The cool weather has definitely set an early fall season in motion with many an outdoor person. Football, fishing and hunting have replaced the water sports on an earlier schedule than expected.

The past week has been filled with nature and wildlife scenes that are only usually reserved for wildlife magazines. Bald eagles, albino deer, osprey, black bears and white tail bucks have awed many county residents.

The autumn like weather have the county wildlife species on the search for food. One such fellow was a jumbo bruin that surprised me the other morning as I was leaving the house. I was paying attention to the front of my house where I saw some deer running through the yard, when I turned to check on the sound of a metal ting, I was greeted by the sight of a heavyweight bear standing over my grill. I was a bit surprised but quickly spoke to the bear and said, “You just wait there I’ll be right back with the camera!”

Sadly, the camera was put away and I could not locate it in time. Oh well … the bear had enough of my activity anyways and moved on with no further problems.

Speaking of problems, we had arranged a fishing trip out of Erie on a perch boat. We must have been snake bit as the first time scheduled was canceled by big waves and wind gusts; the second attempt was foiled by a mechanical glitch. The 26-foot cable connecting the controls in the wheel house to the transmission frayed and no replacement was available to save 40 people from a fruitless 150-mile round trip. Very disappointing to say the least, preventive maintenance should never be underestimated on any of your equipment. After two strikes, the group decided that fate didn’t want us on the waters of Lake Erie, and I just decided that we just ran out of summer options.

The WMU 2D doe tags have finally sold out for the 2013 season. If you missed your chance to obtain a license you only have yourself to blame. My cousins called this week as they love to come up to Butler County and deer hunt. One prefers archery and the other likes the early muzzleloader season. Either way, they always see some kind of action in our area. Surprisingly, they enjoy the wild game and fish dish delicacies that many of the county residents prepare regularly. It appears that we may take our good fortunes for granted in the rural areas and need the city cousins to remind us!

This week I will be heading for Lake Erie for a walleye trip out of Ashtabula, Ohio. The trip will include my friends, the Professor and Beaver boy, with a special guest appearance by T3 who is famous for trash talking yours truly when she gets the upper hand.

Once it was over a limit of trout and then a citation-size walleye that gave her bragging rights. She has her award certificate hanging on the wall right where all the boys can read it easily! My wife Renee and I will do our best to hang with her but she does have the edge on us. I’ll update our readers with a full report of the action in a few weeks.

The PGC reminds everyone that the deadline for an elk license application is due by Aug. 25. The PGC reports that the Pennsylvania elk population is steady and some great animals await the lucky hunters who have their tags drawn. The $10 fee is just to get into the lottery and you will still be required to purchase an elk tag if you are lucky enough to be selected. I’ve known a few guys from our area but have never been so fortunate to be drawn from the pool.

The new patch being offered by the PGC known as the Triple Trophy Patch which is designated for the achievement of harvesting a buck, a gobbler and a bear in the same license year for the price of $18.87. The patches are actually three patches that make up one super patch and can be found in the PGC Outdoor Shop.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.