Pennsylvania Game News - February 2010 - 42

Of Course ERIE — A hunter told me that the day before the firearms deer season he climbed into his treestand to measure distances with a rangefinder. Much to his surprise, in the field in front he spotted an 8-point buck. He was able to harvest a doe on the following day, but saw no sign of the buck. — PGC WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST TIMOTHY T. HOPPE, ERIE Tedious Task Smarter Than the Average Bear CRAWFORD — A beekeeper showed me a photo of some bear damage to his hives and I remarked about his unique bear deterrent electric fence. It was made from dog kennel chain link sections coupled together, and the whole thing was hooked up to an electric charger. For ground insulation he had it sitting on plastic milk crates. A bear definitely wouldn’t climb it, but, unfortunately, a bear was able to reach under the fence, hook the edge of a close beehive and pull it over. The bear then pulled out some frames with the bee brood and honey. It did all of this without touching the electric fence. Not to be outdone by this persistent bruin, the beekeeper then cut the plastic crates so that the whole fence was close to the ground. All was fine until the electric went off one night, and the bear, apparently able to sense when the electric was on or off, lifted the fence and crawled under. You can guess the damage done to the hives. Surprisingly, the beekeeper wasn’t too angry about all of this. He was just disappointed that he never saw the bear’s antics. I hope the bear doesn’t figure out the location of the electric breaker box. — WCO JOHN A. MCKELLOP, GUYS MILLS We grow a lot of native tree seedlings for use on game lands, cooperator properties, and for sale to the public. Gathering the seed by hand is a monumental task. A big thank you goes to Mike Heckathorn from Mercer County. He gathered five 5-gallon pails of white oak acorns and donated them to the Game Commission. — LMO JAMES J. DONATELLI, MERCER Bump & Run W ESTMO RELAND — As a hunter was leaving a Sheetz gas station on Route 8 in Butler County, a deer with a big rack ran from between the gas pumps and into the side of his truck, then ran away. The deer probably stopped off for a Sheetz’s sandwich and was just leaving in a hurry. — WCO RODNEY ANSELL, MT. PLEASANT One Good Deed Deserves . . . PERRY — Neighboring officer Jim Brown called one morning to say that his truck was in the garage and that he had received a call about a dead deer being found on a property at the western end of the county. After agreeing to help, I located the deer about 150 yards behind a home, and after gaining permission to drive closer to shorten the drag, I left the driveway and started down a field. Two hours later, my 4-wheel-drive vehicle, with the deer, was being pulled out of the field by a friendly neighbor with a large tractor. Thanks to homeowners Jeff and Cindy for being so understanding, and to their neighbor for the extraction. Oh, yeah, Jim can get his own deer from now on. — WCO STEVE HOWER, ICKESBURG GAME NEWS Future Hotspots SUSQUEHANNA — During bear season SGLs 35 and 70 received a lot of hunting pressure, and quite a few bears were taken. — WCO MICHAEL WEBB, NEW MILFORD

Pennsylvania Game News - February 2010

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