A roundup of outdoor news

If you’re looking for something to do that’s outdoors related, you could do worse than this.

The Fish and Boat Commission will hold its annual Linesville fish hatchery open house from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on April 1.

Visitors will have the chance to see how hatchery walleyes are spawned, practice casting in a children’s casting area, learn basic fly tying and fly casting, learn how to tell the age of fish, buy licenses and more. Members of Kayak Anglers of Western Pennsylvania will be on hand to talk, too.

There will be a fish filleting demonstration area, too, with a fish frying station right there. It’s a chance to taste some trout.

It’s all free. Parking is limited, though, so shuttle service will be available. The hatchery is located at 13300 Hartstown Road in Linesville.

Higher fees

It’s going to cost more to play outside in Minnesota, if state officials there have their way.

Gov. Mark Dayton has proposed raising hunting and fishing license and user fees – some of them for the first time in a decade – to fund the maintenance of fishing piers, state parks and recreation areas, cross country ski and ATV trails and more., according to the Department of Natural Resources.

According to information from the state’s Department of Natural Resources, without fee increases, residents will see “deteriorating parks and trail facilities and reduced visitor assistance. There will be declining fishing opportunity and quality, less habitat management on wildlife areas and other public lands and waters, fewer hunting opportunities, and fewer conservation officers to protect resources from poaching and misuse.”

A resident annual fishing license would go from $22 to $25, while a resident deer hunting license would increase from $30 to $34. Daily state park permit fees would also increase, among other things.

Cool find

There will be a lot of people hunting shed antlers across the country this month.

Few will find anything like Gary Thompson did.

According to WDAY, Thompson, a Minnesota scuba diver, found an elk antler at the bottom of Buffalo Lake last August. Recently-completed carbon dating indicates it fell into the water sometime between 1440 and 1532, according to a story in the Duluth News Tribune.

This is not the first time old antlers have been found on the bottom of a Minnesota lake. The Alexandria Echo Press reports that in 2007 a scuba diver discovered a set of antlers in more than 100 feet of water in Lake Carlos, likely a result of the elk having fallen through the ice.

Upon inspecting the antlers, the Science Museum of Minnesota estimated that the rack was 2,000 to 12,000 years old.

Boundary change

Pennsylvania Game Commissioners adjusted the boundaries of a couple of wildlife management units.

Just maybe not the ones expected.

Some regional agency staff had recommended adjusting the boundaries of unit 4A in southcentral Pennsylvania – taking from parts of others — to encompass all of disease management area 2, where chronic wasting disease has been found in wild deer.

Commissioners seemed interested in the idea initially, but they’ve decided not to do it.

What they did do in an unrelated move was preliminarily change the boundary between units 2C and 2E.

The proposed change would make Route 22 the boundary between the units. Previously, the boundary had followed not only Route 22, but also routes 422 and 219.

The change expands 2E southward into 2C.

Final approval of the idea still has to come at the board’s March meeting, but that’s considered likely. It would go into effect for the 2017-18 hunting seasons.

Commissioner Tim Layton of Windber said the change is small, in terms of acreage. But it’s big habitat-wise. It puts the portion of what was 2C in a unit more like it geographically, he said.

Youth fishing

Pennsylvania’s two mentored youth trout fishing days are approaching.

One will be held on March 25 in 18 southeastern counties, including: Adams, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, Philadelphia, Schuylkill and York.

The other will be held on April 8 everywhere else.

In both cases, the youth days are one week earlier than the general trout season opener.

To participate, adult anglers 16 years or older must have a valid fishing license and trout permit and be accompanied by a youth. Youth anglers must obtain a free commission-issued permit or a voluntary youth fishing license.

Hunter ethics

The Boone & Crockett Club is launching a “Hunt Fair Chase: Hunt Right, Hunt Hard” initiative this summer.

Its goal will be to “to teach and invigorate a commitment within the hunting community to the values hunting teaches, such as self-reliance, self-determination, self-restraint and self-respect.”

“Somewhere along the way we stopped talking about our values and ethics: the adventure, experience and the life lessons learned through hunting,” said CJ Buck, the club’s vice president of communications. “We need to get back to that story, especially for our younger generation, and to be putting our best foot forward.”

“Every once and a while it’s a good idea to dust off those things that make hunting great and talk about them more,” Buck explained. “We intend to walk sportsmen back to a time when they were respected within our society for their skills, character, ethics and commitments to wildlife and conservation.”

The National Shooting Sports Foundation has signed on as a sponsor.

Muskrats

When it comes to what’s going on with muskrat populations, one Pennsylvania Game Commissioner wondered about West Nile virus.

That disease is suspected of playing a role in the decline of ruffed grouse numbers. Muskrat populations are likewise trending downward sand have been for a long while, all across the northeast and perhaps all across North America, according to Matt Lovallo, game mammals section supervisor for the commission.

Could West Nile be at least partly at fault, asked commissioner Dave Putnam?

The answer so far appears to be no, Lovallo said.

“There’s been very little evidence of the impact of disease on populations, in terms of people finding significant numbers of deceased animals,” he said.

That said, the commission’s wildlife veterinarian, Josh Brown, has begun examining carcasses to check for disease.

Bankruptcy

Outdoor retailer Gander Mountain has officially filed for bankruptcy.

Its intent is not to go out of business apparently, but to reorganize.

According to a press release from the company, “the company generally expects to conduct normal business operations during the pendency of its restructuring.”

Thirty-two stores are being closed. Its stores in West Mifflin and Moon Township have already closed; another in Washington, Pa., is closing now.