The famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil is calling for an early spring, but I’m not sure that anyone can call the weather this year.

It was 60 degrees on Sunday but they were calling for minus-14 degrees during the week.

Believe it or not, I have seen a few of Phil’s kin out and about already along the roads that have southern exposures. I was excited to get some outside work done myself as I had some wood cutting to do from the wind damage of the past month or so. I cut up the big stuff for firewood and used the smaller branches for a cleanup fire.

The beauty of a camp fire is that when it burns down you can do some nice outdoor cooking on the coals. We cracked out the pie iron and made some awesome grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch. My neighbor, Shotgun Mike, has his annual outdoor BBQ in February and we are planning to cook some fish and game over the fire as well … yum!

WCO Chip Brunst communicated with me about setting up a hunter-trapper education class already for 2016. Those fellows seem to always have something stirring each spring.

The PGC has some other news that they are sharing with the hunters of Pennsylvania as well. One of the hot items is the proposal for a license fee increase in the 2016-17 hunting season. Many outdoor organizations are in favor of the proposal and many others are reserving their support until they see the final drafts. Regardless it has been a long time since any license fee increase has been seen in PA.

How about the support of hunters being able to use leashed tracking dogs to recover wounded game? It would be one way that ensures hunters that game animals would not be wasted as they succumb to a fatal wound after they hide away. Or lift the general prohibition on Sunday hunting, use of semi-automatic rifles and air rifles. The PGC is also on record in keeping trespassing complaints as a primary responsibility of police agencies, while they focus on the protection of wildlife.

The PGC is also flirting with the idea of shortening the time that nonresident hunters must wait to apply for an antlerless license to one week after resident hunters. Many of those hunters are former fellow Pennsylvanians who come back to hunt with family and friends each year. I have no qualm about moving it up one week, after all if you can’t get your application in with a week head start you don’t deserve it anyway.

Driving along Route 8 found me gazing upon some unusual sights in a short distance of driving time. A Bald Eagle was perched on the snag of a dead tree looking out over the wintry landscape, in the next field a gaggle of geese was landing to feed and directly across the road from them in another field was a flock of wild turkeys feeding with a half dozen gobblers in full strut trying to get the attention of the hens. That is something that you don’t see every day. The milder winter weather has been kind to our wildlife. I think turkeys are extremely vulnerable to icy weather and in fact due to population declines the fall hunting season will be shortened in several WMU.

It looks like several units that might be affected are WMU 1A and WMU 2A. They will likely be shortened one week from two weeks but still be open for hunting turkey over the three-day Thanksgiving hunt.

The PFBC have started their plans for the annual spring trout stocking. WCO Jon Kay is looking for interested sportsmen to assist in the preseason stocking events in the county. He stresses that safety is of the utmost importance especially around streams that border busy road. Children love to help carry the buckets of fish and watch this long standing harbinger of spring, but in their excitement they may step into danger on the road.

Vigilant parents are a must for a safe and fun filled day! Remember that a 5-gallon bucket of water and fish can weigh 40 pounds and carrying them quickly to a stream side can be physically taxing especially in hilly areas. If you don’t have the stamina, you used to have just be a casual observer and not a casualty.

The opening day of trout will be April 16 which is two months away. Once the streams are stocked in the approved trout waters of the county all fishing activity is ended until 8 a.m. on the opening day. I remember a fellow who was pinched for fishing before the season opened as he cast lures into the water stocked with trout. His excuse was that he was trying out lures … not fishing.

Until we meet again help the cause and support the great outdoors!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.