Went scouting yesterday, 01/20/2007, on SGL 260 in Shickshinny.  Walked up powerline road on the gamelands looking for any deer tracks in the recently fallen snow.  Jeff and I saw squirrel tracks and what we thought were Coyote tracks in the snow.  After about a mile and a half we came across an area that was stripped mined.  Looking down over a hill I saw a coyote start running. Our suspicions were comfirmed.  We picked up it's trail and started following.  The coyote took us through the thickest stuff it could find turning around every so oten to check it's back trail to see if we were still following.  I went up and down cliffs, in and out of laurels and finally crossed a powerline. 

After about 2 miles of following the tracks in the snow we came ot an area of cliffs and boulders.  The coyote would jump from rock to rock, go in between rocks and crevices and even walk on fallen trees all in  an effort to lose us.  After about another mile of tracking the wind started to pick up and the temperature dropped.  We decided to head home.  We did not see a deer track in the 4 miles of woods and trails we covered.  I'm not sure if the windy conditions had them bedded down or if there are way too many coyotes in the area.  With the dwindling number of deer in PA it does not look good for future whitetail deer hunts. And the coyotes will decimate the newborn deer and turkey.  At least on SGL 260.

Went for a drive to find SGL 55 in Columbia County.  Turns out it is only about 5 miles from SGL 260.  For some reason the gate to the parking lot was locked.  I emailed the PA Game Commission to find out why.

Here is the comment I received from the PGC regarding the locked parking lot on SGL 55. That parking lot has for many years been a problem with illegal dumping. A decision was made a few years ago to restrict the access to that one parking lot to rifle deer and bear season to stop this dumping activity. The parking lot was open this past fall during the above mentioned period and then closed at the conclusion of rifle deer. With that said, there still is ample parking for about three vehicles off the road and along the outer edge of the parking lot. In the past, this seemed to provide adequate parking during the slower portions of the hunting season and this way of accessing the game lands was recognized and utilized by hunters. Three other fully accesible lots are available along SR 1025.
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