Mar 25, 2017 4 min read

Sammi Schwalb, a junior at California High School, had competed in a number of local dog flushing and pointing competitions. Last month, she tried her hand at a national competion, heading to Whittington, Ill., for the United Field Trialers Association 2017 Nationals.

Schwalb, 17, had won local tournaments competing in the adult division but admitted to being nervous about taking part in a national tournament.

“I was very nervous; it’s just so different,” she said.

It didn’t seem to affect Schwalb or Izzy, the black labrador from Silver Pigeons Gun Dogs in Coal Center with which she was working. They finished third at the UFTA tournament in the in the junior flushing category.

The event is timed and includes flushing and retrieving three birds.

It was Schwalb’s first national tournament but it won’t be the last.

“Definitely. We’re already working on seeing what we need to do to go back,” said Schwalb, whose family runs Rustic Lodge Gun Dogs, which specializes in German shorthaired pointers.

“Just being there, I learned so much.”

Schwalb has been competing with dogs for nearly three years three to six times per week.

It’s a labor of love. And she feels the dogs enjoy it.

“I love seeing the dogs work,” she said. “And they love being out there with us, as well. You can see it on their face. They just love to please us. It makes them happy.”

• While many people will be hitting or have already hit the area’s streams and lakes for trout fishing, there are some important things to remember.

Not all anglers will creel their fish – and are forbidden to do so in special regulation streams such as the delayed harvest areas of Pike Run and Dutch Fork Creek.

For those practicing catch-and-release fishing, remember that it is actually illegal to hold a fish out of water for an extended period of time while looking to take that perfect picture if you are intent on releasing it.

Excessive handling of the fish can remove the fish’s protective mucus coating, which helps protect it from disease. Often, excessive handling out of water of the fish will lead to its death, which defeats the purpose of catch and release.

So if you catch a lunker and are intent on releasing it, keep the fish in the water and pose – touching it as little as possible – near the water with your catch.

Keep the fish in the water in a net and remove the hook or lure as quickly as possible.

Who knows? You might get another shot at that same fish at a later date. At the very least, somebody else will get to enjoy reeling it in.

• The Pennsylvania Game Commission board of commissioners will meet this week to adopt the 2017-18 seasons and bag limits.

Two of the big topics, as usual, will be approval of the antlerless deer license allocations and elk licenses for the upcoming seasons.

There are, of course, some other issues that will be addressed.

A lof of the focus this year has been on the commission’s proposal and probable acceptance of semi-automatic rifles and shotguns for hunting.

Under the current proposal, this would be on a trial basis, with it going into effect July 1, 2017 and ending June 30, 2020. There would be restrictions on how many rounds can be in the rifle or shotgun.

The commission also is looking to extend Wildlife Management Unit 2-E, which currently follows a portion of Route 22 to Route 422 in Indiana and Cambria counties, south to include everything north of Route 22 in Westmoreland County. This would move that area out of WMU 2-C.

Also on the agenda is a right of way agreement with Smith Township for State Game Lands 117, authorizing the township to expand an existing 33-foot wide right of way on the game lands.

This is being done to allow the townshhip to widen, stabilze and improve the storm water conveyance under Harmon Creek Road.

Outdoors editor Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.