Call of the Outdoors

From its rivers, streams, wetlands and agricultural fields, Pennsylvania offers waterfowl – and waterfowl hunters – many diverse and appealing habitats. Through careful planning and habitat management, Pennsylvania has become one of the top states in the Atlantic Flyway, with ample hunting opportunities for Canada goose, mallards and wood ducks. In this episode, Game Commission Marketing Director...

Being a game warden is a job unlike any other and the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Ross Leffler School of Conservation is actively recruiting candidates for its 35 th  class. Interested in applying, but wish you knew more about the process? Listen to this episode for the inside scoop from new state game wardens Hannah Robinson and Travis O’Neill. Visit  www.pgc.pa.gov  to apply.  Hannah and Trav...

Since its inception in 1991, Pennsylvania’s acclaimed Hunters Sharing the Harvest program has donated nearly TWO MILLION pounds of venison to hungry families across the state, thanks to the generosity of Pennsylvania hunters. Hunters Sharing the Harvest is a hunter-inspired community service outreach that works through a network of approved deer processors to channel venison donations to local foo...

The smell of fall is in the air. The rut is on in Pennsylvania. In this episode, Game Commission Marketing Director Matt Morrett discusses the mating season and biology of white-tailed deer with Kip Adams, the National Deer Association’s Chief Conservation Officer.   Kip lives in Knoxville (Pennsylvania) and is a certified wildlife biologist whose love for hunting began while growing up on a dairy...

Wildlife crimes affect everyone. The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Operation Game Thief (OGT) program provides a way for people to directly report information related to wildlife crimes. Reporting illegal wildlife activity helps to protect our wild birds and mammals for current and future generations. In this episode, Game Commission Marketing Director Matt Morrett talks with the Bureau of Wildli...

A shared passion for wildlife, whether identifying as a hunter or birder, is the one thing all wildlife lovers have in common. Listen to Pennsylvania Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans, Bureau of Wildlife Management Director Matthew Schnupp and Call of the Outdoors Host Matt Morrett discuss exciting new hunting opportunities, along with ways in which hunting seasons and limits are de...

If you’re a Pennsylvania turkey hunter, you need to listen to this episode, featuring two of Pennsylvania’s own Grand National Champion Turkey Callers Denny Gulvas and host Matt Morrett, as well as Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans. The amount of tips and information related to turkey calling is incredible and will leave listeners better prepared – and more excited – for Spring Gobb...

Lots of Pennsylvanians are thinking about turkeys as the state’s 2021 Spring Gobbler season is right around the corner! In this episode, host Matt Morrett talks with Pennsylvania Game Commission Wild Turkey Biologist Mary Jo Casalena about the state of the turkey flock, as well as some of her own professional experiences. The answer to the No. 1 question our agency gets when it comes to spring gob...

If you ask a Pennsylvania state game warden what their dream job is, they are likely to tell you that it’s being a game warden. In part two of “How to Become a State Game Warden” Pennsylvania Game Commission Marketing Director Matt Morrett talks with Assistant Director of Training Joel Gibble and State Game Warden (SGW) Travis O’Neill about how becoming a game warden is the career they wanted to p...

Being a Pennsylvania state game warden is more than just a job; it’s a passion fueled by protecting our state’s wildlife and natural resources. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to become a game warden – wonder no more – because this episode is packed with insight right from the Game Commission’s Director of Training Kyle Jury and State Game Warden (SGW) Hannah Robinson. The Pennsylvania Game...

The 2020 archery deer season is one that Cory Gulvas will never forget, as he successfully harvested one of the state’s largest typical bucks – ever – on public land in Tioga County, with a traditional bow. The history between him and this buck began two years prior, in September 2018, when he got his first glimpse of him on his trail camera. In this episode, Game Commission Marketing Director Mat...

We’re beginning the new year with a meaningful nod to the past. For 125 years, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has officially managed the state’s wildlife resources and our state has always been a national leader when it comes to wildlife conservation efforts here in Penn’s Woods. In this episode, Game Commission Marketing Director Matt Morrett welcomes the Bureau of Wildlife Protection’s Chad Ey...

On Sunday, Nov. 15, Pennsylvania’s archery deer hunters made history as they took to the woods for the state’s first-ever regulated big-game hunting opportunity. It’s been an exciting fall, with plenty of expanded hunting seasons, including two more Sunday hunting dates during the statewide regular firearms bear season, on Nov. 22, and statewide regular firearms deer season, on Nov. 29. To celebra...

Pennsylvania is home to more than 20,000 black bears and they can be found in all 67 counties. Whether you hunt bears or just enjoy learning about them, this episode is full of information about black bears in the Keystone State, including biology, behavior and much more. Mark Ternent is the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Northcentral Region Wildlife Management Supervisor and has worked with bears...

If you’re a Pennsylvania bear hunter, you’re in luck, because the hunting opportunities have never been better! It’s an exciting time, between expanded seasons, including one of Pennsylvania’s first-ever Sunday big game hunting opportunities on Nov. 22 for the statewide regular firearms bear season, and a robust bear population totaling about 20,000. In this episode, Pennsylvania native and lifelo...

Not only is the white-tailed deer Pennsylvania’s state mammal and most popular game species, but here in the Keystone State, we have some of the most deer hunters in the country! To celebrate fall and a new deer season, this episode is completely focused on deer and what’s been done to manage the herd for current and future generations. Chris Rosenberry, the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Game Man...

As hunters, we wait all year for fall to get here! In this episode, Pennsylvania Game Commission Marketing Director Matt Morrett celebrates the beginning of the new season by talking with lifelong Pennsylvania hunter and host of The Sportsman Channel’s “Innerloc’s Out There,” Corey Brossman, about the upcoming archery season and so much more!  Corey and Matt have hunted together in Penn’s Woods fo...

The opening day of Pennsylvania’s 2020-21 hunting seasons is almost here! Dove hunting is one of the first signs of fall and a brand-new hunting season. It opens statewide in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Sept. 1. Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife habitat crews have created some incredible managed dove fields across the state for hunters to explore. In advance of the dove season opener, Pennsylvani...

Early accounts claim that the last of Pennsylvania’s native elk were hunted in the 1860’s. Today, thanks to many dedicated efforts of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, as many as 1,400 elk freely roam across 3,000 square miles, mostly within several counties in our state’s northcentral region. The Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Northcentral Region Director Dave Mitchell joined Marketing Director M...

A special piece of hunting history was made in Pennsylvania when the first-ever archery elk season took place in September of 2019. Pennsylvania Game Commission Elk Biologist Jeremy Banfield joined Marketing Director Matt Morrett to talk about how that exciting season came to be and explain the opportunities now available for those interested in pursuing elk in the Keystone State. Jim Lickfeld and...

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has been a national leader in wildlife management for 125 years! On June 25, 2020, the agency celebrates its 125th anniversary. In this episode, Pennsylvania Game News Editor and Game Commission Historian Joe Kosack leads listeners on a walk through the agency’s impressive natural history here in Penn’s Woods. In the late 1800’s, wildlife was dwindling as a result...

On June 15, 2020, Pennsylvania’s State Game Lands System turned 100 years old! To celebrate, Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Habitat Management Bureau Director Pete Sussenbach shared a lot of details about our game lands system, which totals more than 1.5 MILLION acres of land today, [which is more than the entire state of Delaware]! Pete explains how the forefathers of the Pennsylvania Game...

Michael Waddell is a well-known name in the hunting industry who got his start by winning a turkey calling contest. From there, he went on to guide and film many hunts and eventually founded “Bone Collector,” his show on the Outdoor Channel. He recently took a break from hunting turkeys in his home state of Georgia to talk with us for a few minutes about his passion for hunting and wildlife. If it...

You know Blake Shelton as a country music superstar. You know him as a host on The Voice. Here is a chance to meet a different side of Blake – a passionate hunter, a longtime conservationist and someone who loves introducing new people to the great outdoors. In this episode, Blake shares that his late brother was the person who got him started hunting early in life, (and also interested in music)....

At the Pennsylvania Game Commission, our passion is wild, from the top on down. The “Call of the Outdoors” is the agency’s podcast, and the first-ever episode features Executive Director Bryan Burhans and Marketing Director Matt Morrett. Listeners will gain an inside look into the agency, it’s leadership and the strong hunting and wildlife traditions that have existed in the Keystone State for mor...