Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Good luck to the Pennsylvania boys

Just getting ready to head out. Now you have put the pressure-maybe curse-on me. Thanks or

I spent 3 hours in my ladderstand. Cold driving rain and lots of wind. I heard one shot all morning. My stand is in a nice honey hole but the deer were bedded fast.
I have been working since, but it looks like saturday is looking a little better with only partial rain predicted. Poor weather leaves more bucks for flintlock season.
I live in premium State forest land, and the camps are emptier every year.
Good luck guys.

You ain't right....... 😁

I like the way you roll !! Carry on, gents.

Best of luck laying in some backstraps to all of yinz !!!!

I hunted sunrise to sunset on Monday. Fortunately, I have a stand with a roof on private property. I saw 6 doe on Monday. Tuesday morning found me back in the stand at 6:00 am. At 6:45 am, I had a small 3 point come out to the field. I watched him for a while. Then the wind laid over a dead ash 60 yards above me. He didn't like that. 20 minutes after that another small buck maybe a 4 point forkhorn crossed above me. My father in law then sent me a text to make sure I was okay because he heard the tree fall. As I was replying to him, I saw another rack above in the brush. I put the phone down and zoomed the scope in on a 2 1/2 year old 8 point. A 140 grain Nosler Etip from my 7 mag ended my hunt. I sat too many days in archery season without seeing a buck to let one pass. I had 8 buck on my trail camera but they never showed while I was in the stand. After tagging and dragging the buck to my truck, I walked to the shanty that my father in law and sister in law were sitting in to see if they wanted me to walk the standing corn near them. The farm still has 40 acres of corn standing and they probably won't get it off until after the ground freezes. I pushed the corn and a golden rod meadow and jumped a doe but no buck. After the push, I went back to them and 20 minutes after getting there a nice 8 point came out of the field I just walked through. Unfortunately, my sister in law couldn't find the buck in the scope and then my father in law missed it at 200 yards. I think the wind pushed the bullet in front of the buck. We did see 14 doe and a forkhorn later but no other shooters.

Congrats whit!!!!

Had a cold and windy mid-morning till dark, but found a new spot that has more than a little promise. Rubs everywhere and no human tracks in the snow. Soooo....

Saw this one taking a walk....




Saw this one taking a rest....




This one showed me her ass....




And a little later a Buck showed me his horns, but unfortunately not for long....


They are using it more than a little....

Sorry bout pic quality, its screenshot from video. I got a 5pt tonight.



Its actually a 6, but the one point was half broke off, a ring could hang on it but im callin it a 5. I saw him earlier with a doe but couldnt see brows. So thick and the damn wind had my eyes screwed up. Bout 2 hours later the doe came back up over the knob. I looked but couldnt see him right away. I saw a tree moving more than the wind was pushing em. Here he was makin a rub! I wasnt sure it was the same buck, even though it was 10 yrds from where they were earlier, so I put my scope on him. Still couldnt see brows. Im tellin ya, my eyes were so screwed from the wind it aint funny. They were only 35 yrds away at this point. He walked up hill about 15 yrds and I could finally see a brow. Put the cross hairs on his shoulder and let her fly. Busted his shoulder low but damn thing ran 30 back down hill. My trucks at the top of the hill!...lol. Aint nothin ever easy. Called my dad and he drove back in the mountain and helped me drag it out.

I tell ya. I owe him a lot. Id still be back there if it wasnt for him. I wont be able to hunt myself much longer, my bodys just had enough. I guess sitting out in the rain all day monday didnt help. I was freakin beat monday night. Stayed in yesterday because my gear wasnt dried out. Gore Tex really sucked ass in that rain! I was soaked through and through. I outta post a pic of my hands. My fingers looked like I been washin dishes for a week...lol. One day ill learn my lesson and wear gloves and a true rain suit. I hope anyhow. I think im more tough than I am. And I pay for it bigtime!

Been a slow year thus far for me. I did see a nice buck opening morning as we were departing a swamp to head to another area. I was 2-steps down a ladder stand when I happened to look over my shoulder to see a nice buck leaving the greenbriar patch where my buddy had been standing. By the time I re-gained two ladder rungs and got the scope on him he was out in the brush and moving quick. I found an opening and shot but missed, then another hunter on a neighboring property shot and missed him as well.

Since then all I’ve seen is doe. Decided to change things up this morning and hunted SGL 13 and 57, more snow than we expected. Hiked about 2 miles in and back but never cut a fresh track.

Wind is supposed to lay down tomorrow and clear a bit, should be a good day. Lots of standing corn in my area which is really making things difficult. All the deer I’ve seen on evening sits have been leaving corn fields. Fields are so wet I’d be supposed if the corn gets cut at all in some areas.

Congrats pahick, I hear ya on the wind and rain...

Thanks! Worse than the wind and rain was the ice. On the way to camp we hit that freezing rain. Some guy in a Subaru tried to go around a car that slid across lanes. He didnt make it. They were sandwiched in the middle of the road. Guess it was a good thing cause it stopped us before it got worse. Sat for over an hour before salt truck came.

Good luck to ya! This weather has been something. Enjoy tomorrow, I hear more waters comin, in one form or another.

Congrats pahick!!!! Keep getting it done.

Appreciate it! Good luck to y'all!

I was lucky enough to see the hay day of Pa. hunting , pheasants , rabbits , grouse , deer. Now , "pheasants are put and take " rabbits if you got dogs , grouse ( in my area ) all but gone !
Deer , and Deer hunters non existent. A [bleep] state run by [bleep] politicians. I hunted Tuesday from sun up till sun down saw one other hunter , 3 deer , and never heard a shot.I would like to know the amount of hunters who quit because of the lack of game in Pa. The game commission manages deer so they can take in more money for timber , not to cater to the hunter. It's about money with the PGC not hunters.

The comments of the POFA are noted and recorded. Perhaps you would prefer Michigan, Minnesotta, and Wisconsin where they introduced Wolves and raised the general license fees more than once within the last 15 years. Grouse and Pheasants are also down considerably in those States.

Now on the brighter side....

We have Squirrels almost everywhere, and the Bear population is still exploding. To keep it light, we should also mention Turkeys now also reside in Oakland which is a part of the city of Pittsburgh.

And this one was taken within 1.5hours of Carnegie....


TaDaaa!!!! (Not me, but I will be close by the same location.)



An acquaintance took this one on Monday. Again around 1.5hours and he saw 28 total. (Make that Tuesday.)




These two are examples of what can grow, if there is not a hunter behind every tree, every day of the season knocking them off. Perhaps these are the good old days????

Out the Door to hunt, I think that is still part of the game.

(I qualify for membership, but please, I prefer to not join. Thanks anyway.)

Monday after I left the woods....



Even had my hands in my pockets half the day. That rain was brutal.

6 Does and one spindly little Buck that was legal that insisted in trying to figure me out on a cornfield edge. Hopefully he will be around next year.

Had left the camera in the 4 Runner and it was a mistake, I looked down and saw what I first thought were Grouse tracks, but were too small. Then I noticed movement and these 5 little Quail scurry thru the tangle right at my feet. Except they didn't have the white cheek patch of a Bobwhite. Definitely not Chuckers that someone had worked their Dog on. They looked like the classic Partridge in a pear tree bird. You could have held one in the palm of your hand. Full grown Quail in size, but didn't have the coloration of a Bobwhite. I don't know.

Addition: Just looked at some pics and I was thinking male Bobwhites. These were all females.

Battue- when it comes to Pa deer hunting we are in the good ole days as far as deer numbers and possibly seeing real mature bucks, no denying it. Things have changed in the negative in the realm of opportunities to hunt. Land is now hard to come by, people jealously guard deer as if they were actual property. Finding room to wander is getting pretty tough, takes away from the adventure. Trail cameras, food plots and too much planning detract from the experience. Small game hunting, now that is a whole nother story, all the same negatives with the added bonus of less critters. I love how our deer herd in Pa has changed, I do not love how the overall experience has changed.

MM

Maybe Coturnix (Pharaoh) quail. Kinda look bobwhites. Not much at all for flying. Some guys use them to train pointers.

Yoder,

I think you have it right in that originally they were not 3 feet from me and didn't fly. They just walked away and worked their way thru the brush. I didn't try to make them fly, because evening was coming on and wanted to give the chance to covey up together. These actually looked a little bigger than Bobwhites.

MM,

I can agree and disagree depending on where one lives. Admittedly I am not all that enthused about the current posting issues here in Western Pa. I just removed myself from an excellent lease because of something previously mentioned. So personally for myself, right now things have changed. Down the road is a 2000 acre game lands which allows more than a little room to wander. There is a decent Deer population and few use it. Pretty steep country in many places. A couple years ago I bounced out a jumbo on it.

Game Lands 95 in Butler County is huge with 9,300 acres and the GC manages it with more than a few food plots, timbering, winter protective cover, etc. Damn them having the nerve to manage a GL for Deer, what were they thinking. We hunt stocked Pheasants there and it is covered with Deer sign. Never been there on opening day, but I've little doubt thru the week you would have most of it to yourself.

In looking recently, I found some landowner signs that said hunting with permission. It is a land program that works in conjunction with the GC. Were they thinking about Deer hunters again? Na not the Pa GC. I couldn't track down the owner, so parked my car and left a landowner note on the windshield that gave my personal info and a request if they come upon my car to give me a call until I can contact the GC and find theirs. Hunted it and took the pics of the Deer I found there. It was loaded with Buck sign.

I don't know what is going on in all of the State, but around me, a little effort will find one a decent place to hunt.


Addition: I grew up with the old days and they are a history probably never to return. We have a choice, quit, biitch about it or find another way.

I think I finally got the picture thing to work. Here’s my opening day 9pt I posted about. Good luck to the rest of you fellows still trying to fill a tag!