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Articles written by Richard Tate


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  • Mentored Youth Day Saturday

    RICHARD TATE, Outdoor Sports Columnist|Mar 28, 2024

    “Helen, it’s time to get up,” said Ted, her dad. “We should eat our breakfast and then get out to the creek. I think I know a good spot for us to fish.” Ten-year-old Helen was excited. This was going to be her first trout-fishing experience. Ted had taken her fishing in ponds for sunfish, and she knew how to operate her small spincast fishing outfit. In addition, he had bought her a voluntary youth fishing license, and he had placed his own required license and trout stamp in a license holder. Making sure they had packed all their gear in the b...

  • A Couple Of Short Items

    RICHARD TATE, Outdoor Sports Correspondent|Mar 14, 2024

    Dively wins again. Claysburg is the home of a good many serious sportsmen. Among these is ninth-grade student Aiden Dively. He is the most recent of a line of champion turkey callers hailing from the Claysburg area, continuing the success enjoyed by the Chamberlain family and others. During the weekend of February 16-17, Dively competed in the Junior Grand National Turkey Calling Contest at the convention of the National Wild Turkey Federation held in Nashville, Tenn. His grandfather, Ralph Baker of Roaring Spring, emailed a video of...

  • January PGC Meeting Highlights

    RICHARD TATE, Outdoor Sports Columnist|Feb 15, 2024

    On Jan. 27, 2024, the Board of Commissioners of the Pennsylvania Game Commission held its meeting to set preliminary upcoming hunting seasons and bag limits. In a recent email, sportsmen’s advocate Greg Levengood shared some of the meeting’s highlights. One of main interest to sportsmen concerned the reintroduction of the American marten, a small predator, to the Pennsylvania woods. Sportsmen are concerned about the potential damage this small weasel could do to the ruffed grouse population and to other wildlife populations as well. Lev...

  • Bear Harvest Continues Downward Slide

    RICHARD TATE|Feb 8, 2024

    As some sportsmen had predicted, the Pennsylvania bear harvest continued its downward slide this past season – or should I say seasons. The preliminary figures show that Pennsylvania hunters killed 2,919 bears, the first time the harvest has shrunk under 3,000 since 2007. Hunters killed about 1,243 bears during the archery, muzzleloader, and special firearms seasons. Only 1,083 were downed during the traditional four-day firearms season and 593 were tagged during the extended season. This is down from 4,653 bears killed in 2019. S...

  • Alt Receives Oliver Award

    Richard Tate|Feb 1, 2024

    On Jan. 6, 2024, Dr. Gary Alt received the “John C. Oliver Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Board of Commissioners at the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s headquarters. The award ceremony was open to only a select group of agency employees; retirees, past and present; current board members; NGO and agency partners; and members of the House and Senate Game and Fisheries Committees. Only invited guests could attend. I was first alerted to this event by sportsmen’s advocate Greg Levengood of Boyertown, who found some irony in the bestowi...

  • The A Team

    RICHARD TATE, Outdoor Sports Columnist|Jan 25, 2024

    I have three friends who have earned the nickname “The A Team” for their handyman-type activities, especially work involving the First Methodist Church of Williamsburg. Occasionally they include me on a project, one that does not involve any mechanical or technical skills, of course. After all, as Bruce Houck, my brother-in-law, once remarked about me when I was offered some tools and refused to take any of them, “He wouldn’t know how to use them anyhow.” However, there are other A Teams, a couple to which I aspire. I would like to become an...

  • 2024 Outdoor Sport Shows Season

    RICHARD TATE, Herald Columnist|Jan 18, 2024

    Sportsmen are now enduring the dreadful midwinter with few things to do. Most hunting seasons are over; and except for a few hardy ice fishermen, anglers are dreaming of warmer weather and water for their adventures. However, they can maintain contact with the outdoors by attending one or more outdoor shows that are on tap throughout the state. Three might be of interest to Cove sportsmen. The first is the Great American Outdoor Show that runs from Feb. 3rd through the 11th at the Farm Show Complex near Harrisburg. This is the largest outdoor...

  • Fly Tying Time

    RICHARD TATE|Dec 28, 2023

    About this time every year, a few sportsmen decide they are going to learn to tie flies. They may have enjoyed a few experiences with fly-fishing, and they now might think it could be nice to learn to tie their own flies. I am not sure I would recommend going out and buying a bunch of fly tying equipment and materials without having first seen what you might be getting into. Fly tying can be a fascinating, life-long hobby. However, it can also be a frustrating, short-term disaster. The John Kennedy Chapter of Trout Unlimited (Blair County) is...

  • Sick

    RICHARD TATE|Dec 21, 2023

    The recent rifle deer season was a frustrating one for a number of sportsmen. Some hunters failed to see many – if any -- deer, while others were put off by inclement weather. Still others were disgusted by the behavior of game hogs. One sportsman was marooned with illnesses in his family. Just prior to the deer season, his wife was hospitalized with a lung problem called pneumonitis. This is much like pneumonia, except it is not accompanied by the fluids of pneumonia, nor is it caused by a bacteria or a virus. However, it is treated much as p...

  • The Guns of Autumn

    RICHARD TATE|Dec 14, 2023

    Older hunters remember the notorious CBS hit job on hunting, “The Guns of Autumn,” that was broadcast in 1975. The program’s obvious goal of silencing the guns of autumn has begun, at least in Pennsylvania. You can often hunt all day without hearing a shot. The broadcast had little to do with it. Land practices, Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) policies, and young people’s indifference to the outdoors in favor of social media have dramatically quieted the guns of autumn, except for a burst of activity on the rifle deer season opening day and...

  • Family Spot

    RICHARD TATE|Nov 30, 2023

    After World War II had ended, American veterans who had headed off to war came home to resume their lives. Unfortunately, many members of the armed services were killed during the war, including my uncle Blaine Reigh. All of these brave men made it possible for us to experience the freedoms we now enjoy. Following the war, Dad and many other veterans became interested in deer hunting. As the deer herd increased and Dad learned the habits of the animals, he discovered a nice spot on a local mountain where he, my uncle Bill Rhodes, and later seve...

  • Are You Going?

    RICHARD TATE|Nov 22, 2023

    A couple days ago, my neighbor, Dr. Archie O. Logist, professor of Phenomenology at the Ganister Technical Institute, posed a question to me that I had posed to some of my friends this fall. “Are you going to hunt deer this season?” he wondered. “With the game commission telling us that 33 percent of the deer they tested from our area were infected with CWD, you might be taking a chance of killing one that has it.” “But, the commission tells us that there has been no definite risk of people contracting CWD from eating meat from an infected...

  • Rifle Bear Season Begins Saturday

    RICHARD TATE|Nov 16, 2023

    The four-day rifle season for bear hunting begins on Saturday (Nov. 18). Although the PGC has de-emphasized the importance of this traditional hunting season by establishing various other bear-hunting seasons, the four-day hunt is still anticipated by numerous groups of enthusiastic bear hunters. Last year only 1,051 of the total harvest of 3,170 bears were killed during the four-day hunt. Archery and muzzleloader/special rifle seasons prior to the regular season accounted for 1,451 bruins. The extended rifle season during deer season...

  • In the Mud

    RICHARD TATe, The Sportsmans Corner|Nov 9, 2023

    Shortly before autumn turkey season, I was fishing on a local stream. I had taken two rods along: one to fish a section of riffled water while using a favorite nymph imitation; the other, a lighter rod, was equipped with a dry-fly to fish smoother sections of the creek. I did not carry both rods at once. I left one in my locked Ranger while using the other. This was a pretty good plan. I was catching some elusive wild brown trout at each of my stops. One – if I might brag – was 20 inches long. It’s pretty hard to have things “go south...

  • Eating Crow

    RICHARD TATE|Nov 2, 2023

    Last week I related how my son, Bob, and our friend “Scout” tagged turkeys on last autumn’s opening Saturday. I, on the other hand, had to try to do as much hunting during the one-week season as I could if I were not to “eat crow” for Thanksgiving. Monday found me back at the location where Bob and Scout had downed their birds. There was no activity. Just about the time I had decided to start to cover some ground, it began to rain. I hustled out of the woods and was home by 9:00, drying my soaked clothes -- and the new shotgun Bob had bought fo...

  • Bob's 2022 Fall Turkey

    RICHARD TATE|Oct 26, 2023

    Prior to last year’s one-week fall turkey season, I had scouted several locations, hoping to line up a flock for opening day. Though I failed to put any birds “to bed” the evening prior to the opener, I knew where a couple flocks were hanging out. Bob, my son, whose job prevents him from doing much scouting, agreed that a flock frequenting a section of game lands was probably our best bet for opening day. We were set up at dawn on a ridge where grapevines were loaded with fruit and where there had been good turkey scratching (places where...

  • A Couple of PGC Items

    RICHARD TATE|Oct 19, 2023

    My email inbox was recently bombarded with emails regarding a raid by the state legislature on the PGC’s Game Fund. An amendment to House Bill 1300 was approved by the State Senate that would transfer $150 million from the Game Fund to the state’s Clean Stream Fund. Proponents of this move said the money would come from the PGC’s pool of $525 million in unspent oil and gas reserve money. After the Senate had approved this move, it went back to the House for concurrence. At first this sounded like a reasonable move to assist in cleaning the C...

  • Numerous Seasons To Open Saturday

    RICHARD TATE|Oct 12, 2023

    Numerous hunting seasons open this Saturday (Oct. 14). At one time only small game seasons would come in on Saturday; but the PGC has expanded deer seasons, and one of them begins on Saturday. This is the statewide muzzleloader season. Only antlerless deer are legal during the one-week hunt that ends on Oct. 21. A special firearms season for antlerless deer begins in midweek, on Oct. 19. It also ends on the 21. This firearms season is for junior and senior license holders, mentored license holders, active-duty military members, and persons...

  • Out of Commission

    Richard Tate|Oct 5, 2023

    “You’re just a spoiled 73-year-old. You can go fishing any time you like. Donna never says anything to you about overdoing it,” various people have told me. “It wasn’t always like that,” I counter. “When we first got married, she’d often ask ‘Are you going fishing again?’ Now when I’m in her way around the house, she asks ‘Why don’t you go fishing?’” During a recent week, however, things did not work out well for me. The weather was nearly perfect for late-summer fishing. There was a rainy day that raised stream levels slightly, and several...

  • Archers Ready To Go

    RICHARD TATE|Sep 28, 2023

    Saturday (Sept. 30) is the big day for crossbow and bow hunters, the day they have been dreaming about all summer. It is the opening day of the archery deer season. Bowhunters have been practicing with their equipment for months so that they can make competent, humane shots on deer. Members of the crossbow community have sighted in their crossbows, making sure their sighting systems are in working order and that their equipment is properly tuned. Many of these archers have erected stands in locations where they believe deer will be traveling....

  • Deja Vu

    RICHARD TATE|Sep 21, 2023

    This past spring I wanted to take a photo of a special trout I had caught. After some maneuvering, the trout was in a perfect position for a photo, and I touched the camera button to get the photo. Unfortunately while maneuvering to get into position to snap the picture, I stepped onto the butt section of what is my favorite large-stream fly rod, crushing it. I had broken the tip section the year before; so when I finally received the replacement butt section this summer, the rod was essentially a new one. I had bought the rod “used”; but wit...

  • The Wallhangers

    RICHARD TATE|Sep 14, 2023

    I recently became aware of what I believed was a group of young, informally organized sportsmen called The Wallhangers. I am always impressed when young people become enthusiastic about fishing and hunting, and I wanted to know more about them. It turns out that The Wallhangers is not an informal group of young sportsmen. It is a new Williamsburg-based business and has been established by its 20-year-old CEO/President Caymen Hughes as an LLC. Presently the staff consists of Hughes and three other young people: Coltyn Wagner, 18; Caydence...

  • Squirrel Memories

    RICHARD TATE|Sep 7, 2023

    Squirrel season’s Saturday start (Sept. 9) stirs up some interesting memories. The earliest of these are ones with my dad. When rabbit hunting went downhill and he closed his kennel of beagles, Dad decided to introduce me to hunting by chasing squirrels locally. We generally took two sporting arms: a .22 rifle for shots at stationary squirrels and a 20-gauge shotgun for shots at moving targets. Dad was essentially my “gunbearer,” as he tried to set me up to do all of the shooting. The first squirrel I ever shot was with the .22. I was prett...

  • Hunting Begins Tomorrow

    RICHARD TATE|Aug 31, 2023

    Hunting for doves and resident Canada geese begins tomorrow (Sept. 1) in Pennsylvania. The dove season, consisting of a Sept. 1 through Nov. 24 segment and a later one from Dec. 19 through Jan, 6, 2024, allows hunters to kill 15 doves per day, with a possession limit of 45. It would take a lot better shooter than I am to collect these numbers of birds. The daily hunt lasts from a half-hour before sunrise until sunset. In addition to a regular hunting license, a dove hunter must possess a Pennsylvania migratory bird license that may be...

  • Anticipation

    RICHARD TATE|Aug 24, 2023

    August is not at the top of the list of sportsmen’s favorite months. Eager bass fishermen are out making some good catches, and the few groundhog hunters who are still active are pursuing the “pasture grizzlies.” However, most sportsmen are in “sleep mode.” While in sleep mode, many sportsmen anticipate easing out of their torpor and into some active outdoor adventures. Probably the sportsmen who are most eagerly anticipating autumn are deer hunters, especially bow and crossbow hunters. Having acquired their special licenses, they are ready...

  • Some Wildlife Sightings

    RICHARD TATE|Aug 10, 2023

    When in the outdoors, sportsmen observe various things. Let's start with some good things I have seen this year. Most sportsmen know ruffed grouse are having a rough time because of the devastating effects of West Nile Virus. Previous to this year, I had seen only one grouse in the past 10 years. I doubled that this year, which is not especially encouraging but is a slight improvement. The first of these grouse was one of the "tame" type the game commission wants people to report seeing so that...

  • Nothing Good to Say

    RICHARD TATE|Aug 3, 2023

    My neighbor, Dr. Archie O. Logist, constantly evaluates my column. One recent afternoon he interrupted my lawn mowing to accost me. “Rich, you’re constantly criticizing the game commission. Don’t you have anything good to say about it?” “No. I once had great respect for the commission. But, it and its board members have pretty much thumbed their collective noses at sportsmen to satisfy non-sportsmen’s agendas. The list is extensive. “I have written about their disdain for sportsmen while catering to game hogs with their brown-and-dow...

  • A Tale of Three Skunks

    RICHARD TATE|Jul 27, 2023

    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...

  • A Day Late

    RICHARD TATE|Jul 20, 2023

    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...

  • Getting a Doe License

    RICHARD TATE|Jul 6, 2023

    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...

  • Skunked

    RICHARD TATE|Jun 29, 2023

    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...

  • The Dark

    RICHARD TATE|Jun 22, 2023

    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...

  • Father's Day Tribute

    RICHARD TATE|Jun 15, 2023

    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...

  • PGC Strikes Again

    RICHARD TATE|Jun 8, 2023

    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...

  • Disappointed

    RICHARD TATE|Jun 1, 2023

    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...

  • Pennsylvania's Estimated Deer Kill

    RICHARD TATE|May 18, 2023

    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...

  • Morel Season Nearing End

    RICHARD TATE|May 11, 2023

    “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...

  • My 2022 Spring Gobbler

    RICHARD TATE|May 4, 2023

    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...

  • April 20, 2022

    RICHARD TATE|Apr 20, 2023

    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,...

  • 500th Anniversary

    RICHARD TATE|Apr 13, 2023

    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...

  • A Few Items of Interest

    RICHARD TATE|Apr 6, 2023

    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...

  • The Big Day

    RICHARD TATE|Mar 30, 2023

    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...

  • 1968: The End Of The 'Golden Age'

    RICHARD TATE, Herald Columnist|Feb 23, 2023

    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...

  • Forgotten Pirates: The 1967 Basketball Team

    RICHARD TATE, Herald Columnist|Feb 16, 2023

    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...

  • 1966 Pirates' Basketball Squad a 'Source of Pride'

    RICHARD TATE, Herald Columnist|Feb 9, 2023

    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...

  • 100 Points Per Game: The 1965 Blue Pirates

    RICHARD TATE, Herald Columnist|Feb 2, 2023

    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...

  • Return to Championship Form

    RICHARD TATE, Herald Columnist|Jan 26, 2023

    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...

  • Bob's 2021 Fall Turkey

    Richard Tate, Herald Outdoor Sports Columnist|Oct 20, 2022

    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...

  • A Tale Of Two Surveys

    RICHARD TATE|Mar 10, 2022

    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...

  • CWD Surveillance Information: PGC Will Want More Deer Killed

    Richard Tate, Herald Outdoor Sports Columnist|Apr 8, 2021

    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...

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