Raining Saturday so little league got canceled. What are two boys and a father to do? Fish, of course. The fish were already wet, so a little rain didn’t matter. Besides, once we got to the lake, the rain had stopped.
Check out the boys’ first catches for the season.

According to the boys, there are two finds of fishing: good fishing - spending time with dad, no matter how many fish; and great fishing - spending time with dad and catching fish. Today was great fishing for the boys. For me, any day fishing with the boys is great fishing. The fish were just a bonus.

We also saw an American bald eagle! It was fishing at the lake too. My cell phone camera wasn’t good enough to capture that. Next time, I’ll have a better camera!

Ever read one of the best fishing authors? John Gierach has done it again. Fool’s Paradise, available online or your local bookstore, is an amazing collection of fish stories. I am only half way through this great, new book and I wholeheartedly recommend it. This would make an awesome Father’s Day gift for that special fisherman.

Send me your best fishing story (1,000 words or less) and I’ll publish the best one on PA: Hunt. Fish. Shoot., and send the winning author a free copy of John Gierach’s new book, Fool’s Paradise!

Contest ends June 15, 2008, at midnight. Entries must be submitted electronically to fuzzie@pahuntfishshoot.com.

Ok, I know it is not fishing in Pennsylvania, but it is a Pennsylvania fisher!
Just back from Key West. The tarpon, bonefish, permit, and barracuda fishing was awesome!

Spent part of the day on the reef, catching snapper, yellowtail, grouper and the like.

Check out this native brown trout. It was caught Christmas Eve 2007, on my new Dream Catcher Bamboo Fly Rod!

It snowed here yesterday. Perfect weather for deer hunting. So I made it out early this morning. It was cold– single digit cold. But there was no wind, and with the snow, deer were easy to spot.

I saw some deer, which is a good thing. Didn’t see anything legal to shoot at. I did, however, get treated to a show from six turkeys; two longbeards and four jakes. They played 30 yards from my treestand, for the better part of 20 minutes. Guess you know where I’ll be come May!

An alert reader sent the following questions:

Do you get appalled when you meet someone, or know of someone who kills more deer than legally permitted in a year, year after year? Are there any sportsmen who get upset when they learn that someone they know purchases licenses for various family members only to use those tags for themselves? Do you know of a person who thinks that it is absolutely okay to kill as many deer as he pleases because he is a small land owner and “the government isn’t going to tell me what to do on my 100 acres?” Do you get upset when you find out that their friend who has been killing a deer on the first day of buck season for many years has been doing it over bait or a salt block?

What I’ve found over the years, is that many people I’ve met, who appear to be fine, law abiding members of the community, are in fact no different than the stereotypical, redneck hillbilly who is perceived as killing as many deer as he pleases, and these people don’t think there is anything wrong with what they are doing. Where are the remaining sportsmen who get upset about what I’ve described, or are we simply a dying breed?

I did it! I finally bought a hunting license for this season. Just in time for the annual rifle season.

I didn’t trek up to the cabin, which is in such a state of disrepair, there is talk of razing it and building anew.

Instead, I found my way to a honey hole in the South Mountain. Only saw one buck, a small 6 pointer. I passed him up. Good thing too, because the neighbor kid shot it. Turns out it was his first deer. Nice feeling to be a part of that experience.

I did see 18 does. Nice number. But still not enough to convince me to shoot (the lack of an antlerless tag was enough). The weather was miserable here; it rained all day long. Hopefully, that kept some others home and more deer will survive until the next slaughter…I mean season.

So this archery season has started, and I haven’t been in the woods. I haven’t even been in the woods scouting. I didn’t even buy a hunting license.

Some sort of protest about the overkilling of the deer herd…no. Just very busy with Upward.

Hopefully, some of our faithful readers will pick up the slack and feel the nudge to write an article or two about their experiences this season.

So I read a “How To” list every morning. Well, I don’t actually read it every morning. I get an email about it. Sometimes I take the time to read it.

This one caught my attention, and I know you will appreciate it!
How To Make a Ghillie Suit

After you make one, please send me photos and some feedback, and I will post your response for others to see.

Olive Mount Bowhunters Christian 3D Archery Shoot!

Mark your calendars for September 7, 8 & 9, 2007. A Christian 3-D archery shoot, 4 PM to dusk on Friday, 7 AM-dust on Saturday and 7 AM-2:30 PM, on Sunday, Troy Landis Cabin. For directions: call Troy at 717-249-5697 (mllandis@embarqmail.com). Sponsored by Olive Mount Bowhunters, a chapter of Christian Bowhunters of America, $8 per shooter, $14 per family; (717) 432-1442.