Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 5

especially during the breeding season, by clawing trees. Areas that have an abundance of beech and birch trees are good places to look for sign because those trees have the smoothest bark and sign is prominently visible. I passed up a small bear in 2006, and I returned to the same stand for the opening day in 2007 but didn’t see a bear. I decided to hunt near a thicket no one enters in the evening, because I had seen bear tracks in the snow heading in that direction early that morning. As we made our way down to the spot, my father spotted movement in the autumn olive, and it turned out to be a bear feeding at midday. Neither of us was able to get a shot at that bear. I decided that the next day I would stay low and glass the autumn olive patch, in case the bear returned. When I got there the next afternoon, I noticed that a bear had fed in the uncut cornfield. I positioned myself downwind of the bear’s trail and began glassing the hill above, which was filled with autumn olive. With only minutes of hunting time left, a bear stepped out of the timber. I raised my .300 Win. Mag. to my shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The bear went right down, but then tried to get up. I made sure he stayed down with a followup shot. As I approached the bear, it dawned on me that I had finally taken a trophy of a lifetime. I looked at the teeth and found each canine was worn halfway down, exposing the roots. One canine was completely broke, and had cut the bear’s cheek. At the check station the bear’s estimated live weight was 347 pounds. The bear had probably weighed more at one time, but with its extremely poor teeth, the biologist suggested that he was in bad shape. Game Commission staff thought the bear may have been between 1518 years old. Unfortunately, I will never know exactly how old because the lab results came back inconclusive. The bear’s skull scored 19-13, which places it in Pennsylvania’s official Big Game Records Program. The big bruin fell just short of making the Boone and Crockett Club Awards Program. All too many times hunters fall into the rut of going to the same areas in search of bears, often overlooking key areas that hold bears year round. These areas are sometimes in much lower lying areas and in areas you may not recognize as “bear country.” The key to being successful at finding bears is knowing how to recognize the signs they leave and altering your hunting methods and locations. When all the other hunters head north to the big woods, sometimes it pays to stay a little closer to home. COVER PHOTO BY TIM FLANIGAN THE WOOD DUCK, alias woodie or tree duck, is often encountered by hunters during the early segment of the duck season here. That’s because woodies are early migrants. They head south from northern haunts soon after the first cold snap arrives. The male drake wood duck is one of the most colorful and attractive ducks frequenting our waterways. Wood ducks inhabit small streams and ponds in wooded areas, and they maneuver through thick timber with all the grace and agility of a ruffed grouse. They often feed on acorns and they nest in hollow trees and manmade boxes placed on trees along streams or in beaver ponds and marshes. For more of Tim’s photography, visit natureexposure.com SEPTEMBER 2009 5
http://www.natureexposure.com

Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009

Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009
Contents
Hunting Low for High Country Bears
Double Eagle
Life & Times of the Whitetail
What is Public Access?
Fulfilling a Dream
Wild Goose Chase
Hunter Education Celebrates 50
The Old Beech Tree
Handguns for Bushytails
Field Notes
Conservation News
Off the Wire
Another View
Trapper’s Tips
The Naturalist’s Eye
Straight from the Bowstring
Fun Game
Lock, Stock & Barrel
Crossings
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Life & Times of the Whitetail
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Hunting Low for High Country Bears
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 4
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 5
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Double Eagle
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 7
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 8
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 9
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - What is Public Access?
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 11
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 12
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Fulfilling a Dream
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 14
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 15
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Wild Goose Chase
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 17
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 18
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Hunter Education Celebrates 50
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 20
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 21
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 22
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - The Old Beech Tree
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 24
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 25
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Handguns for Bushytails
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 27
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 28
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 29
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 30
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Field Notes
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 32
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 33
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 34
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 35
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Conservation News
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 37
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 38
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 39
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 40
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 41
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 42
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 43
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 44
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 45
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 46
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Off the Wire
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Another View
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 49
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Trapper’s Tips
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - The Naturalist’s Eye
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 52
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 53
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 54
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Straight from the Bowstring
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 56
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 57
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 58
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Fun Game
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Lock, Stock & Barrel
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 61
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 62
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - 63
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Crossings
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - BB1
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - BB2
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Game News - September 2009 - Cover4
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