important nursery waters. In addition, rain runoff from the asphalt of the convenience stop could overheat the water during late spring and summer storms. To help prevent it, you can contact Rutter...
Saturday (April 1) is "the big day" for trout fishermen. It is the opening day of the regular trout season and is the day that I believe more people are in Pennsylvania's outdoors than on any other day. All stocked trout waters have received their preseason allotments of legal-size trout from stockings by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission and from cooperative hatcheries operated by sportsmen's clubs. There are more trout finning the waters of the state's trout streams on the opening day...
Followers of the Blue Pirates consider teams from 1955 through 1968 to have played during the “golden age” of Williamsburg High School basketball. During that time the Pirates advanced to six State Championship games, winning two of them. The 1968 team is the last WHS boys’ team to have advanced to a state final, losing by only one point in the final seconds of the game. Expectations for the 1968 team were high. The team featured three starters from the 25 – 1 1967 team, all who had average...
From 1955 through 1968, Williamsburg High School produced basketball teams that won numerous league and district titles, advanced to the state championship game six times, and twice won the Class C (now Class A) State Championship. Many of these teams are local legends. However, one of the best teams of the era is sometimes forgotten. This is the 1967 team. Sandwiched between the 1966 State Championship team and the 1968 team that advanced to the state title game, losing by only one point, the...
Editor’s Note: This article was originally printed in the March 6, 2014, edition of the Herald. Richard Tate has recently written columns covering the 1964, 1965, 1967 and 1968 Williamsburg basketball teams. This column is being reprinted to avoid a gap in the timeline. This article has been edited for small style changes. No content was altered. Blair County has produced many fine boys’ basketball teams over the years. Only one of these teams, at least from 1955 until the present day and probably long before that, has ended its season wit...
The 1965 Williamsburg High School boys’ basketball team was made of an incredible cast of players. Not only did the team feature a trio of high-scoring guards; it also had a group of four tall inside players who helped the Pirates dominate nearly every game they played. During the regular season the team was challenged only once in a three-point 72-69 victory at Juniata Valley. Normally, the team won by 20 points or more. Remarkably, the Blue Pirates averaged 100 points per game during the r...
Following the 1961 WHS basketball team’s state runner-up season, the 1962 and 1963 teams could not advance out of the district into the statewide playoffs. Despite having a number of fine players, including the legendary Don Appleman in 1962, the WHS teams could not defeat a tall, talented Gallitzin team in 1962 or a state championship squad from Rothrock in 1963. However, the 1964 WHS team won the District 6 Championship, returning the Blue Pirates to the championship level. The team advanced to the Western Regional final where a fine C...
Last fall’s opening day of the autumn turkey season was forecast to be a rainy one. Knowing that, on the Friday before the Saturday opener, I told Bob, my son, that he’d better plan to hunt on his own: I despise hunting in the rain. Bob had been keeping tabs on several flocks of turkeys not far from his home outside of Tyrone. It was not raining at dawn, and he thought he was going to get in a good day of turkey hunting. However, a hard rain began not long after he had gotten a mile into the woods. Despite donning some rain gear, he was soaked...
In 2019 the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) shifted the opening day of rifle deer season from the Monday following Thanksgiving to the Saturday following Thanksgiving. PGC spokesmen told us that this would allow more people to participate, workers who are off work on Saturdays and students whose Saturdays are free. Some hunters favored the move to Saturday, while others strenuously opposed it. However, the PGC did not have any data to support which position most sportsmen favored. So, the...
At the end of winter, the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) distributed a press release reporting that the busy time for monitoring Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) was winding down. Although the PGC monitors CWD all year long, the most intense surveillance occurs during deer season when the PGC collects more data than at any other time of the year. The press release noted that the PGC had collected more than 11,000 CWD samples of whitetail deer after July 1, 2020. Hunters from the three Disease...
TV weather forecasters have been telling us for more than a month that meteorological spring began on March 1. As if that weren't enough, the official first day of spring was listed as March 20 on most calendars. True, we have enjoyed some lovely spring-like days after both of these dates, but sportsmen know that the real first day of spring occurs this Saturday, April 3. It is the first day of the traditional trout season. The first day of trout season is magical. It probably draws more people...
I have occasionally been asked why I do not write columns about guns. I guess I should be embarrassed when I reply, "I am not a real 'gun nut.' I possess only the ones I hunt with. Anyhow, the February issue of the "Pennsylvania Game News" included an article about shotgun-rifle combination guns. The article concludes with a short write-up of a turkey combination gun that became popular in the 1970s. This is the Tikka Turkey Gun, a product of a manufacturing company from Finland. The top barrel...
On the last Sunday of February, Donna decided that she; Sage, her dog; Amber, our granddaughter; and I needed to make a trip to Snow Shoe to see my sister, Anne Houck, and her husband, Bruce. "We still have their Christmas gift here. If we don't get it to them soon, it will be Easter." Having procrastinated about as long as I could, I agreed that we needed to make the trip to Snow Shoe. It was a convenient Sunday to do it: It was still too cold to fish, and I really did not feel like exercising...
As an enthusiastic reader and former English teacher, I like to think I have a solid vocabulary. I can often decipher sesquipedalian terms (long words) from the context clues in the sentences where I find them. In a recent issue of "National Wildlife" magazine, I encountered two words I had not previously run into. The first of these was "zoonotic." Zoonotic refers to a disease that humans contract that was caused by a pathogen that originally lived in animals. Examples of these include MERS,...
At its recent quarterly meeting, the Board of the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission announced changes for the upcoming 2021 trout season. These changes were prompted by the changes necessitated by the COVID-19 virus that dramatically altered things last year. For a number of years, there have been two trout-season openers: one in 16 southeastern counties and another one two weeks later in the rest of the state. In addition, preceding the regular openers, there were two Mentored Youth Fishing D...
Prior to last winter, I had never written a column concerning Valentine's Day. I intended that column as a tribute to Donna, my wife, and to all of the other wives of sportsmen who support – or at least tolerate – our outdoor activities. Several people stopped me downtown and complimented me on the column. However, a couple others asked me what I was thinking when I wrote the column. "Holy cow, Rich," one said, "when you wrote that you gave your wife a fancy card, bought her flowers, and the...
The COVID-19 virus is one of the most horrible events of my lifetime. I hope the people responsible for distributing the vaccines can get them out soon so the effects of the virus can be mitigated and we can return to relatively normal lives. Besides all of the medical issues presented by the virus, it has been responsible for cancelling many events, some of which have affected sportsmen. Probably the most evident cancellations for sportsmen are the popular outdoor shows that are normally held i...
"Rich, you need to a column about littering. There's more trash around in the outdoors than I have seen in years," Donna told me during a recent walk with her dog on the rail trail. "Yes, dear. But, you know my writing about it doesn't do any good. The pigs who throw their junk out along roads or in obscure places probably aren't the ones who read my column." The most recent event that had Donna fired up was that a local man who is nearly our age was cleaning up a mess along the local rail...
Winter is often not conducive for effective fly-fishing for trout. Howling winds and freezing temperatures make outings uncomfortable, and cold water temperatures often inhibit the activity of the fish. Many fly-fishermen sink back into rocking chairs near their wood burners and settle in with some winter reading. Winter reading can help them prepare for the upcoming season. Hundreds of fly-fishing books are available in bookstores, fly shops, or online that will help an angler devise tactics...
One morning in mid-December, Amber, my granddaughter, was driving along Route 866 on her way to her final morning classes in Johnstown. When she spotted a dead bear lying along the road, she called me. "You ought to go out and see it. It's not damaged too badly." So, Donna; Sage, her dog; and I hopped into my old Ranger. Five minutes later we were looking at the dead bear. It was relatively small but not a cub. I snapped a photo of it and talked about it with a couple other sportsmen who...
Proverbs 21:20 (KJV) says that "a fool and his money are soon parted." I suppose the same can be said about sportsmen. Sportsmen seem to need the latest gadgets and gear that are developed for our favorite pastimes. Deer hunters stock up on the latest scents and odor-free clothing that might help them put tags on whitetails. Turkey hunters collect all sorts of turkey calls to trick even the most reticent of gobblers. Fly-fishermen need the best feathers to construct their flies and the most...
"Rich, aren't you going to write up what you did this past year in the outdoors?" a sportsman asked me recently at a local store. "I know you didn't write about how things went in 2019." It's humbling to know that some people pay attention to what I write. Anyhow, here are a few items from the pandemic year. During 2020 I noticed more than ever that my age (71) is catching up with me. This was especially evident during May when I was trying to burn the candle at both ends – attempting to r...
Both good and bad events occurred during the past rifle deer season. Let's begin with one of the good things. My friend Brady built a number of deer stands two summers ago. Mine is a "Taj Mahal," though I had him build it in a poor location. However, he is smarter than I am and chose a good spot to build one for himself. For the second consecutive year he downed a nice buck from his stand. While he and I were tugging it uphill, my son arrived just when we needed his help. Bob pulled Brady's...
I was interested to read the article "Never the Same Again" in the December 2020 "Pennsylvania Game News." The author, Associate Editor Joe Kosack, takes us through the past 20 years of deer management from the Pennsylvania Game Commission's perspective. Kosack lauds the management decisions made by PGC biologist Gary Alt and his successors. Kosack praises Alt's team's promotion of concurrent season and antler restrictions. He concludes that Alt and his team "made deer hunting better for...
Several weeks ago, on Nov. 25, 2020, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced its decision to deny a permit for the proposed Pebble Mine in the Bristol Bay region of Alaska under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. In a statement, Army Corps Alaska District Commander, Col. Damon Delarose, said the mine would be "contrary to the public interest" because "it does not comply with Clean Water Act guidelines." This decision has the potential to end a...
When people my age (71) fall down, we can suffer serious long-term consequences. I believed that I was immune to falling down and hurting myself, though I am glad that my son, Bob, bought me a wading staff for fishing, since I often slip and slide around while fishing big streams. However, I didn't think I needed a walking stick to maneuver on uneven ground in the woods. Well, live and learn. On Oct. 30 I had accompanied Bob on a turkey-scouting mission. We hoped to put a flock of birds "to bed"...
My son, Bob, has killed quite a few bucks during his 28 years of hunting. The best of these was a perfect 10-point that he downed a couple years ago. Each tine was perfectly matched with one on the opposite antler beam, and there were no chips or broken points on the rack. It was a beautiful buck. A few years prior to that, he downed an eight-point whose rack had a wider spread than the 10-point's, but the tines were not as evenly matched. Though these bucks and others he has killed mean a...
The statewide rifle bear season comes in this Saturday, Nov. 21, and will run through Nov. 24. This is the first time bear season will include a Sunday of hunting – Nov. 22. Archers already enjoyed a lengthy bear-hunting season in late October and early November, and various extended bear seasons will be in effect during deer season. Locally, in Wildlife Management Areas 4A and 4D, the extended bear season will run from Nov. 30 through Dec. 5. This extended season does not include the first two days of rifle deer season. Including the a...
It is nearly here: the week of the whitetail rut that bowhunters and crossbow hunters have lobbied to have added to the autumn archery season. Next week is the big week. In the past, the first two weeks of November have been the ones that archers have hoped would get wary bucks moving past their stands. However, archers have lamented that the week following these two weeks is the one when power-rack bucks that are rarely seen leave their security areas and are out looking for does to breed. "We...
Last fall my son, Bob, called a nice young gobbler in for me on the opening day of the season. To my credit, I took advantage of the shot that was presented and collected my Thanksgiving turkey. However, Bob could not call in a turkey for himself that day, so he had to use his time after work each day to try to run down a bird. He rose early each day so that he could complete his work early in the afternoons, leaving himself several afternoon hours to hunt for a wild turkey. Finally, on...
Like the previous autumn, 2019's fall turkey season was to last only one week in our area (unless you counted the two days prior to the new Saturday opener for rifle deer season). So, I had to try to tag a turkey during the one-week season. Like my friend Scout, I had done my due diligence, scouting for birds a number of times; but the turkeys I'd found vanished a week before the season. Unlike Scout and me, my son, Bob, is not retired and had only limited time to scout prior to the opener, yet...
My wife, my son and my granddaughter tell me that I live in a confined world. "All you want to do is to go fly-fishing for trout and hunt for wild turkeys in season. You need to broaden your horizons." "I like to go out to eat whenever I can," I protest. "We go to lots of different places." "No, we don't," they tell me. My wife is especially forceful about this. "We eat at the same three or four places most of the time. No, Rich, you're a real stick in the mud." Of course I am hurt by these accu...
Pennsylvania's bear population has expanded dramatically over the past several decades, so much that special bear seasons outside the regular firearms season that lasts from Nov. 21 through Nov. 24 this fall have been established. The first of these statewide seasons actually begins this Saturday, Oct. 17. This is the statewide archery season for bears that lasts from Oct. 7 until Nov. 7. This is the season that exists in our local wildlife management area. The archery bear season lasts even...
When I got home from a successful fishing adventure this morning, I decided that I still had enough energy left to wash and wax my 10-year-old Ford Ranger. The Ranger is my most recent fishing (and hunting) truck; and during the 10 years I have used it, it has performed well. My mechanic tells me it should keep going for a while longer. As I washed and waxed the dark blue truck, I noticed that it does sport a few bumps and bruises that I have inflicted on it over the years. My local body-repair...
From the time he was old enough to realize what a gun was, my son, Bob, showed great interest in shooting and then a little later, hunting. I probably wasn't the best teacher, but I encouraged these interests from the time he was in early elementary school. The first thing I did to encourage his interest in shooting was to buy him a BB gun. After numerous sessions of Bob's shooting from a bench, I was confident enough to let him shoot the gun without my standing over his shoulder. He got to...
I recently ran into a young fly-fisherman who had bought my book, "The Trout at the Walnut Tree," which appeared 30 years ago and was probably the worst-selling book in the history of fly-fishing. He'd found it online for a dollar, which didn't do much for my ego either. "Are the stories true?" he asked. "Pretty much," I answered. "How about the one called 'The First Fly-Fisherman' where you and Dr. Archie O. Logist went cave exploring and found cave art that you thought showed that a caveman...
Students of literature remember that Oedipus the King was a major figure in tragic Greek drama. Unwitting actions ruined his life. Oedipus had become king by solving the riddle of the Sphinx: "What begins life on four legs, then walks upon two legs, and then in old age walks upon three legs?" Oedipus's answer, of course, was "man," who crawls as a baby, walks upon two legs as an adult, then needs a cane to help support him in old age. I would guess that most sportsmen reading this couldn't care...
