If you’ve been out and about lately, you may have seen an animal that looks a lot bigger than your typical house cat, looking for food. Adam Arnold, Conservation Officer for Page and Montgomery Counties, says it wouldn’t be unusual for you to have seen a Bobcat. He says Bobcats have made a pretty remarkable comeback, especially in the southern tier counties of the State. He says he sees a good number of the animals during his rounds and in talks with hunters who may have trapped one during Fur Harvester Season.” Only one Bobcat is allowed per Harvestor license in this area. Further north, counties have closed their fur harvester season, and if you have caught more than the limit, you may end up having to turn it loose.

Bobcat

Arnold says the pheasant and quail hunting season got off to a slow start, due to the weather and a delay in bringing-in the harvest. He said when the season opened at least 50% of the crops were still in. Now that much of the crop has been harvested, hunters should have a better chance to get their take. He says the numbers aren’t as strong as they’d like, but he expects the numbers to rebound in the future. The kicker is, the birds are weather dependent, which can affect their ability to reproduce.

As for the deer archery season, Adam Arnold says safety needs to be addressed first and foremost. A number of tree stand accidents have been in the news lately, either because of aging equipment and/or failure to use a safety strap. He says the height at which tree stands are placed make them deceptively dangerous to work with. He urges you to inspect your equipment, make sure it’s not rotted out, and is certfied by the Tree Stand Manufacturer’s Association, and by all means, use that safety strap!