Unlike state or county parks, or even state or national forests, the primary purpose of Pennsylvania's 1.4 million-acre State Game Lands is to provide habitat for wildlife and hunting and trapping opportunities for Pennsylvanians. While many secondary recreational uses of Game Lands unrelated to hunting or trapping traditionally have been permitted during summer months, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has issued a reminder that such uses are tightly restricted during the fall and winter hunting seasons through the third Saturday in January, the close of the flintlock muzzleloader deer season.

During the restricted period, the recreational riding of horses and bicycles on Game Lands is permitted only on Sundays, and Mondays through Saturdays only riding related to active hunting and trapping is permitted on game lands. Recreational riding of horses and bicycles on Game Lands is permitted only on marked, designated trails and those approved for snowmobile use are not open until the third Sunday of January and close April 1, but off-road vehicles, including ATVs, are not permitted anywhere or at any time on Game Lands.Hiking is permitted on Game Lands throughout the year, but hikers are advised that Game Lands are hunting grounds where hunting activity is likely to be occurring. Additionally, during the month surrounding the deer and bear firearms seasons a period from November 15 to December 15 hikers, as well as all other secondary users of Game Lands, must wear a minimum of 250 square inches of fluorescent orange material on the head, chest and back combined, and the orange material must be visible from 360 degrees, except for Sundays.Totaling more than 1.4 million acres, Pennsylvania's State Game Lands system exists through the state's hunters and trappers from their purchase of hunting and furtaker licenses, from a federal excise tax on sporting arms and ammunition, from lands or funding donated to the PGC by its many conservation partners, or from things like timber sales and energy leases on existing Game Lands.With the exception of the orange requirement, restrictions on using Game Lands apply neither to those hiking the Appalachian Trail in areas where the trail crosses Game Lands, nor to users of some recreational trails, such as Rails to Trails, that are established by cooperative agreement. Restrictions on the uses of Game Lands are intended to protect wildlife habitat, preserve the tracts as prime hunting and trapping locations and make them safer for all users.**********Sunday's edition of "Experience The Outdoors," winner of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association's best outdoors radio program award hosted by award-winning POWA member Doyle Dietz, at 7 a.m. on 1410-AM WLSH, at 9:30 a.m. on Magic 105.5-FM and on the Web at

www.wmgh.com by clicking the link to the program, features Pennsylvania Game Commission bear biologist Mark Ternent.**********Western Pocono Chapter of Trout Unlimited meets Tuesday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m., at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center on Mauch Chunk Lake between Jim Thorpe and Summit Hill. For information call 570-454-4862 or 570-233-0099.**********A Bellefonte man has been sentenced to spend up to 18 months in jail and pay more than $20,000 in fines and costs after pleading guilty to poaching three bull elk, one of them among the largest on record in Pennsylvania. Frank Gordo Buchanan Jr., 25, pleaded guilty to three counts of unlawful taking of big game, and one count each of unlawful taking of game, unlawful use of a vehicle to take game, and unlawful use of an artificial light to take game.As part of the plea agreement accepted by Magisterial District Judge Jerome M. Nevling of Kylertown, Buchanan will spend 3-18 months in the Clearfield County Jail and pay $9,550 in fines. Additionally, he is responsible for paying $11,500 in replacement costs for the poached elk, two of which are classified as trophy-class animals.Two other men charged in the incident waived their rights to preliminary hearings on charges, sending their cases to county court. If they are convicted of unlawful taking of big game, they, too, would be required to contribute to replacement costs.Charges against Buchanan stem from two nights of poaching in the same area of Karthaus Township, Clearfield County, in September. He had admitted to shooting all three elk, and the largest of the three bulls had a 10x9 non-typical rack that initially was measured at 432 inches, based on standards set forth by the Boone & Crockett big-game scoring program. At that score, and if the bull had been legally harvested, it would rank as Pennsylvania's third-largest bull elk ever, and he also illegally killed a 5x7 bull measuring 243 inches and a 4x-5 bull measuring 178 inches.