The final deer season throughout the state is about to wrap up. While various predator-hunting is still available, most hunters consider the hunting season “a wrap” until the state spring gobbler season sneaks up on us on May 3, 2025. “Snowbirds” will begin migrating south to bask in the warm southern sunshine, but most of Pennsylvania’s outdoor folks will remain home and prepare to face the upcoming Polar plunge of single-digit temperatures ahead.

For those folks who are staying home — at least for now — there should be numerous opportunities to spend time outdoors while working on a few winter chores. After all, whatever you can accomplish over the winter months is something you won’t have to take care of come spring, when you may be focusing on fishing your favorite trout stream or scouting for spring gobblers! Here are a few things to consider putting on your “to-do list.”

Bluebirds:

One of the favorite small birds most folks like to observe throughout the year is our Eastern Bluebird. If you want to increase the odds of seeing more bluebirds, installing bluebird houses will help. If you already have these boxes on your property, now is the time to clean out the previous nesting material. Bluebirds prefer to build a new nest rather than take over a box with material from the past season. If you are considering adding a few more bluebird houses, making and putting them up now will ensure they are available when the earliest bluebirds start looking for nesting sites in mid-March. Detailed plans for constructing bird boxes are available online, or if you are not into making boxes yourself, you can purchase already-made bluebird houses from the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Howard Nursery. Check for availability and pricing before making the trip by calling them at (814) 355-4434.

Apple Trees:

Apple trees are a very desirable source of food for deer, bears, turkeys, grouse, and numerous other forms of wildlife. If you are fortunate enough to have apple trees on your property, there are a few things to do to aid in their growth and productivity. Pruning away any sucker growth and dead limbs will aid in the long-term health of the tree, and daylighting — or removing nearby trees — will provide more vital sunlight for apple production. The winter months are the perfect time to accomplish the daylighting and pruning. Any nearby trees you remove to open the sunlight to the apple tree can be used to start a brush pile, and the limbs and branches you trim from the apple tree can be placed on top, where the deer will be anxious to nip off the buds of the freshly trimmed limbs.

Whitetail Deer:

Once the final day of the last deer season is passed, it is legal to put out supplemental feed and mineral supplements for deer. Many mineral mixes are designed for deer, and this is an important time of year to make it available. The does that were bred and are developing fawns will benefit tremendously as the fawn grows and later the fawn will benefit by a better milk production from a healthier mother. Supplemental mineral mixes can aid in antler growth in bucks, and in fact, any deer will develop better bone growth by consuming the additional minerals.

Equipment Check:

While the opening day of our trout season and the opening day of spring gobbler season are months away, they both have a way of sneaking up on us before we realize it! It is rather frustrating when you look over your gear the day or two before these openers and discover something is broken or missing! Good luck finding replacement items on such short notice. Take time on one (or several!) of the snowy days when you have a fire in the fireplace and a freshly brewed cup of coffee in your hand and drag out your fishing or turkey hunting vests and verify that everything is in place and in good repair.

Work on the “Honey-Do” List:

It may not seem as critical now, but when the spring weather does arrive, and you want to take a day or two to fish or hunt, it may just be a bit easier to get “kitchen clearance” from your significant other if you have cleared a number of items off the “honey-do” list!