Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 64

Merit Badge Bond
ARLY ONE FEBRUARY, a local Boy Scout leader contacted me. A
mutual friend had told him I was a trapper who might be able to help
14-year-old Ben with his Nature Merit Badge.
E
One requirement was to make plaster casts of mammal tracks.
The leader said Ben had become enamored with trapping, especially river
otters. Books written by pioneering Pennsylvania woodsmen E.N. Woodcock
and Philip Tome kindled his interest. Articles in Game News and other
publications added fuel to his fire.
Ben could have taken the easy way out - tracks of deer, raccoons and even
fishers were abundant in our area. But for him it was an otter track or nothing. In
his mind, otters embodied the essence of wildness. I couldn't argue with that.
He had done his homework. In fact, he knew more about otter biology and
the state's otter restoration efforts than I did. Ben informed me that from 1982 to
2004, the Pennsylvania River Otter Reintroduction Project released 153 otters
into eight water systems in central and western Pennsylvania. The seedstock
came from seven states, including northeastern Pennsylvania.
Then, 2016 marked our inaugural otter trapping season.
What I thought would be an easy task turned out to be anything but. Ben
and I spent weekends slogging through swamp edges, walking riverbanks and
canoeing ponds and lakes, but to no avail; otter sign eluded us.
However, wildlife encountered and the experiences we shared made every
otter-less hour together worthwhile. Those February weekends were the most
gratifying of my outdoor career. I could never have imagined that a 14-year-old
Boy Scout, and someone 50 years his senior, could bond so completely.
Then our luck changed. While slowly driving a backroad, Ben yelled " Stop! "
He had spotted an unusual trail in the snow. He vaulted from the car, clambered
up a snowbank and then, like an otter, slid down head-first. " Otter tracks! " he
whooped. We followed them to a small stream where tracks embedded in mud
were perfect for plaster casts.
Weeks later, I attended Ben's ceremony.
Upon completion, I discreetly headed for the
door, but Ben abruptly stepped in front of
me. He held out his Nature Merit Badge
and said, " Here, you earned this as much as
I did. It's yours. I'll get another. "
To him it was a simple patch; to me it was a
symbol of memories I will cherish for a lifetime.
Gregg Rinkus
64

Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024

Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - Cover1
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - Contents
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 2
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 3
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 4
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 5
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 6
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 7
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 8
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 9
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 10
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 11
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 12
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 13
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 14
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 15
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 16
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 17
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 18
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 19
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 20
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 21
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 22
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 23
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 24
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 25
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 26
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 27
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 28
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 29
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 30
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 31
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 32
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 33
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 34
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 35
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 36
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 37
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 38
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 39
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 40
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 41
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 42
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 43
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 44
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 45
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 46
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 47
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 48
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 49
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 50
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 51
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 52
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 53
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 54
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 55
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 56
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 57
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 58
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 59
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 60
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 61
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 62
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 63
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - 64
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Game News - February 2024 - Cover4
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