You just have to love October, in spite of the snow this one had. This past week had some absolutely gorgeous fall weather. I finally got out for some archery hunting and though I didn't see much in the way of deer yet, I can tell you the squirrel population is just fine. They keep you entertained while waiting for deer.
For many anglers, it's all about walleye right now. They have been hitting pretty well below the Adam T. Bower Memorial Dam and the power plant dam a little further downstream. Boaters venturing out of Shady Nook to fish the lowhead dam at the power plant need to stay below the buoys. It is illegal to go past the buoys. Boaters venturing into the exclusion zone between the buoys and the dam have been fined.
Walleyes will hit a variety of lures and bait. Smoke- and/or chartreuse-colored plastics on 1/8- or 1/4-ounce jigs are reliable producers. The best fishing has been during low light conditions, but as the water cools, they will hit more during the daylight.
I shot a crossbow for the first time the other day. Before you begin the condemnation process, hear me out. The person who owns the said crossbow is an archery hunter who has never used the crossbow for hunting. He got it just to see what they were about. He asked me if I wanted to shoot it and at first I didn't, then I figured what the heck, I'll try it.
I never shot one before and I put the first three bolts (crossbow arrows) into a tight, three-inch group in the bullseye. I was impressed to say the least. Am I going to rush out and buy a crossbow? No, I'll stick with my compound bow for now.
Somewhere right now there's a nose picker in the back of the room badmouthing crossbows. A crossbow inside the 30-yard mark is a potent weapon. There is no doubt that it is easier to kill a deer with a crossbow. Many archery hunters use compound bows, carbon arrows, expandable broadheads, mechanical releases, fiber optic sights and a host of other modern improvements, yet they decry crossbows. It is easier to kill a deer with a modern compound and the techno-gear improvements than it is with a long bow and wooden arrows.
As a matter of fact, the only people I haven't heard complain about crossbows are the traditional archers. They've already seen archery season invaded by compounds and in-lines, so I guess by now it doesn't matter.
Crossbows are here to stay. I would rather have someone cleanly kill a deer with a crossbow than make a poor hit with any kind of bow. It is a matter of choice. The degree of difficulty that you choose is up to you.
Archery hunting in its purest form is traditional archery using fingers, wooden bow and arrows. The compound bow, with whatever gadgetry you choose, is the current mainstream archery tool of choice. Crossbows step up the degree of hunting efficiency, it just depends how much of a challenge you want.
-- Ken Maurer, Herndon, is a licensed fishing guide and a regular contributor to the Outdoor Section. E-mail at kenrose@tds.net
Sports
A lovely October
- Sports
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Harold Raker's column on high school wrestling: And the crowd went wild
In my years of covering high school sports, I could not tell you how many times a coach would tell me after a game or match, "It is a shame that someone had to lose."
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Rangers' Hamilton confirms alcohol relapse
Texas Rangers outfielder and recovering drug addict Josh Hamilton said Friday that he had a relapse that started with "three or four" drinks at a Dallas-area bar this week.
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High School Swimming: Central takes a pair from Danville
DANVILLE -- All it takes are a few key moments in a dual meet to swing things in either direction. In Thursday's Heartland Athletic Conference boys dual between Danville and Central Columbia, the freestyle events were the deciding factor.
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High School Wrestling: Shikellamy holds off Selinsgrove
SELINSGROVE -- Tanner Fasold was behind 5-0 and nearly cradled for a pin at the end of the first period. So, a one-point deficit with 14 seconds left was not going to faze him. In a 126-pound bout that had more twists and turns than Joey Chestnut's stomach, the Braves' senior scored a takedown at the edge of the mat against Selinsgrove's Tom Kramer as time expired for an 11-10 win.
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High School roundup: Bench play sparks Dragons to win
LEWISBURG -- Players coming off the bench played a big role for Lewisburg in its 69-50 victory over Mount Carmel in a Heartland Athletic Conference matchup on Thursday. Junior forward/center Erich Kline tallied 15 points in a supporting role for Lewisburg (13-3, 7-2 HAC-II), while senior forward/guard Ryan Flannery contributed 10 points.
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Todd Stanford's column on boys basketball: Back in the spotlight
There was a day, in my youth, when myself and a friend were filmed for a news segment on WGAL-TV in Lancaster. It was one of those "Back to School" stories that local TV news programs run every August, and my friend and I happened to be at the local Kmart when the cameraman and a producer showed up.
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Jim Tressel hired at Akron as vice president
AKRON, Ohio -- Through it all, Jim Tressel never lost his charm. As he worked the room the way he did for a decade as Ohio State's coach, delighting students and faculty members, school trustees and Akron's president with stories of past successes and plans for the future, Tressel felt like he had come back home.
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Super profiles of Super Bowl players
INDIANAPOLIS — Projected starters and key players for the Super Bowl:
NEW YORK GIANTS
OFFENSE
Eli Manning, QB (10), 6-4, 218, 8th season, Mississippi
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Bob Garrett's Talking Points: A limit to porcupine hunting
"To cite a single passage is to pull one quill from the porcupine." The game commission ran into a prickly issue recently when they lifted the ban on porcupine hunting. It turns out that there's something of a black market for the rodents' meat in Southeast Asia. Reports are that people were seeking Pennsylvania porcupines to sell illegally for human consumption in Vietnam.
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Hynoski returns triumphantly to Indy's field
INDIANAPOLIS -- As he walked onto the Lucas Oil Stadium turf for media day, Henry Hynoski was struck by the fact that the site of the most humbling event of his football life would now be hosting his proudest moment. "Everything has come full circle," said the Pennsylvania native with a smile, looking around. "This is something I truly never expected."
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Harold Raker's column on high school wrestling: And the crowd went wild
