Time to sign up for Fairbank’s annual mentored pheasant hunt
Fairbank Rod and Gun Club and the Tri-County Chapter of Pheasants Forever will host their 8th annual Mentored Youth Pheasant hunt Saturday, Oct. 9. The club was the first in the area to make the annual pheasant hunt one of its pet projects when the Game Commission began the mentored pheasant hunts in 2002.
Under the early hunt setup, youngsters do not need a hunting license to participate, but they must have successfully completed a Pennsylvania Hunter/Trapper Safety Course.
The young hunters and their mentors will be provided with a hearty breakfast upon arrival at the club grounds at 6 a.m., and a hot lunch will be provided at mid-day.
The first group of hunters will go afield at 7:30 a.m.
The hunt is open to the first 50 youngsters between the age of 11 and 15 who register.
Parents who wish to register their youngsters must do so by calling hunt coordinator Bob Valente at 724-246-9828 before Friday, Oct. 1.
Parents are asked not to register their youngsters unless they are positive they are going to take them to the hunt.
Each year there are several no-shows. To sign up and not show up is not only disrespectful to the club, but it also robs another youngster of a chance to participate.
Youngsters who take part in the hunt must meet all fluorescent orange requirements as prescribed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, including the wearing of a vest and hat.
Along with Valente, Tri-County Pheasants Forever Chapter President Rich Kovacic is busy lining up seasoned bird hunters with pointing dogs to go afield with the youngsters, so that they may experience a real pheasant hunt complete with a pointing dog to find the birds.
Each hunter will be sent afield with a mentor and a dog handler and given the chance to shoot two ringnecks.
While waiting their turn afield, youngsters can fish in the club pond if accompanied by their mentor or they can pass time is by shooting five stand sporting clays, muzzleloader shooting, attending an archery safety and shooting demonstration or a Mountain Pie station manned by the Boy Scouts.
There will be certified shooting instructors on the sporting clays course, and each youngster will have the opportunity to experience all facets of five stand shooting, including singles, doubles and rolling rabbit shots.
The club provides shells for five stand shooting.
Youngsters must provide their own shotgun and fluorescent orange hat and vest.
Door prizes will be awarded at the end of the hunt. Youngsters must be present to receive door prizes.
Youngsters in the northern part of the county may can check on the availability of openings in a hunt the same day sponsored by Law Enforcement Officers Westmoreland County at Mammoth Park near Mount Pleasant.
To check for openings contact Westmoreland County Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer Jerry Trainer at 724-493-9886 or email toms@outdrs.net.
Family field day
California University’s student chapter of The Wildlife Society will present its fifth annual Family Field Day from 1-4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 in and around the Frich Biology Building on campus.
The public may attend this free event conducted in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Held rain or shine, the field day includes an archery demonstration, a fly-tying demonstration and casting contest, a display of animal tracks and scat, displays of pelts from Pennsylvania fur-bearers, and information about bluebird box construction.
This year’s special event is a bird dog demonstration by Nick Mellon of Team Hunt Smith.
Refreshments will be available for purchase.
For more information, contact Matthew Malesic, president of the student chapter, at mal5197@calu.edu.
Antlerless licenses
Except for the southeast corner of the state, the only antlerless deer licenses still remaining are in WMU 2A (17,909), which includes the western half of Fayette County, all of Greene County and a large portion of Washington County.
Licenses also remain in WMU 2B (43,660), which includes the northern tip of Washington County, a small portion of Beaver County and all of Allegheny County.
License recovered
The other day a pink envelope arrived in the mail with what I thought was an antlerless deer license for WMU 2A.
When I opened the envelope, it was empty, leading me to think, ‘this is going to be fun to straighten out.’
The next day I received an official business envelope from the Post Office Department. Inside was my missing antlerless deer license with a note saying that it was recovered among the loose mail, and asking if I was the intended recipient.
All that was on the license was my name and license number, so somebody had to have taken the time to enter the info in a computer to run me down.
I thank and applaud the Post Office for taking the effort to get the license delivered when it could have just as easily been cast aside in the dead letter file or even worse the trash.
Tiger muskie stockings
Approximately 2,500 Tiger muskie fingerlings were stocked in the Loyalhanna Lake in Westmoreland County in late August.
The same week nearly 5,000 paddlefish fingerlings were released in the Ohio River in Allegheny County.
PSU bass team wins
The Penn State team of Seth Baker and Jeremy Lake, won the final qualifying National Guard FLW College Fishing Northern Division event on Lake Erie Sept. 11 with four bass weighing 8 pounds, 12 ounces.
The victory earned the team $10,000 to be split evenly between the university and the university’s bass-fishing club. The win also helped them advance to the Northern Division Regional Championship where they could ultimately win a Ranger 177TR with a 90-horsepower engine wrapped in school colors for their school’s bass club and $25,000 for the school they represent.
Herald-Standard Outdoor Editor Rod Schoener can be reached online at rschoener@heraldstandard.com