After years of trying, I finally made it up to the Big Pine and Little Pine in north central Pennsylvania on June 17th & 18th. I was initially concerned because the week before was very hot and the streams were heating up.

First off, I have to apologize for not getting to this journal entry sooner. I’ve been extremely busy lately with some major life-changing decisions. In short, I quit my job in Pittsburgh to move back to the wilds of northwest PA. As most of you could have guessed, urban living isn’t exactly my style, and the lack of camo-clad residents in the big city was really starting to bring me down. Anyway, I’m extremely excited about getting back to rural life near my hometown in Clarion County, and I’m really looking forward to spending more time in the “big woods”. All excuses aside, let’s get back to the task at hand.

A couple of weeks ago, the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) held a scoring session at Rocky Grove for hunters from northwest PA hoping to enter their big game trophies in the state record books. The PGC used to hold these sessions every three years, but due to budget cuts, it had been six years since the last statewide scoring events. I knew it would be a great chance to see some of the huge bucks taken in recent years, and although I didn’t have a trophy qualifying for the books myself, I just couldn’t resist the chance to check out some of the monsters that have come from the local woodlots.

On June 25th I had the opportunity to go fishing with Jason Sheaffer, AKA-Trouter, the moderator of our Penn's Creek stream conditions, and Mark Ferringer, AKA-Muskratnymph, the moderator of the Oil Creek stream conditions and we were blessed with ideal weather for this time of year.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the Lehigh Valley Hunting and Fishing Extravaganza in Kempton, Pennsylvania, June 20-22.

BOARD TAKES STEP TO EXPANDED MENTORED YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES
BOARD APPROVES ADDITIONAL URBAN DEER MANAGEMENT OPTION
BOARD TAKES OTHER ACTION

BOARD TAKES STEP TO EXPANDED MENTORED YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES
HARRISBURG – Taking a step forward to grow the agency’s popular Mentored Youth Hunting Program (MYHP), the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today gave preliminary approval to add coyotes to [...]

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is reminding anglers to report tagged smallmouth bass in order to help the agency with a population assessment on a section of the lower West Branch of the Susquehanna River.
The commission is currently conducting the assessment and an angler survey on about seven miles of [...]

BOARD APPROVES ADVANTAGEOUS AMENDMENT TO MINING LEASE
TWO LAND DONATIONS ACCEPTED BY BOARD
LAND EXCHANGES APPROVED BY BOARD
IN OTHER BUSINESS

6/24/08 – BOARD APPROVES ADVANTAGEOUS AMENDMENT TO MINING LEASE
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners today agreed to amend the agency’s existing 159-acre mining lease on State Game Land (SGL) 75 with Fisher Mining [...]

6/23/08 – HARRISBURG – Ronald Weaner, of Biglerville, Adams County, was welcomed as the newest member of the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners at today’s meeting, making this the first time since June of 2006 that the Board has been seated with its full complement of eight members. District 6 is comprised of Adams, Cumberland, [...]

6/20/08 – HARRISBURG – Beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday, June 23, Pennsylvania resident and nonresident hunting and furtaker licenses for the 2008-09 seasons will go on sale through “The Outdoor Shop” on the Game Commission website (www.pgc.state.pa.us), according to Carl G. Roe, agency executive director.  Licenses are available over-the-counter at all Game Commission region [...]