Pennsylvania Game News - February 2009 - 40

What a Switch LUZERNE — Last fall, during two separate license checks on the same day, hunters asked why there were so many deer. I was taken aback, but I guess once you open your eyes, the picture does get a little clearer. — WCO DAVE ALLEN, MOUNTAIN TOP Funny Looking Squirrel Maintenance supervisor Mark Kahrer and I were driving through a State Game Lands when we spotted something fall out of a tree. Mark turned to me and said, “I just saw a squirrel fall out of that tree.” I had seen it also, but wasn’t sure what it was. When we got to the now motionless animal, we discovered that it was a partially devoured rabbit. Now, I have heard of it raining cats and dogs, but never bunnies. Later, we saw a red-tailed hawk in the tree, and I suspect it had something to do with the unusual precipitation. — LMO JERRY A. BISH, CONNEAUT LAKE Thought It was In Heaven I received a call about a bear in a trash transfer station near my home. It seems the 422-pound bear was in a dumpster in the Poconos and was picked up by a top load trash truck. The truck driver dumped the load in the transfer station and the bear, despite being disoriented, began eating garbage. He then curled up in a corner of the building to sleep. WCOs Kreider and Teehan arrived and we were able to dart the bear and transport it to more suitable habitat. — LMO DAVE MITCHELL, FOGELSVILLE If You Can’t Beat ’Em, Join ’Em DAUPHIN — Angie Divens and Kate Megonnell attended an HTE class at Short Mountain Sportsmen’s Club in Lykens. While chatting with instructor Harold Daub they mentioned that they were taking the class as a “gift” to their husbands. They realized how important hunting was to their spouses and they wanted to share that enjoyment as a family. — WCO MIKE DOHERTY, HARRISBURG Program Done Right MERCER — On the deer season opener Deputy Bruce Ellis and I checked several mentored youth hunters, including one 5year-old who bagged a beautiful 8-point while hunting with his dad. The youngster could barely contain himself, jumping up and down with excitement and telling me about his great adventure. We also checked two junior hunters who had harvested does, and one 20-year-old woman who got her first antlerless deer on her first hunt. All in all, we met more youngsters out hunting than I have seen in the last several seasons in spite of high winds and biting cold. A special thanks goes out to the parents and mentors who make the effort on behalf of these kids. — DEPUTY DAVID HOCK, GROVE CITY GAME NEWS It’s all in the Color VENANGO — After seven years as a dispatcher I thought I had heard everything. Recently, though, a man called and wanted to know if it was legal to hunt with a pink gun. He explained that he was at a sporting goods store and wanted to buy his wife a gun with a pink stock, but the sales person told him it was illegal to hunt with a pink gun. I told him there is no law restricting the color of gun that can be used, and he was grateful that he could buy his wife the pink gun. Maybe I should have warned him that pink might be a problem with the fashion police, though. — DISPATCHER RONDA BIMBER, LUCINDA 40

Pennsylvania Game News - February 2009

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