Black Forest Broadcasting

….Smethport drivers collide during snow storm…NY state man found violating PFA in McKean County….Hughesville woman arrested for DUI after car sideswipes state police cruiser…Elk County burglary probed….PA Deer Season opens Saturday….

McKean County

Both Smethport  drivers escaped injury in a weather-related collision Thursday November 17 in Lafayette Township. Troopers at Lewis Run have just released details saying the collision occurred  during a heavy snowfall on the Droney Road. John Whitesell’s Chevrolet Silverado failed to make a left curve while traveling west and slid off the road into a ditch. Samuel Dibble who was following Whitsell, lost control of his Buick Lucerne on the same curve, slid into the ditch and hit Whitesell’s truck. Both drivers were using seatbelts.

A Rochester, NY man was found in violation of a Protection from Abuse order in McKean County last Saturday afternoon. Troopers explained during a traffic stop on Route 59, 24 year old Winston Sharpe was found to have an active PFA order, filed in Florida,  for  the  passenger in his 2019 Nissan  a 22 year old woman from Canandaigua, NY.

Troopers at Lewis Run arrested 62 year old Linda Gray of Hughesville for DUI after her car sideswiped a state police patrol car on Route 219 in Ridgway Township just after midnight Thursday. Authorities say the patrol car, driven by Trooper Thomas Renwick was on a traffic stop with its emergency lights activated when Gray’s Ford Fiesta, brushed up against the police car. Police claim further investigation, they determined she was driving under the influence of alcohol. The officer and his passenger Jeffrey Wilson and Gray were unhurt.

Elk County

A burglary at a Fox Township home Wednesday evening is being investigated by state police at Ridgway. Someone entered the home of a 70 year old Kersey woman and turned on the water letting it run.

Statewide

 Pennsylvania’s statewide firearms deer season begins Saturday, Nov. 26, continues on Sunday, Nov. 27, and runs through Dec. 10. Hunting is closed only on Sunday, Dec. 4.As was the case last year, hunters can harvest a black bear in some WMUs starting throughout the opening week of deer season including WMU 3A which is the area north of Route 6 in Potter, McKean and Tioga Counties.The extended bear season runs Nov. 26-Dec. 3 in WMUs 1B, 2C, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, 4E and 5A. It runs Nov. 26-Dec. 10 in WMUs 2B, 5B, 5C and 5D.To participate in the extended bear season, a hunter needs a general hunting license, as well as a bear license. In periods where the extended bear season overlaps portions of the firearms deer season, properly licensed hunters may also harvest deer.

Fluorescent orange requirements for the extended bear season and firearms deer season are identical.

The Game Commission reminds hunters Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is an always-fatal disease that is a threat to deer and elk in Pennsylvania. There is no vaccine or cure for CWD. It’s spread by deer-to-deer contact and through the environment.Since the discovery of the disease in Pennsylvania a decade ago, the fight to slow the spread of CWD continues across the commonwealth. So hunters who harvest deer within any of the state’s Disease Management Areas (DMAs) or its Established Area (EA) must comply with special rules.There are six DMAs across the state, one of them – DMA 7 – is new this hunting season. Created in April after the detection of a CWD-positive deer at a captive facility in Lycoming County, it takes in portions of Lycoming, Northumberland, Montour, Columbia and Sullivan counties. The boundaries of a few other DMAs, meanwhile, have changed since last season, with the most recent of those impacting DMA 2 in southcentral Pennsylvania.

Because some of those changes became necessary after publication of the Hunting & Trapping Digest that all hunters get with their license, hunters are advised to visit the Game Commission’s website at www.pgc.pa.gov to familiarize themselves with DMA boundary lines.

The EA, meanwhile, is within DMA 2 and includes portions of Bedford, Blair, Fulton, and Huntingdon counties. Approximately 90% of all CWD detections in the state have come from that  area.

As a reminder, within a DMA and the EA, it’s illegal to remove any cervid high-risk parts; use or possess cervid urine-based attractants; directly or indirectly feed wild, free-ranging deer; and rehabilitate wild, free-ranging cervids. High-risk parts include: the head (including brain, tonsils, eyes and any lymph nodes); spinal cord/backbone; spleen; skull plate with attached antlers, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; cape, if visible brain or spinal cord tissue is present; upper canine teeth, if root structure or other soft tissue is present; any object or article containing visible brain or spinal cord tissue; unfinished taxidermy mounts; and brain-tanned hides. The parts-movement ban means hunters in a DMA and the EA must determine in advance what they’ll do with any deer they harvest. They can take them to a processor within the DMA/EA or to one included on a Game Commission-approved list for that particular DMA/EA, as those processors agree to properly dispose of the high-risk parts. Hunters can also dispose of high-risk parts within the DMA/EA in trash destined for a landfill. Or, while not preferred, they can quarter the animal and leave the high-risk parts at the kill site (preferably buried).

The meat, antlers (free of brain material) and other low-risk parts then can be transported outside the DMA and the EA.

Hunters getting taxidermy mounts must likewise take their deer to a taxidermist within the DMA, the EA or on the Game Commission list. The processor and taxidermist list is available at the Game Commission website. Click on “Wildlife,” then “Wildlife Health,” then “Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).”

There, too, hunters will find the locations of head drop-off bins within DMAs and the EA. Hunters can deposit deer heads – minus any antlers, double-bagged and with a legible harvest tag attached –there and have them tested for CWD for free. Test results can be obtained by calling the CWD hotline (1-833-INFOCWD) or visiting the CWD Results lookup page at https://pgcdatacollection.pa.gov/CWDResultsLookup.

For those who wish to keep their deer head but still get it tested, they can try their hand at sampling it themselves using an instruction video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnEdDmfY-i4 Hunters can also explore opportunities to get Deer Management Assistance Program (DMAP) permits, which allow them to take up to two additional antlerless deer in areas where increased CWD surveillance is needed. Some permits may still remain. Hunters can check availability at www.pgc.pa.gov/CWD. Click on “CWD DMAP Area Look Up.”

Although there is no known case of it being transmitted to humans, the Game Commission and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend people do not consume meat from deer that test positive for CWD. The Game Commission manages wildlife for and in cooperation with the public. Because much is still unknown about CWD, it is important to do all we can to limit exposure of all species (including people) to this known pathogen.

November 26: Open House—Coudersport

The Potter County Artisan Co-op  in Coudersport  will be hosting a Christmas Open House  from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm during the Annual Christmas in a Small Town in Coudersport, PA.  There will be a variety of affordable art, free coffee, hot chocolate and cookies, kids’ crafts, opportunity to meet some of the artists . Volunteers That Care will be selling raffle tickets. The Potter County Artisan Co-op  is located at 227 North Main Street -30-

November 26: Christmas in a Small Town—Galeton

The celebration will be held at 3p at Collins Memorial Park. Santa will arrive at 4p at the Galeton Library. Lighting of park /fireworks will be held at 6:30p. Canned food drive, live music, food and craft vendors and raffles.

November 27:Paracord Survival Craft @ 2:00 p.m.—Benezette

Come join the Elk Country  Visitors Center staff to make bracelets and keychains using paracord. Paracord has many uses in survival situations. All materials will be provided for this make and take craft.

November 28: White-Tailed Deer @ 2:00 p.m.—Benezette

Thousands of Pennsylvania hunters will be afield in search of this wary mammal on this opening day of the 2021 deer season! The white-tailed deer happens to be our state mammal and can found in all 67 counties. Learn about this fascinating animal in a fact-filled educational program at the Elk Country Visitors Center.