Around this time of year, young wildlife begin to appear be it in backyards, woodlands and mountainous areas. And according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, folks who encounter these wildlife may think that they are abandoned, but most time they are not as a watchful parent is nearby and most likely gathering food for them. And the wildlife could be a bird, deer fawn, opossum, gosling, squirrel, fox, raccoon or even a newborn bear cub that could be an especially dangerous situation as its foraging mother can charge you unexpectedly. 

“Well intentioned folks might step in to help a young animal or bird that appears to be alone, not realizing its mother is nearby and it’s not in need of help,” said Matthew Schnupp, PGC wildlife management director. “That’s one reason why leaving young wildlife alone in the wild.”

Schnupp goes on to say that adult animals often leave their young while they search for food, but they don’t go far and they do return. Wildlife often rely on a natural defensive tactic called the “hider strategy,” where young animals will remain motionless and “hide” in surrounding cover while adults draw the attention of potential predators or other intruders away from their young. 

Deer use this strategy as deer fawns sometimes are assumed to be abandoned, when in fact the mothers are nearby. Added to this, deer fawns have spots to better conceal them in the wild. 
Approach a Canada goose nest where the female is laying on eggs and the mother, or nearby father, or both, will charge an intruder. 

Schnupp advises that such contact can be harmful to both people and wildlife. Wild animals can lose their natural fear of humans, making it difficult, even impossible, for them to live normally ever again in the wild. And anytime wildlife is handled, there’s always a risk people could contract diseases or parasites such as fleas, ticks and lice. 

Wildlife that becomes habituated to humans also can pose a public safety risk. Schupp recalls that some years ago a yearling buck attacked and severely injured two people. An investigation revealed a neighboring family had illegally taken the deer into their home to feed it as a fawn. Then continued to feed the deer right up until the time of the attack. 

Bothering wildlife can also have other consequences since it’s illegal to take or possess wildlife from the wild. And under state law, the penalty for such a violation is a fine of up to $1,500 per animal. The law states that under no circumstances will anyone who illegally takes wildlife into captivity, be allowed to keep that animal and under a working agreement with state health officials, any “high risk’ rabies vector species confiscated after human contact must be euthanized and tested; none can be returned to the wild because the risk of spreading disease is too high. 

Folks need to know that animals infected with rabies might not show obvious symptoms, but still might be able to transmit the disease. Though any mammal might carry rabies, the rabies vector species identified in the agreement are skunks, raccoons, foxes, bats, coyotes and groundhogs. 

Schnupp warns that people can get rabies from the saliva of a rabid animal if they are bitten or scratched, of if saliva gets into the person’s eyes, mouth or a fresh wound. 

Only wildlife rehabilitators, who are licensed the PGC, are permitted to care for injured or orphaned wildlife, for the purposes of eventual release back into the wild. If you find such an animal, the PGC recommends contacting a wildlife rehabilitator on the Pennsylvania Association of Wildlife Rehabilitators website, www.pawr.com. If you have trouble finding that then contact the PGC by phone at 833-PGC-WILD or 833-PGC-HUNT. 
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For all you waterfowl hunters, the Pennsylvania Game Commission in conjunction with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have set Pennsylvania’s 2024-25 migratory game bird hunting seasons with one change that will affect local hunters. 

Amanda Hoyt, Pennsylvania Game Commissions Waterfowl Biologist, said the most significant change for the upcoming season is that the regular season length for Canada geese in the Atlantic Population has been decreased from 45 to 30 days, but the daily bag limit remains at three. 

The reason for this said Hoyt, “Is that the population fell below the threshold for a liberal season, hence the harvest strategy mandates a shorter hunting season for this population.”

For several years we’d see loads of Canada geese on Trexler Park, Dorney Park and Cedar Creek ponds plus Leaser and Minsi lakes. But recently the numbers there seem to be surprisingly low. So Hoyt’s call seems to be appropriate. 

During the upcoming seasons, if hunters bag banded birds be it ducks, geese, doves and woodcock, sportsmen are encouraged to report their banded harvest online at www.reportband.gov. On it you’ll be asked information on where, when and what species of migratory banded birds were taken as well as the band number. Your information helps the Fish and Wildlife Service to learn migratory bird movements, survival and harvest rates which are critical to population management and setting of hunting regulations. 

The new seasons are as follows: 

*North Zone: Ducks, sea ducks, coots and mergansers, Oct. 12-26 and Nov. 19-Jan. 11. 
*South Zone: Ducks, sea ducks, coots and mergansers, Oct. 12-19, and Nov. 19-Jan. 18. 
Total Duck Bag Limits. 6 daily, 18 in possession of any species except for the following restrictions: daily limit may not include more than 4 mallards including no more than 2 hen mallards, 2 black ducks, 3 wood ducks, 2 redheads, 2 canvasbacks, 1 pintail, 4 sea ducks; including no more than 3 eiders and no more than 1 female eider, 3 long-tailed ducks, and 3 scoters. 

*Resident Population Goose Zone:

This includes all of Pennsylvania except for the Atlantic Population zone; Sept. 2-25 (8 goose daily bag limit); and Oct. 26-Nov. 29, Dec. 16-Jan. 18 and Jan. 31-Feb. 22 (5 goose limit in latter 3 segments).

*Atlantic Population Zone: 

This area is from east of SR 97 from Maryland State Line to the intersection of SR 194, east of SR 194 to the intersection of US Route 30, south of US Route 30 to SR 441, east of SR 441 to SR 743, east of SR 743 to intersection of I-81, east of I-81 to intersection of I-80, and south of I-80 to NJ state line: Sept, 2-25 (8-goose daily bag limit); and Nov. 23-29 and Dec. 23-Jan. 18 (3 goose limit in latter two segments. 
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*Light Geese (Snow Geese and Ross’ Geese) Atlantic Population Zone: Regular season; Oct. 22-Feb. 22; 25 daily, no possession limit. Conservation Order: Feb. 24-April 25; 25 daily, no possession limit. This is the longest season and highest possession limit of any waterfowl species mainly because there are too many snow geese and they are literally eating their breeding grounds out of house-and-home as the old saying goes. That, and when they do arrive here in the Lehigh/Northampton counties, they can devour an entire winter wheat crop field in short order. 



 

Despite the rainy weather we’ve been having, avid anglers are braving the wetness an continue to catch trout in local streams. On 4-29, the Little Lehigh and Swabia creeks were stocked and on 5-6, Coplay and Trout creeks were freshly stocked with trout. A friend fished Coplay Creek before the rains came and managed to catch and release three nice trout and one smaller one that he had to keep because it swallowed the hook. 

And while trout action continues, shad are still coming up the Delaware River. On Thursday, May 10, Steve Meserve of the Lewis Fishery, a commercial shad operation in the lower Delaware, put out 200 yards of netting and the result, he admitted, was a slow night as they only netted 7 buck and 5 roe shad. They also returned 11 shad, one smallmouth bass, one sucker, four gizzard shad, a carp and two quillbacks. 

But down at the New Jersey shore, jumbo stripers and black drum are hitting. On the Water Magazine reports large 40-inch bass are taking clams in the surf, while black drum up to 60 pounds are also hitting clams. Bluefish too are there and hitting minnow plugs in the surf and local rivers. Backwater fluke action remains steady after the season opener. 

Phil Sciortino from the Tackle Box in Hazlet reported big bass showed up on the ocean front and guys are crushing them by trolling eels with planer boards. One customer had 22 fish from 35-48 pounds from newly arriving stripers that are coming from either the Chesapeake or Delaware. He added that fluking started out good off Sandy Hook with fish up to 25 inches that are being taken on spearing, killies and bucktails tipped with Gulp bait. There is also a fair amount of bluefish around and being caught on almost anything be it chunks, metals, poppers and minnow plugs. 

Joe Julian at Julian’s Bait and Tackle in Atlantic Highlands, said the keeper fluke bite has been good around Bug Light on squid, spearing and live killies. Julian said there are some big stripers around so look to bays for keeper size fish. Blues are in the Manasquan Inlet and are falling for metals and topwaters. He expects more blues to come. 

Mike Giglio’s Bait and Tackle in Sea Bright, reported the plug bite for bass is good. There are more keeper size fish in the mix than in weeks past. The plug bite he reports seems to be more productive in the surf at night and over-slot fish are being caught on swimming plugs after dark. There are also a healthy mix of gator blues in the surf and rivers and they’re hitting mostly minnow plugs like SP Minnows and Mag Darters, so he recommends boosting your leader strength to avoid losing lures to the yellow-eyed demons. 
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If going to the shore, they recommend seeking out some sandy structure or keep an eye out for tailing bluefish, then start throwing pencils and minnow plugs. 

If you were one of the hunters who had to wait a long time for an antlerless deer hunting license last year, the Pennsylvania Game Commission says that shouldn’t happen this year as they have a new sales plan. In fact, they’re guaranteeing that most resident hunters will get an antlerless license in the Wildlife Management Unit of their choice, as long as they do so before sales to nonresidents begin. 

The PGC explains the new plan as such: 

Antlerless licenses again will be sold over the counter and online. But when 2024-25 general hunting licenses go on sale to residents at 8 a.m. Monday, June 24, antlerless licenses for only WMUs 1B, 2G and 3A will be sold. For three days, antlerless licenses only will be available for these WMUs which typically sell out the fastest and drive much of the customer demand seen at the start of sales. However, there is no guarantee in getting a license in these WMUs as they’ll be sold on a first come basis until the allocated number of licenses is exhausted. 

On Thursday, June 27, antlerless licenses for the remaining 19 WMUs will go on sale to residents. Residents seeking licenses in any of these WMUs won’t need to wait in line for them; they’ll be guaranteed to get one, as long as they buy before 7 a.m. on Monday, July 8, when the resident-only portion of the first round of sales ends. 

Once the nonresident portion of the first round begins at 8 a.m. on Monday, July 8, all remaining licenses will be sold on a first come, first serve basis until the allocated number of licenses is exhausted. 

The PGC says these changes to the sales schedule and process should work in tandem to reduce wait times for hunters buying licenses throughout the first round. They contend that by opening antlerless license sales initially in the three WMUs that are likely to sell out the fastest, and taking the others out of the mix, demand can be better met for those license buyers who need it most. And by guaranteeing an antlerless license to a resident hunter in any other WMU from June 27 to July 8, it largely eliminates the need to stand in line, allows demand to be spread out over more than a week and gives hunters greater flexibility to buy at a time that’s convenient for them. 

The agency goes on to says that even then, there are sure to be plenty of licenses left in most WMUs. Last year, when antlerless sales were sold over the counter and online for the first time, only WMU 2G sold out before sales to nonresidents began. WMUs 1B and 3A sold out on the final days of the first round. Licenses for every other WMU were available into the second round. Some WMUs sold out quickly thereafter while others made it to a third or fourth round of sales. 
Aside from high-demand WMUs first, the sales schedule and process is similar to last year where a hunter is limited to buying one antlerless license per round in the first three rounds. Sales begin at 8 a.m. on the first day of any round, and there will be no sales between 7 a.m. and 7:59 a.m. on the first day a round opens. This allows for online customers to join the buying queue. 
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The second round of sales begins on Monday, July 22 at 8 a.m. and the third round begins Monday, Aug. 12, at 8 a.m. 

Saturday’s (Apr. 6) much anticipated statewide trout opener gets underway at 8 a.m. when local streams and lakes will be lined with anglers attempting to latch onto some of the 3.2 million trout the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will have stocked for the season. The PFBC says they will stock approximately 2.4 million Rainbow Trout, 702,000 Brown Trout and 132,000 Brook Trout. And these fish, they say, are 11 inches in length and weigh .58 pounds 

In addition, the PFBC says 70,000 will be brood trout that are 2.5 years old and 3.5-year-old hatchery-raised Rainbow, Brown and Brook Trout measuring 14-20 inches. Roughly 70 percent of these lunkers will be stocked prior to opening day of trout season, and 30 percent during in-season stockings. 

As a bonus, approximately 14,000 golden Rainbow Trout will be stocked in 2024. These fish will weigh an average of 1.5 pounds with approximately 75 percent being stocked preseason and 25 percent will be stocked in-season. Added this, PFBC cooperative nurseries like the Lil-Le-Hi trout nursery and sportsman’s clubs, will add another one million trout to waters open to the public during the season.  

Once the opener kicks off, the PFBC will begin their inseason stockings. The following Lehigh and Northampton stocking dates are as follows. Keep in mind not all portions of a listed stream will be stocked at one time on that date. 

For Lehigh County the following will receive fish on listed dates:

4-9: Lehigh Canal; 4-10: Jordan Creek; 4-11: Little Lehigh, Swabia Creek; 4-15: Jordan Creek; 4-16: Coplay Creek, Jordan Creek; 4-18: Jordan Creek; 4-19: Switzer Creek, Jordan Creek; 4-22: Cedar Creek, Little Lehigh; 4-24: Monocacy Creek; 4-25: Ontelaunee Creek; 4-26: Jordan Creek; 4-29: Cedar Creek, Little Lehigh, Swabia Creek; 5-6: Coplay Creek, Trout Creek.

In Northampton County the following will receive stockings:

4-8: Monocacy Creek, Saucon Creek; 4-9: Lehigh Canal; 4-11: Hokendauqua Creek, Indian Creek; 4-15: Lehigh Canal; 4-18: Jacoby Creek, Martins Creek; 4-19: Bushkill Creek, Little Bushkill Creek; 4-23: Hokendauqua Creek; 4-24: Monocacy Creek, Saucon Creek; 4-30: Bushkill Creek, Little Bushkill Creek; 5-2: Minsi Lake; 10-10: Minsi Lake. 

If you’re heading to the upper Jordan Creek or Leaser Lake to fish and are need of bait, Bob’s Wildlife Taxidermy Shop in Orefield on Kernsville Road (610-398-7609) has Rosy Red minnows, medium shiners, fathead minnows, red worms, nightcrawlers, baby nightcrawlers, waxworms and mealworms. He may also be getting butter worms prior to the opener. Bob puts out a friendly reminder that a portion of the Jordan Creek at the Trexler Zoo above the ford that crosses the stream is a “kids fishing only” area where they’re almost guaranteed to catch a trout or two.

If you enjoy catching trout but not keeping them in a catch-and-release practice, the PFBC strongly recommends these release methods:

*Land the fish quickly: Don’t let it fight and jump until it’s exhausted.

*Use a landing net: The best nets have a shallow bag made of fine mesh. If you must handle the fish, wet your hands before touching the fish. 

*Keep the fish in the water as much as possible: If you must handle the fish, keep it in the water as being out of the water is stressful for the fish.
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*Quickly remove the hook: Practice grabbing the hook shank and turning the fish upside down. The fish will usually slide off the hook. Long pliers are helpful when removing the hook. Sometimes fish will get hooked and there’s no way to get the hook out so just snip the line as close as possible to the fish’s mouth, then release it. You may also want to crimp down the hook barb. 



 

With far too many youngsters tied to their cell phones and TV games, it would be nice to give them a life-long sport that gets them outside and into the great outdoors. And what a better time to do it is this weekend (March 30) for the Mentored Youth Trout Day that runs from 8 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. 

On this day, youths get a jump start on fishing trout-stocked waters before the statewide opener April 6. And the odds of them catching fish is better and helps maintain their interest in the sport. 

When my son was a youngster and there was no Mentored Youth Day, I took him to a local farm pond where he caught and released loads of small largemouth bass and sunnies that kept his interest and hooked him on fishing. Then we transgressed to trout fishing and on his first opening day of trout season he was excited to catch a trout before I did. And in  subsequent days on local streams, he often out-fished me. 

For starters, and to make youngsters feel like an adult angler, the fish commission says youth anglers need a Mentored Youth Permit or a Voluntary Youth Fishing License from any licensing agent and they must be accompanied by a licensed adult angler to participate in the program. With this license or permit it entitles the youth, 15 years old and younger, to take a total of two trout with a minimum length of 7 inches. Adult anglers are prohibited from possessing trout on that day. 

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission offers this guidance for mentors: 

*Youth should be capable of fishing on their own, with limited assistance from the mentor.

*Mentor should be fishing within a reasonable distance of actively fishing youth.

*This day is for mentors and their youth, and not designed for large groups of youth fishing, with minimal adult supervision. 

Of note, Special Regulation Areas are not included in this program and it’s unlawful to fish in waters designated as part of the Mentored Youth Fishing Day Program. 

The Mentored Youth Permit is free, whereas the Voluntary Youth License is $2.97 ($1 cost plus $1 issuing agent fee plus 0.97 PALS transaction fee). Adult anglers, however, need an annual fishing license and current trout/salmon permit. The youth permit, or youth voluntary license, can also be obtained online by going to HuntFishPA. 

LEASER LAKE

From recent field reports, Leaser Lake was reportedly stocked with larger than the average size trout stocked. The reason, it’s surmised, is so the muskies at Leaser don’t feast on them as they would smaller trout. 
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At the end of each hunting and fishing season, Southwick Associates performs a survey of the most frequently purchased equipment and gear for that year. 

Southwick is a consumer tracking company that surveys purchase information of sales across different types of stores, brand purchased, price paid and demographics for sportsmen and sportswomen who buy specific products. 

For 2023, Southwick compiled the most frequently purchased hunting and shooting equipment brands. Their sampling is as follows: 

Traditional Rifles – Ruger; Shotguns – Beretta; Rifle Ammunition – Federal; Reloading Powder – Hodgon; Reloading Components – Hornady & CCI; Binoculars – Bushnell; Reflex/Red Dot Sights – Sig Sauer; Scope/Accessory Mounts – Leupold; Trail Camera – Stealth Cam; Game Calls – Primos; Game Feeder – Game Winner; Holsters/Ammo Belts – Blackhawk; Gun Cleaning – Hoppes; Choke Tubes – Briley; Magazines – Magpul. 

OUTDOOR RAMBLINGS

In last week’s column we mentioned the possibility of shad making their way up the Delaware River in their annual spawning run. Well, Kevin Ingram, a contributor to the Delaware River Fishing Report, said he fished the Yardley stretch of the Delaware on March 14 and managed to land seven shad with the first one caught at 11:30 a.m. He also caught a walleye and added that the water temperature was 48 degrees at 6 p.m. 

In regards to the shad fishery, the New Jersey Marine Fisheries Division said American shad are in need of protection and addressed measures of an unsustainable adult female mortality in the Delaware Basin. As such, they would like New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware to reduce their creel limits down to just two American shad in the freshwater section. 

As a result, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission said that because the Delaware River American shad population is experiencing unsustainable mortality, Co-Op members and Pennsylvania have agreed to reduce the American Shad harvest by approximately 33 percent for both recreational and commercial fisheries. This was voted and approved on Jan. 1, 2023, which now drops the creel limit from three to two shad per day on waters managed for the Delaware River, West Branch Delaware River and River Estuary. 

TROUT POACHERS

As most of the local streams have been stocked with trout for the season opener, it’s being reported that some fishermen are fishing closed portions of the Little Lehigh Creek (and a few others), ahead of the opener. One guy was spotted using a hand-line to fish. 

In checking, it was learned that the local Waterways Conservation Officer has made a few arrests of these illegal anglers. If honest anglers spot any of this taking place, they should call the fish commission’s Southeast Region office at 717-626-9228. 

SPORTSMEN’S RAFFLE

The Lehigh Valley Community Benefit is a nonprofit group of folks who got together after some friends and neighbors lost their lives under tragic circumstances. They honor them with raffles and motorcycle rides like a Toy Run with all proceeds going back to the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas. Their latest effort is a Sportsmen’s Raffle of 36 firearms ranging from a Ruger American 6.5 Creedmoor rifle to a Winchester XP 12 ga. Shotgun, Sig Sauer P365 9mm, Glock 43X MOS 9mm, Ruger 10/22 .22 rifle, 1000 rounds of 5.56 PMC and many more.

​The raffle is being held April 27, 2024 at 1 p.m., at Tri-Boro Sportsmen’s Club in Northampton. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at the club or online at www.LVCB.org. 

​Although the deer hunting season has ended you can still take to the woods and fields in search of antler sheds. And since there’s no snow on the ground, sheds should be easier to find. 
Shedding can start to occur in late December as famed wildlife photographer and author Dr. Lenny Rue III indicates in his “Whitetail Savvy” book, which is an encyclopedia on whitetails. Rue writes, “Increasing amount of daylight after December 2, melatonin is suppressed by the end of March and the luteinizing hormone allows enough testosterone to be produced to start the growth of the buck’s new antlers.” 

In his chapter on sheds, Rue says that finding cast antlers may help hunters to be more successful in locating a good buck the following deer season. Sheds, he contends, also make good knife handles, door pulls and chandeliers. 

Rue goes on to say that even more important, cast antlers give definite proof which bucks made it through the hunting season, how large the bucks are and where they might be found next season. 

He adds that although bucks may not live in the same area in which they spend their winter, hunters who live in an area where deer do not yard up, can find sheds that indicate home range. 
And as many shed hunters know, if you find one antler you may or may not find the other one. Rue says that most of the time a buck will lose one antler and not drop the second for another hour, day or week. And if not found a short time after they’re cast, they’ll be consumed by rodents and other animals desperate for minerals. 

Trying to spot antlers in a forest littered with leaves and sticks could be tough, as they don’t stand out. He writes about an Indiana farmer who had two of his tractor tires punctured by a shed as he was driving in his hayfield. “That cost him $600 to have the tires replaced.”

 But for shed hunters, finding large ones could bring big bucks of the monetary kind. Rue points out that if finding a large 150-195-inch B&C class shed could bring the hunter upwards of $2,500 or more. 

As for locally in the Lehigh Valley area, Bob Danenhower, of Bob’s Wildlife Taxidermy in Orefield and an avid shed hunter since he was a kid, says shed hunters should check hillsides and ridge-tops with a southern exposure as bucks like to warm themselves during cold and bright winter days. He also suggests checking winter deer bedding areas. 

Aside from those areas, you may find one or more in unexpected areas like Andrew Wargo of Northampton and his son Harrison did last week when they walked the Ironton-Rail Trail section from Rte.145 west to Egypt. It’s there Andrew spotted what appeared to be a freshly dropped 4-point buck laying aside the trail. 

Another unusual shed was found last week by 8-year old Joelle Flyte, from Bushkill Township, who found a deer skull with the antlers intact when walking with her older brother in the woods behind their home. It’s surmised that the 8-point buck may have been shot during archery season and the hunter couldn’t find it but coyotes, foxes and field mice did and they ate the skull clean. 

Danenhower contends, as does Rue, that bucks may drop an antler then keep shaking their heads to drop the other that may or may not fall at that time. 

For novice shed hunters looking for a public spot to hunt, Danenhower suggests walking the Trexler Game Preserve lands as he did and as he used to find many sheds there. 
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So to lengthen your deer-hunting season, give shed hunting a try. It may pay off handsomely.