August 2011 Greater Harrisburg's Community Newspaper - theBurg

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Great Outdoors On Target Use the off-season to optimize your rifle scope. Kermit G. Henning Get to the range! Even though your rifle scope may have been right on target when you put it away last winter, even the slightest bump can move the aiming point. Modern rifle scopes are precision instruments and will greatly increase the performance of any firearm, but failing to sight them in properly will do more harm than good. If you have just purchased a new scope for your rifle, have a professional bore sight the scope before you leave the shop. This simple step puts the crosshairs very close to being right and saves hours of time at the range. Now head off to the range to finish the job. Always use eye and ear protection, no matter how much you shoot. The key to getting your scope sighted in properly is consistency. You need a proper rest for your rifle. Sand bags work fine, as well as bags of kitty litter, bean bags or a commercial gun rest. Never rest the rifle on a hard surface—especially the barrel. This will make the rifle jump at each shot and will not give you a proper impact. Set up your first target at 25 yards and set the scope at its highest practical power for a crisp, clear image of the target. Hold the rifle as you would in the field, get comfortable and relax. Load one bullet in the chamber and aim at the center of the bullseye. Now, close your eyes for 10 seconds and see if you are still at the same aiming point. Fire that first shot and check the location of your bullet hole. If you are not dead center, you will have to adjust the scope according to the directions that came with it. The turrets on the scope control elevation and windage—and each scope manufacturer has its own system. The number of clicks you need to turn the knobs depends on the distance your bullet landed from the bullseye. After making adjustments, fire another shot. This second shot should be within the black ring of the bull. If not, adjust and try again. When you have made the proper tuning at the 25-yard target, move to the 100-yard range. With the same careful attention to your rest and your hold, fire three slow shots. Adjust the scope so it will hit at 2.5 inches above dead center, and fire three more shots. If needed, make any final adjustments until you have it shooting consistently right where you want it. I always like to fire a final five shots, just to be extra sure my scope is on target. Every game animal deserves your best shot, so a few extra rounds down range is not too much to ask. Be sure to use the same ammunition at the range that you intend to use on your hunt. Different weight bullets, even different brands, will not always fire where you think they will. Again, consistency is the key. If you are traveling long distances with your scoped rifle, take extra ammunition along to check the scope when you reach your destination and before your actual hunt. Whether you are checking the aim of an old scope or sighting in a new one for the first time, take your time to do it right. So you use a whole box of shells—that’s a lot cheaper than watching a record-class bull elk trot off after you missed him completely. Ready, aim: A shooter uses a scope to take aim during target practice at the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s public shooting range in Dauphin County’s Clarks Valley. Photo credit: PGC Photo/Joe Kosack. Do your homework now. Don’t wait until the few weeks before the season opens when the ranges are full and you just can’t take the time to do it correctly. If you haven’t already, join a local club that has its own range. Public ranges, and those on state game lands, get an overwhelmingly large number of shooters. Good luck this season—hit the woods with the confidence that you are carrying the most accurate rifle you can. Kermit G. Henning, host of abc27 Outdoors TV, is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. 28 TheBurg
Family Health When That Tick Bites A primer on avoiding, detecting Lyme disease. Dr. Deepa Sekhar walk into my next patient room, and I a worried mother hands me a plastic bag with a small black insect inside. “I pulled this off my daughter’s head an hour ago. Does she have Lyme disease” Warm weather in central Pennsylvania brings plenty of these visits, and, usually, parents and I together are able to sort out the best course of action. Lyme disease was first identified in the 1970s in Lyme, Conn. It is caused by the bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted to people when a deer tick bites. Deer ticks are tiny, about the size of a poppy seed. People may be exposed to them when engaged in outdoor summer and fall activities. In the United States, the highest incidence of Lyme disease is among children 5 to 9 years old and adults 45 to 54 years old. To transmit the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, a tick must successfully attach to and bite a human. The risk of infection is extremely low the first day or two after attachment, but higher after the tick is engorged with blood—and especially if the tick has been “on” for at least 72 hours. Questions I ask parents include: “Was the tick engorged” and “How long do you think it was attached” In a child infected with Lyme, the first symptoms usually appear within one to two weeks, though some children do not develop symptoms until two months after exposure. These symptoms include a circular red rash, sometimes described as a bulls-eye. The rash may itch slightly or be warm to touch, but many children are not bothered by it. The rash may not even be noticed. Additional symptoms may include fever, fatigue, headaches, mild neck stiffness and muscle aches. Rarely, and usually much later, children may present with more widespread involvement of their joints, heart and nervous systems. It’s tempting to want to test for Lyme disease or treat for Lyme immediately after locating a deer tick on your child, but this is not recommended. Testing for Lyme involves a blood test to examine the body’s response to the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. It takes the average individual at least two weeks to mount this response, so testing immediately after tick exposure is not helpful. Even in highly endemic areas, risk of infection is low enough that routine treatment of children exposed to a deer tick is not usually recommended. Families are asked to watch their children for development of early Lyme disease symptoms over the next couple of months and return as needed. By discussing the symptoms and examining your child, your physician can determine the need for treatment. However, parents can take several steps to reduce the chance their child is exposed. First, if you find a tick on your child’s skin, remove it promptly. Use a cotton ball to gently clean the area around the tick. Grasp the tick firmly with a pair of tweezers and pull straight out. Do not twist and don’t attempt to crush the tick’s body. Clean the area on your child’s skin where the tick was removed. Secondly, if you are going to be in a situation with a high risk of exposure (woods or high grass) to deer ticks, use an insect repellent with “DEET” (diethyltolumide). DEET should be applied every one to two hours and may be used sparingly on the face as well. Also, children should wear long shirts and pants with the legs tucked into socks. Light-colored clothing is preferred to make ticks easier to spot. After returning home, inspect clothing and skin for ticks. Children should be washed in soap and water to remove DEET. Lastly, pets may also bring ticks indoors. Inspect your pets for ticks after they have been outside and speak with your veterinarian about methods to reduce ticks on animals. Dr. Deepa Sekhar is a pediatrician at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Health Students Get Scholarship Funds Seventy-eight local students majoring in healthcare-related fields were recipients of the <strong>2011</strong> PinnacleHealth Auxiliary Ernest R. McDowell Health Career Scholarship Fund. The fund, underwritten by PinnacleHealth Auxiliary, awarded $64,500 this year. The fund offers yearly monetary educational support for permanent residents of the greater Harrisburg area interested in pursuing a career in healthcare. For this year’s awards, 45 college students received $500 to $1,500 each and 33 high school students received $500 each. Twenty-seven of the recipients are nursing students; 17 have a family member working for PinnacleHealth; eight are current employees of PinnacleHealth; and seven have volunteered for PinnacleHealth. PinnacleHealth can be found online at www.pinnaclehealth.org. TheBurg 29
Page 1 and 2: TheBurg Greater Harrisburg’s Comm
Page 3 and 4: Contents In the Burg 4 City Hall St
Page 5 and 6: Street Corners HMAC Poised to Step
Page 7 and 8: Around Town Public Art, Social Good
Page 9 and 10: Community Corner Events in Our Area
Page 11 and 12: Past Tense Flow of the City Harrisb
Page 13 and 14: Burg Biz Shop Window What’s Behin
Page 15 and 16: From the Ground Up Divisions Sharpe
Page 17 and 18: Home Cooking Tomato Treasures Summe
Page 19 and 20: Culture Club Creator A Seminal Coll
Page 21 and 22: City Cinema Dangerously Artistic
Page 23 and 24: Happenings Live Music around Harris
Page 25 and 26: On Exhibit Our Nation, 150 Years Pa
Page 27: Sports & Bodies Move It! Run Time T
Page 31 and 32: MEN & the Divorce Process As marria

August 2011 Greater Harrisburg's Community Newspaper - theBurg

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