This is my first journal entry and I thought it would be so easy since I love to write, share pictures and tell stories. But I found it wasn’t so easy this time. What should I write about my first time? I have so many memories to share. Should I write about my big buck, my first buck with a bow I harvested just a week ago? So I decided to write a little about myself, show you all some pictures of my memories over the years, but write a story of the most memorable and exciting memory for me this past year.

As owner of the Pennsylvania Sportsmen Portal, we are proud to have Medalist Silvermax as our first major sponsor.

Over the last couple of weeks, my trail cameras have been clicking away and there’s been a lot of activity in the local woodlots. Most of the bucks in southwest PA started dropping their velvet a couple of weeks ago and I’ve noticed some rubs popping up along the well-used trails. It’s been fun trying to get photos of some of the bucks I’ve been watching with the spotlight.

By Brian Bundy, Falls Creek, Pennsylvania
Me and my friend Wes Burkett went out for our first fishing day of the year on May 12th, expecting to catch a few catfish, maybe even a nice pike. But what I landed we weren’t expecting.

By Kyle Schwabenbauer, Knox, PA
After a relatively uneventful first week of spring gobbler season, a good friend of mine called to say that he had located some birds and was planning to take his daughter, Morgan, hunting the following morning. I had been out with them for the Youth Turkey Hunt, but we couldn’t get the birds to cooperate that morning. Morgan was still excited to get her first gobbler and we were hoping to capture the event on video.

All of these birds were harvested near Knox, PA in Clarion County on opening day of spring gobbler season. After roosting several birds in different areas the night before, our group split up before dawn to try our luck for the first couple hours of the season. However at first light, all of the gobblers were “henned-up” and we were unable to call them away from their ladies.

By Joshua Butz, Macungie, Pennsylvania

Let me start by saying that I have been trying to catch a shad for almost a decade (7 years if I remember correctly). Now I cannot say that I’ve been really trying too hard to catch one, but I have gone at least once every year and tried. Unfortunately, every year something happens. Too much rain, too little rain, before the run or after seem to be the main causes, but usually I just run out of darts and spoons. The Delaware River has probably claimed close to $250 worth of these lures.

Product Review By Mike Bell, PSP Staff

COST

I purchased this unit for $22.95 and I also purchased a refill package (1 butane cartridge and 3 mats) for $7.95. These refill packages will give you approximately 12 hrs total protection.

By Jeremy Fisher, Lewistown, Pennsylvania
On April 30th of this year my cousin and I headed to Lake Raystown for a night of throwing plugs at the bank in hopes of catching striper and walleye. We arrived at the lake a little before dark and were throwing jigs to catch bass and panfish while waiting for it to get dark.