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Outdoors

2026-27 hunting seasons and more at next PGC meeting

HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners will hold its first meeting of the new year on Friday and Saturday. Among other agenda items, the Board will consider preliminary hunting seasons and bag limits for the 2026-27 license year. The meeting will include two proposals for the Board to consider regarding the start of the firearms deer season. The first proposal would open the firearms season on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. The second proposal would maintain the current season structure, with the season opening on the Saturday following Thanksgiving. Regarding ...

A key lesson about huddling, reflection from bobwhite quail

Bobwhite quail, after impact from a traumatic event, will call each other together into a tight grouping called a covey to regroup and fend off additional danger as a group. It was a phenomenon that always fascinated me growing up on a small game farm in central Pennsylvania. After the hunt ...

Reflections in Nature: When discussing a buck’s rack, deer have antlers and not horns

The regular 2025-2026 deer season will end on January 19, with the closing of the flintlock season. Those hunters that have been unsuccessful will no doubt be thinking about the big buck that got away, however, they will have to get busy cleaning guns and putting away their hunting equipment. During the winter months to come, there will be hunters again taking to the bare woods. These hunters will be searching for antlers that the male deer have shed. This hunt for shed antlers will continue until spring when the woods begin to turn green again. Often when discussing a buck’s ...

Hunters can have their antlers scored in early Feb.

Pennsylvania deer hunters can have their antlers scored by certified Boone & Crockett and Pope & Young scorers of the Pennsylvania Game Commission at the Great American Outdoor Show from Feb. 7-9. The scoring event hours run from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sat., Feb. 7; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sun., Feb. 8; and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Mon., Feb. 9. Harvest must have legally occurred in Pennsylvania. For official scoring, the antlered deer must have been harvested at least 60 days prior to the scoring. Registrants may only enter one set of antlers to be scored per time slot. Eligible to be scored: ...

Battle for heart, health of Allegheny National Forest

ELK COUNTY — In Elk County, a behemoth is performing surgery on a forest. Its yellow head — taller than a human and equipped with 18 “teeth” — cuts through the base of trees and gently lays logs down in a pile. The rest of its body would blend into lush green foliage in spring ...