Published November 3, 2009, 6:46 AM EST

by AD CRABLE, P.J. REILLY , Outdoors

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - TUESDAYIndoor handgun practice range, 7-9 p.m. every Tuesday at Manheim Sportsmen's Association. Lead-only bullets and no magnums. NRA-certified range officer on duty. Cost: $5 for nonmembers. Call 665-7093 or 569-1153 for more information. ......

Published November 3, 2009, 6:00 AM EST

by AD CRABLE, Outdoor Trails

WARDENSVILLE, W.Va. - It's perhaps the most glorious day of fall. And I'm smack dab in it. Fourteen feet up in a treestand on a ridge in the Appalachian Mountains. Leaves in crayon yellows, russets and muted oranges swirl by on their downward spiral, forming a new soft carpet on the forest floor. T......

Published November 1, 2009, 12:02 AM EST

by P.J. REILLY, Woods and Waters

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Pennsylvania Rep. Ed Staback of Lackawanna County isn't ready to throw the baby out with the bath water just yet. The Democratic chairman of the House Game & Fisheries Committee on Oct. 22 presided over a hearing during which he and other legislators heard from Pennsylvania Game Comm......

Published November 1, 2009, 12:01 AM EST

by P.J. REILLY, Woods and Waters

CHESTER COUNTY, Pa. - I became a statistic last week. Actually, I found out last week that I'd become a statistic. Who knows when it actually occurred. Someone stole one of my tree stands. It happens every year to hunters all over the country. Maybe it's happened to you. Now I kno......

Published October 25, 2009, 12:02 AM EST

by P.J. REILLY, Woods and Waters

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Today, Cole Horne looks, sounds and acts like any other middle-school boy. He's the normal height and weight, has floppy hair and a face full of freckles. He likes to wrestle and play baseball. And when he tells a story to a stranger, he alternates between being shy and anim......

Published October 20, 2009, 9:29 AM EST

by AD CRABLE, Outdoor Trails

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - "It just seemed to be in my blood. Mother Nature and I have had a love affair ever since I can remember. I'd rather be in the woods with Mother Nature than a lot of people."That's 71-year-old Ron Witwer talking. It's hard to get an interview with the retired Case New ......

Published October 11, 2009, 12:02 AM EST

by P.J. REILLY, Woods and Waters

WALKERTON, Ontario -  Tony Vandemore was hammering out clucks and honks on his goose call as several flocks of Canadas converged over our field. About 40 birds swung downwind of the decoy spread and curled back toward us on cupped wings, obviously intent on landing amid our fakes. Knowing what w......

Published October 7, 2009, 6:41 AM EST

by JAMES BUESCHER

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Drumore Township supervisors have given conditional approval for a 21,000-square-foot shopping center on the west side of Route 272 at Buck.On Thursday, the supervisors approved a conditional-use application for the project, which is slated to include a convenience store and a fast-food re......

Published October 6, 2009, 12:50 PM EST

by AD CRABLE, Staff

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - Darin Mack's goal was to get his son to Alaska to see a vast untamed wilderness before he entered the Marines after high school next summer. "Even though the times are a little tough, we just decided it was now or possibly never," says Mack, 36, of Avondale, Chester County. ......

Published September 27, 2009, 12:02 AM EST

by P.J. REILLY, Woods and Waters

CHESTER COUNTY, Pa. - The first bowhunt of the year always starts off clumsily. It takes a couple of hunts to get the routine down. So I wasn't a bit surprised to find myself fumbling around the bed of my pickup truck before daylight Sept. 19, after parking at the edge of a Chester County field. It ......