Outdoor News and Videos

Members of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, along with a few volunteers, braved the snowy weather this month as they began placing trout in streams and lakes across the state in preparation for the beginning of trout season April 3. Overall, 3.2 million trout will be stocked across 700...

As the U.S. Forest Service has opened up ATV and off-road vehicle permits for the Allegheny National Forest, the state reports that its licenses for these sports vehicles continue to trend upwards. The U.S. Forest Service offers permits for off-road vehicles to use federal forests, including the region’s closest federal...

While the pandemic caused a flurry of event cancellations last year, some outdoor outings are a “go” this summer, including the 24th Rachel Carson Trail Challenge. The 35-mile trek though rugged, hilly terrain only adds to the challenge of the event, which will start in Harrison Hills Park in Harrison...

A fishing organization plans an extensive two-year study of the wild trout in Linn Run and the impacts on their habitat, from the stream’s headwaters atop Laurel Summit, down through Linn Run State Park in Cook Township to where it empties into Loyalhanna Creek in Rector. The Forbes Trail Chapter...

When Owen Standley set out to lose a little weight, walking 2,200 miles along the Appalachian Trail was not the plan. But when Standley, 34, of Ferndale, Cambria County, joined his wife in a diet and exercise plan, it included a journaling assignment to list something he thought he could...

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the state Game Commission have teamed up to offer one website for residents to buy hunting and fishing licenses. HuntFishPA replaces the previous Pennsylvania Automatic Licensing System (PALS) platform known as The Outdoor Shop. It’s accessible on all mobile devices. Previously, licenses for...

The Pennsylvania Game Commission proposed three Sundays in November when licensed hunters will be able to harvest permitted game, repeating the Sunday hunting schedule introduced last fall. New this year, the commission plans to expand the species that hunters can target on two of those dates. During its January meeting,...

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Hikers are being told by the agency that oversees the Appalachian Trail to postpone plans to cover the nearly 2,200-mile (3,540 kilometer) distance this year due to COVID-19. The Appalachian Trail Conservancy made the suggestion because it feels the pandemic makes long-distance hikes unsafe, the Asheville Citizen...

Pennsylvania’s trout season will open earlier than usual this year, and statewide, on April 3. The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission on Monday set the opening date and also approved a single statewide Mentored Youth Trout Day on March 27. As a result of the consolidation, separate regional mentored youth...

Year-in and year-out, Pennsylvania’s deer hunters look forward to July, which marks the start of the antlerless deer license application process. This year, they may need to pay close attention to the process, especially if they apply for more than one or two permits, because the state is considering revamping...

The winter of 2021 is shaping up to look much like the spring, summer and fall of 2020 — at least when it comes to most forms of in-person socializing. But one place that has remained safe for activity throughout the pandemic has been the great outdoors, and that certainly...

WICHITA, Kan. — A Kansas game warden is getting attention for a video that shows him firing a single shot from a handgun to disentangle the antlers of two whitetail stags. The Kansas Wildlife, Parks & Tourism agency released the video from the warden’s body camera showing his sharpshooting skills...

Pennsylvanians who plan to go hunting or fishing in the next few weeks but have yet to get a license should do so soon, according to the state Game Commission and Fish and Boat Commission. Pennsylvania’s Automated Licensing System will be down for several days next week as it undergoes...

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Trump administration on Tuesday finalized changes that weaken the government’s enforcement powers under a century-old law protecting most American wild bird species, brushing aside warnings that billions of birds could die as a result. Federal wildlife officials have acknowledged the move could result in more deaths...

For the seventh consecutive year, the Bradford Woods Conservancy is seeking nature lovers interested in participating in the Audubon Society’s annual Christmas Bird Count on Jan. 2. A small team of conservancy members and volunteers is scheduled to be in the Bradford Woods Reserve at 10 a.m. “looking, listening and...

BEDMINSTER — A hunter who fatally shot a man he apparently mistook for an animal at a state park has been charged with homicide and weapons counts, authorities said. Kenneth Troy Heller, 52, of Warminster made his initial court appearance Wednesday and was jailed after the judge denied him bail....

Linda Croskey guessed it’s been about 30 years since she has seen the rare winter migrant, the evening grosbeak, show up at her birdfeeder at her West Deer home. Then, after last week’s snowstorm, Croskey was elated to see at her feeder the rare visitor. It looks like an overgrown...

The state game commission plans to release 23,000 pheasants on Dec. 22-23, as part of the seventh and final release of 2020. Pheasant hunting is open across Pennsylvania. All hunting is closed on Christmas, but the season reopens on Dec. 26 and continues through Feb. 27. “These pheasant releases just...

Buoyed by a 20% increase in fishing license purchases this year over 2019, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is offering fishing licenses for 2021, which are also valid for this month. Although fishing licenses are still available through local bait and sporting goods stores, the commission is promoting the...

For the first time in Pennsylvania history, deer hunters will be able to hunt for a full weekend during the statewide firearms deer season. Hunters will go afield Saturday throughout the commonwealth for the opening day of firearms season for the second consecutive year. Then, those who don’t fill their...

Hunters killed 78 black bears on Tuesday, the final day of the 2020 firearms hunting season for bear, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. That bumped the total harvest for the four-day season to 1,155 — a relatively low number for the firearms season — and to 3,135 for all...

It’s actually not unusual, given the circumstances, that a cute Northern saw-whet owl, found in the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center recently, is healthy and still adorable. The saw-whet owl is so named because its call, not the typical hoo-hoo, but rather a mechanical toot-toot, sounds like the sharpening of...

Pennsylvania was a British colony in 1682 when blue laws were enacted banning many activities, including hunting, on Sundays. For the first time since, Sunday and on the next two weekends, hunting of big game such as deer and bear will be allowed on Sundays. Hunting will be allowed this...

A Derry Township man’s boast on social media about bagging an albino deer during archery season last month landed him in hot water with the state game commission. After an investigation, Stone P. Kepple, 23, admitted to wardens that he had struck the deer while driving in Derry Borough and...

Graffiti is back again at Ohiopyle State Park. Volunteers and park staff spent Thursday cleaning up spray painted political messages, obscenities, drawings of genitalia and personal notes from bridge abutments in two parts of the park, said naturalist Barbara Wallace. Graffiti was found on a new abutment constructed this year...