Everyone that I have been talking to is ready for this bleak winter to pass. The records show that this winter was especially hard on us and a record setter for the snow amounts and cold days.

Even with all of the snow days we can’t stop spring from arriving!

We are one month away from the opening day of trout season and we saw our first spring visitors on March 1st, yes the robins and bluebirds were back in the area last Saturday. The bluebird was checking out a nest box and the robins were hanging out at a spring seep along a hillside, giving me new hope that spring wasn’t too far away.

Another sure sign of spring is the annual tree seedling sale by the PGC for wildlife.

They have thousands of seedlings for groups, schools and individuals to plant that will benefit wildlife and the environment. What a great way to help our planet and be a steward of our environment. I love elderberry anything and I see that they have elderberry seedlings as one of their offerings.

I could see a nice patch of these tasty berry bushes growing for a future jelly or pie project.

According to a release from the PGC we might not be the only one who likes wild fruits.

The annual bear harvest report is out and Pennsylvania had another great year in the record books.

We had the fifth largest harvest in total numbers of bears and the largest group of bears in the 500-600 pound range.

That’s impressive!

We did make some bear sausage and cooked it with apple juice, red onions, red cabbage and apple slices and it was a real favorite!

Wild turkeys are starting to show that spring isn’t too far away for them as well. Gobbler groups are starting to form and some tail fans are starting to be shown off as well.

Spring gobbler season is only two months away and will start with the Mentored Youth Hunt on April 26th and the Spring Gobbler Season for adult hunters running from May 3-31, 2014.

Specific regulations should be carefully reviewed for the Spring Gobbler Season especially safety and Arms and Ammunition areas. Use manmade blinds for hunting purposes. Piling up natural rocks, logs and branches is illegal and can get you shot by accident.

There is no fluorescent orange requirements in the spring hunt but is recommended when hunters are moving.

This hunter will have some orange on for sure!

I did use an old hunting trick on a gobbler once with the use of fluorescent orange.

I placed an old small game vest on a middle trail that my brother and I were hunting.

This wise old gobbler was call shy and would always hang up outside of shotgun range.

He would circle around our sets and eyeball the area looking for anything out of place in his forest world. We both set up on trails that would go both left and right of the middle trail and went silent. The gobbler was gobbling his head off and avoiding the middle trail and going up and down the other two trails. He decided that he gobbled at us enough and finished his walk up the left trail and right up to my brother sitting on the edge of some saplings.

Nice turkey!

This is a good time to be thinking about looking over your fishing boats and trailers.

The stickers on any powered boats must be 2015 or better to be useful. Stickers always expire on March 31st of the year, thus a 2014 sticker date will not be useful for the upcoming boating season. Good news is that you can renew online or through the mail…but do it soon.

The PFBC watch those color coded registration stickers closely and it will be a sure thing that you will be stopped on the water and have a ruined day!

It would also be a good time to check all of your batteries and charge them or replace them.

I replaced my batteries for both my deep cycle and start battery and winterized my gas tank & lines.

They will all need to be double checked again after this winter cold.

This year I plan to hit the water early for crappies and walleye as soon as the ice is off the lakes. Last year I was slacking and didn’t get out when the fishing was at its best. My fishing buddies were all over me for missing the spring spawning runs.

No excuses…just need to get it done in 2014!

I am really looking forward to frying up some snappy crappie filets at a few early cookouts. They are great table fare in a beer batter recipe even though it can be a hassle to clean up a whole bucket full of slab sides.

Until we meet again…get ready for the spring thaw and don’t miss the spring spawn!