The end of the late season muzzleloader hunt for deer just passed on Jan. 18 and if you missed out on filling your tags, you better regroup for the 2021-22 season.

Yet it is not too late to do some small game and predator hunting in January and February. The late season for small game including squirrels, pheasants, and rabbits continues through Feb. 27. To hunt pheasants, it is required that you purchase the pheasant stamp at $26.90 annually each license year.

I was more interested in hunting squirrels up in the northern tier counties, especially the black phased gray squirrels. A couple of my buddies are interested in the hunt more to get outdoors than to actually bag squirrels.

A rule that all hunters should follow is to make good use of all your harvested game with no waste. I do have a few old-timers who are interested in the squirrels, but can’t get out like they used to be able to do.

My cousin “Johnny Two Bucks” has been inviting us to hunt at his family game farm in Windber for the past two years and we may get over there as well. We tried it out earlier in the fall and we didn’t do too bad!

Dropping antlers

This is also the time of the year when elk and deer start dropping their antlers due to the change in light length. Shed hunting is very popular in the PA Wilds areas and many hunters get sheds and exercise looking for some of those spectacular antlers. It is legal to search on public lands, but not on private property without permission of the landowner.

Antlers laying on the ground are OK to pick up, but it is illegal to pick up antlers attached to a killed deer or elk, according to the PGC. I am not sure of the specific reasons, but I imagine it is hard to prove that you didn’t do something shady with a killed animal. I have found small sheds, but have not located any super-sized antlers!

Steelhead trout fishing

Believe it or not, this is getting close to the time of year when fishing starts to get good on Lake Erie tributaries for Steelhead trout making spawning runs. The PFBC has tons of literature about the trout streams that are calling back all of the lake run trout that started as fingerlings raised in the headwaters of many waterways such as Elk Creek, Walnut Creek, 16 Mile Run and Trout Run.

There are no fishing ones, but plenty of areas to fish on as well. There is no better thrill than catching on with a two-foot-long Rainbow trout fresh from the waters of Lake Erie.

However, be aware that the streams are closely monitored to ensure anglers are staying within the laws, many anglers have foul-hooked a trout and it has cost them a stiff fine. A foul-hooked trout is one that gets caught on a fin or gill or side location and not in the lips or mouth areas.

Use proper bait

Poor Richards Bait Shop can set you up with the hot baits, flies and lures that you might need as well as the hard tackle. Some anglers trade in a fresh caught fish for a smoked trout (for a fee) and enjoy their catch this way. Most anglers keep one and use catch and release tactics if they are having a successful day. Many dedicated anglers for this fishery will release all the steelhead trout that they land.

Man-made bird boxes

Now is also the time to look out for our feathered friends and their manmade bird boxes. Cleanouts, repairs and replacements are the order of the day for any serious bird trail enthusiasts. A bird trail is a thought-out route where birders will place nesting boxes for any types of birds.

Bluebird trails are very popular as well as duck boxes for the waterfowl crowd. Some people keep journals on the success of their boxes each year. They number them, note dates in which a bird takes possession of the bird house, how many eggs they lay, when they hatch and fledge.

Oh, by the way it is probably a good idea to note what kind of bird calls it home! I have been surprised by tree swallows, wrens, sparrows, deer mice and blue birds who all wanted to live in that box on a fence post.

Fish spawning

Perhaps one of my most fun activities is to catch on to the annual sucker fish spawning run. The suckers leave the main channels of creeks and rivers and head up into feeder streams and headwaters.

They love a small redworm bait offering and they can give you quite a nice run on light trout tackle. Some people love suckers as a food source while others catch and release. I like to have a camp fire going so that we can stay warm and cook some of our homemade deer sausage … it doesn’t get any better than that!

Until we meet again, know that 2021 will bring us new opportunities and a much happier new year!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle