Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting PA Saturday Opener

Good luck everyone. Hunt safe.

Best of luck to all you folks... Won't be there again this season..

Knock 'em dead, men!

Good luck fellers’! I’ll be up next Thur evening to hunt Fri-Sat, drive home Sun. Post some good pics to get my blood going. Should be snow according to the forecast.

Good luck Pennsylvania guys!

My mind will be on the hills and hollers of Central Pa. this morning. So hard to miss deer season, especially the opener. New traditions this year, as the Game Commission made the ill fated decision to go to a Saturday opener. Good luck today guys. My body might be in Minnesota, but my soul's on Boone Mountain.

Good luck boys and girls. Be sure to report back with photos.

Well I didn’t see any big bucks today, but I was happy to be out in my stand. We had a big breakfast at my Dad’s with friends and family; didn’t hear one complaint about it being Saturday instead of Monday...

soooo......when did they change the PA deer opener to Saturday ?

Has always & forever been Monday after Thanksgiving

It’s new for this year. Who knows, maybe someday we’ll be able to hunt Sundays and use semiautomatics for big game!

This year, and because of it we get an extra Saturday. The Kids and those who can't get off on Monday should love it. My one friend is beetching because he has nothing to do tomorrow at camp.
I like it, and I'm not that young, yet many of the old traditionalists don't. No matter what the Pa GC does, people beetch.. Whaaaa!!!!! Whaaaa! and falling alligator tears....

Saw 7 Does. Two friends got small 8's.

As you probably know, our season used to open third Monday of November here in NY. They changed it to Saturday a few years ago and many traditionalists whined and cried like little girls. They got over it, life went on and now most folks like the Sat. opener, particularly students and working folks. Working folks with limited time to hunt particularly benefit from it because now there are four weekends in the season whereas before there were only three.

Only deer I saw yesterday was a decent buck that did tried its best to run in the side of my truck at 440 in the morning. Coyote down early. It was a great day to be out on the game lands.

Did not see 1 living creature. Not much shooting, either. I'm in Erie County, gotta be bucks only, 3 up on one side, essentially an 8 pt. Not many of those around.

West Erie county here.
Slow day.
Seemed like a odd day to be hunting.
Beats working.....


dave

Almost nothing moving. A bit of weather this week. Maybe that will do something.

Inquiring mind would like to know???? Who moved around and approximately how much?

Spent around 5 hours on the move here. Had some short stops to rest or look around.

Son of a friend has 5 big Bucks of 8 or better on his trail cams. One is a big 10. Another may be a 12. One of the others showed up again on Friday night. As far as we know they are still out there.

Utah openers are normally all Saturday's......

Sunday hunting yes........

Semi auto yes too........

About all that is left open now is late cow elk..........

Of course rabbits & year round coyotes @ $50 head bounty......

I had precisely 1 8pt on my cams. Coupla 6's. The woman can't do much walking. Pretty limited. Nobody saw much of anything, at any rate. Wasn't just me.

Erie and Crawford are two of the best Deer counties in the State. They seemed to be down Saturday all over, I look for them to be out and moving around late Monday or Tuesday.

Hopefully. The public land I hunt is not great, but the woman can navigate it. My family used to own about half of pa sgl 269, in Crossingville, and I know it very well. Great spot, but she can't navigate it. I'm thinking Tuesday will probably be the best day. Good luck out there!

I didn't see a deer. Probably the weirdest first day in PA that I have experienced in the roughly 38 years I have been hunting there. Deer just weren't moving and there certainly didn't seem to be the hunters that there usually are where we hunt. My dad shot a buck that he was tickled with so it was a good day overall. I am not a fan of how they executed the first day change this year. I think it will be better when they get hunting allowed on the first Sunday, they should have had all that lined up before changing anything this year. I am thinking with the blanket of snow coming tonight and all the kids still having the day off, tomorrow will be a big day.

I chose to spend my money on a Ohio tag rather than a PA because of the Saturday opener but no Sunday hunting. It just seemed like a waste of a day. Hopefully next year it will make sense to hunt the Weekend opener. It's been a long time since I hunted PA.

Got a 6 point about 7:30 Saturday morning. Saw 3 does a few minutes before the buck showed up. My Dad saw a big ass bear but no deer. Not much shooting but I did hear of 3 others being taken in the area. Mostly locals hunting around here.

Sucked leaving my daughters a day earlier than usual after Thanksgiving but I survived and so did the Grandkids. Will get a picture up later.

Dale

Dale,


Nice and congrats!!!!

I got a one antlered 5 pt on Saturday morning at 7:30 in Potter County Gamelands. I had not sooner gotten into my tree stand when two does came out of the laurel behind me. About 2 mins later, I heard a bunch of grunting and the buck came out of the laurel in hot pursuit. I shot him at about 30 yards and he ran about 25 yards and piled up. The missing antler was broken off close t the skull so I guess he broke it off fighting. There was very little shooting Saturday morning but I was out of the woods by 11 am.

https://imgur.com/o1CvEzk

Rain and half rain/half snow all day. Phone says 7.8miles. Saw 15 for the effort. 2 Bucks, but bounced them out and they didn't wait around. Bud saw 11.

Snow/rain mix here today too. Made it miserable in the woods. I was out trying to stir up some deer for my buddy Brad and my Dad but no luck. I have a DMAP tag for this area, so I could have shot a doe but didn't see any.

I would have needed a dumb and slow one that got up close, I decided to take the 94 Win out, haven't hunted with it in years.

Dale

PS, what do I need to do to get photos to show here? I put them in the image gallery but can't figure out how to get them into this thread.

Here you go Dale, nice Buck!

Thanks Tom. And for those that want the details, I used a Ruger 77 in 6mm Rem and 80 gr TTSX bullets. He pretty much dropped right on the spot. I was up on the ridge line in the background, about a 75 yd shot.

Well done! Dark face on that buck...

Looks like there is more than enough for a Deer to browse there. Congrats!!!!

I shot this 8 point at 7 am Saturday in Sullivan county with my 30-30 Win model 94.

Well anyway I posted it in the Image Gallery but my phone cant seem to transfer the picture here for some reason.

Very well done. Few anymore can say the same.

Nice buck Mike, one of the toughest counties to hunt in nonetheless...Congrats

Mike’s buck

Thanks for posting that Tom.

Congrats man ! The old .30-30 can still git er done. I need to get mine back out and hunt with it. Been futzing around with bolt guns the last couple seasons. Shot a couple with my 6.5 Creedmoor last season just because it was new and I wanted to try it out. This year I used my .30-06 because I was hunting a new area with some fields with the possibilty of a long range shot for the first time in many years. Ended up killing a 7 point opening day at 65-70 yards in the woods anyways. Should have just took the .30-30.

I have a 30-06 myself and have killed a bunch of deer with the cartridge but I just feel myself drawn to the 30-30 even though with Bear open I'd be better off with the 30-06. There's something about a 94 Winchester but the open sights nearly cost me this buck. It wasn't fully light when he came by and even though I had him 50 yards broadside I couldn't tell there was a branch in my way and it deflected my shot. I hit him running with a follow up shot but that landed too far back . I didn't find him for hours and what should've been a hundred yard drag turned into nearly a mile. I'm strongly considering giving up on my iron sights after this rodeo and just using the 30-06.

I hear ya Mike, I like irons as well but had some missed opportunities and other difficulties when antler restrictions went in effect. I got tired of constantly looking with bins first and then shouldering the rifle. There simply isn’t enough time with deer moving through the timber. As much as they bother me, scopes are a tremendous advantage. A smaller 2-7 is about perfect for an eastern woods rifle IMO. Besides muzzleloader, all my rifles are scoped except one old 760 which wears a Williams peep on the tang.

I'm with you on the binocular thing Tom. I'm tired of lugging them around only to never have time to use them anyway.

That wouldn't be a problem for me as my Marlin wears a 1-4x20 VX- 2. It has worked well for me on dozens of deer in the woods.

If I get a Marlin it will be in 35 Rem.

I had one for a few years. Couldn't see that it was any more effective than my .30-30. It cost more to shoot, wasn't as accurate and didn't shoot as flat so I sold it.

I never noticed it to be more effective on deer than a 30-30 either. When it comes to Black Bear though that 200 grain slug gives me peace of mind.

Luzerne County was dead. I heard zero shots. Usually by 8am I loose count. Last few years have been pretty dismal.

This coming Saturday should be good.....hopefully! Last day for bear in WMU 3D, buck is still in and antlerless season opens. Bear, buck or doe......gotta get something!

Tough to argue with peace of mind, though I doubt theres much difference.

I was in Luzerne as well, but I heard quite a few shots in the morning. Very few on Monday, and zero today.

In an area that has antler restrictions?

Never would I be without binos..........

Plus with binocs you wouldn’t need to glass me with a rifle scope, like some guy did In Warren County Saturday.

I wouldn't like to be without my binos, however I've bounced three Bucks out of their beds so far this season, and at least 10 plus Does. You either get on them quick or you lose all opportunity. You make a shoot/no shoot choice, provided you can get on them. Big horns make the decision for you. Entirely different circumstance than glassing someone with a scope.

I've used the Binos on Deer that were caught unaware, but for big horns up close they hang.

Battue just summed it up perfectly. I dont need binos for looking hunters over either. In my hunting areas I seldom can see a hunter more than a hundred yards away and my eyes do fine by themselves at that distance. I cant remember how many years it's been since I used optics on another hunter?

Before I drag my tired butt out:

I use Binos. Just not all the time, nor do they reside in a marsupial pouch, waiting to be used at my leisure.




And second, why do some think that every time they see someone aiming a rifle at distance, they can exactly tell they are the one in the scope. Up close yes. At distance, perhaps the hunter is aiming at a Deer that is practically on top of him. They may be a couple hundred yards away from the other hunter, yet they can tell the exact vertical and horizontal angle of the one with the rifle up. Hey there is an orange Deer, let's look at it thru the scope?

And if they willing to aim at orange, binos would make little difference.

I carry binoculars, but if I can’t determine if a buck is legal with the naked eye, it gets to walk.

Hunted Springbrook and Suscon (Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties) pretty extensively in the 70’s and 80’s. Big area and one can hear shots for miles, but every year would count the 200th shot between 8:30 and 9:00 on opening day.

Saw 10 or so today, 8 even posed for the binos. However, as hard as I looked, no horns were to be seen.

I even saw a hunter in orange about 500yards away out in a field. Actually didn't need the binos, but looked at him thru them anyway. Just to check him out.

I killed a decent 8 point the first day. Sat the morning from 6 am til noon. Climbed down and grabbed a quick sammich at camp, and was back in the woods at a different spot for the evening. While hiking in to where I wanted to be for the evening I spotted a buck on a distant hillside. I watched him til he topped out, then hustled over to the base of the ridge, hiked up to the crest and caught my breath. I crested the top and shot him at about 150yds when he stood from his bed. Good way to end a week that started with killing a bear the previous Saturday. I’ve got 7 doe tags left and after finishing up my 10 day stretch of work, have the last 4 days of the season off to put some meat in the freezer.

Saw 26 today. No bucks. Shot a doe.

I shot a "Doe" today or at least I thought I did. Turned out to be a buck that had already shed both antlers!

16 yesterday. 1 was a small Buck, 9 were Does for sure..

6 Does today.

Does got hit hard today.

I did the same on Dec. 9 one year. That was one unlucky buck. The pedicles on his head were still bloody. Hadn't even begun to scab over yet. Must have just lost them shortly before I plugged him.

I've heard of other people it happened to but this was a first for me.

Saturday morning Got off work at 7am, dressed and hiking to where I wanted to be at 730. Still hunted my way there and gag a big doe down by 8am. Gutted, drug back to the truck, skinned and hung in the cooler by 10am, bed by 1030. Couldn’t have worked out any better. Don’t know if I’ll get out again til Wednesday, but it’s game on til the end of the week as of 7am Wednesday morning!

Saw 8 or 9 does on Saturday but no shot that I was comfortable with. They were hauling butt across an open field with a screen of trees between us, then into some woods, across another open field but again with a screen of trees. I thought for sure they would stop or at least slow when they hit the wooded hillside (like they usually do) but whatever spooked them had them in 'Get out of the County' mode. The last I saw of them was tails going over the ridgeline where I shot my buck last Saturday.

Very quiet in my area, I didn't hear a shot until 8 AM and bet I only heard 2 dozen all day.

Oh well, I've got Friday and part of Saturday yet plus the late flintlock season.

Dale

5 friends of mine went down to Pa. yesterday. Hunted someplace near Sayre and came back with 4 buck in 5 hours. Two 8 points and two 9 points. The 9 points were both real good bucks.

On opening Saturday, my 12 year old son killed his first buck. At barely first light we heard this deer slowly walking. The boy saw him before I did. In fact, I never got a good look at him. "Dad, its got antlers!" The buck came into an opening in the brush, and my son was ready. He hit the heart. The buck sprinted about 20 yards and went down.
After we unbuckled ourselves from the two man ladder stand and climbed down, we were stunned at how big he was. The boy didn't pay any attention to the antlers, other than it had them, until after he was down.



This has been a great season for us. Both the 12 year old above and my 10 year old son got does in the early youth season, the 10 year old's first deer. The second Saturday of Rifle season, both my 17 year old daughter and my self got does, her first deer.

Well done, the smile says it all!

Dude that’s just fantastic man congratulations to both of you what a great buck!

Most excellent all around. Yes you have had a fantastic season.

Hunted in the rain today. Saw 4 Does. Bud came home with one of them.

Sounds like they had hunted there before and knew what was up.

outstanding season for your family! Congratulations!

I’ve hunted more than one place that I knew what was up. Doing it now and know there are probably 5 good Bucks still there. Two for sure. Bounced the best of the bunch once, yet they are all still there.

Maybe I don’t know what is up. 😀

Great buck bja105! Congrats to the boy.

I hunted past Fri, didn’t see anything in my morning and evening sits. Mid-day we hit the game lands and bounced a couple, never saw them but tracks said doe and yearling.

Saturday we drove some scattered farm lots like we always do. Our youngest hunter killed a 6-pt (4x2) on the first drive. We got some 3 doe after that. I Got one of them, though wished it had a bit more meat. It was by itself and standing in some brush. I saw no antlers and picked a window to shoot through. A little ground shrinkage as I walked up to it.

Jumped two other bucks, one was pretty good but he got out of there before we were even in the woods. Other one ended up getting killed by hunters on neighboring property, no lie close to 20 shots fired by the time it was done, was a real cluster. Last drive I found a dandy 10-pt (3.5-4.5 yr old) dead and not recovered.

Overall deer numbers seem a bit down compared to previous years, going to have to lay off the doe and hope the neighbors do the same. At 40, the deer drive (or nudges as we call them) are starting to loose their luster. If I am going to shoot a running deer I prefer to do it alone in the woods, tracking or still hunting.

Finished the season in the rain and snow. Saw a few and bounced a few, all Does....

A Doe, with the snow blowing and why I love stillhunting. She never knew, made the day....

It was a good year Harry.

It was better than a good year, in fact it was one of the best I ever had.

Saw Deer every day, and passed the 100 mark for the season. Crossed paths with some Bucks, drove some to some cherished friends, was in on one of their kills, logged over 60miles on my feet roaming the woods and found some interesting new spots for the future. Yes, it was a great season.

Wow! I only saw 6 deer. But I missed almost the whole first week after filling my tag. Still I doubt I was gonna see anywhere near 20 much less a hundred.

No doubt saw some of the same ones more than once. Hunted everyday but one and if I remember correctly 15 or 16 was the most seen in any one day. Saw 10 or more on multiple days. Saw 6 at one time on 3 different occasions. Moved the better part of the day and if I would not have, I doubt I would have seen half that many. Bud I hunted with every day, saw just as many.

Addition: Bounced more than a few out of their beds, so tails are part of the total.

Just getting caught up, havent been around the fire in a while. Congrats to all the hunters who filled tags.

I killed and 8 in archery as did my nephew, my boy Gage shot a 6 in archery as well as a doe

Opening day of rifle on Saturday was nice for us as my wife , dad and daughter were all able to join in. We saw some deer and dad missed a buck. Overall we heard a lot of shots but with dmap doe tags many were surely does.

My other boy Aidan hunted hard in rifle passed up some youth legal bucks and more does than he should have and never filled a tag. I managed to push 12 past him Friday morning, he passed a 4pt which I think like should have shot butnits his tag. Not bad for 1 man pushes.

My dad ended up with a 10pt pushing 130" that I bumped his way on the first Saturday and Gage shot his 3rd deer of the year a dmap doe. I was bumping through a bedding area using the wind to hopefully move the deer out and it worked.

My boys had a couple friends up throughout the season as well. One shot a doe and the other a 4pt.

Overall a good season.

Filled my DMAP tag on Saturday about 9 AM. 8 or 9 came from across the railroad tracks and into the narrow strip of woods I was in. After I cleaned her, it was about a 25 yd drag to the edge of the farm field, then walk a couple hundred yards to the house and the truck. Drive back down to where she was, load her up and away we went.

I hunted all or part of 6 days this season. Some sitting, some pushes for my dad and a buddy. Got a buck on the opener and a doe on the closer. Only saw 20 or so deer all told but they're here somewhere. Deer trails in the woods look like cattle trails, buck rubs everywhere, deer poop everywhere.

I'll be out some during the flintlock season (2 doe tags yet) but probably mostly for fun and will be a fair weather hunter.

Dale

Congrats to all the successful PA hunters. Enjoyed the pics, always great to see youngsters score.

As for the Saturday opener, deader'n hell where I hunt in 3A. Not many out, far fewer shots on an opening day around there, than I can recall in the past 30 years. Plenty of deer, but no one moving them. First season in years that I never saw one antlered buck in 14 days of hunting at camp. They're there, saw lots of nice ones through late summer and fall.

No complaints, would't miss it for anything. Nice to have snow early in the season this year, about 8" by Monday afternoon.

From what I've heard so far, some areas had a good turnout for Saturday, other areas, not so much.Time to get the flintlock ready for the day after Christmas.

Congrats to all! Another Pa season without seeing a single legal buck. This year, I had the distinction of not seeing a single deer. Gotta find a new place. 90% of the activity is nocturnal. The woman is not very mobile, and it puts a crimp on where I can go, and virtually no walking about with my nose in the wind if nothing is moving. Some of it is my fault, but onward to flintlock. I'll be going out alone, then. Maryland was a hell of a lot better.

Things got a little crazy here the last half of the 2nd week. I finished up work for the week Wednesday morning at 7am. My 5(soon to be 6 year old) decided she wanted to try and kill a doe with her “new pink gun”. I did some scouting in the morning when I got off work, got things set up for our evening hunt, picked her up from school at 3pm, and we hit the woods. A little after 5pm, after a bit of a Chinese fire drill in the blind, and some deer sticking around way longer than they should have trying to figure us out, she had one of the bigger does I’ve seen in recent years on the ground. That pretty much made my season. I used up a few dmap tags and killed a doe Thursday evening, and two more Friday morning. I spent the rest of the day Friday and a good part of the day Saturday cutting up 5 deer. They’re all in the freezer, waiting to be made into bologna, snack sticks, kielbasa and pastrami. I still have 2 tags left for flintlock season, and I’ll definitely be out. Late season is one of my favorite times of the year. Whether I fill any more tags or not, will depend on how much I feel like cutting up another deer. It’s been an excellent year for us. I’m blessed with plenty of deer in my part of the country and plenty of places, both public and private, to hunt them. A guy can’t ask for much more.

This is wonderful - congrats to the lad!

A long read about a guys first Pennsylvania whitetail hunt...Sorry - Sorta...Grins 😎

I flew from my home State of Oregon the morning after Thanksgiving to join up with my buddy Kingston, to hunt deer in Warren County, PA.

The history and traditions of Pennsylvania hunting camps is still very much alive with the crew of hunters I met at a place simply called “Jack’s Camp” or “Camp”...

Kingston makes this pilgrimage every year to see friends and family and share a few days of hunting, with good food, and laughter while catching up with life stories each one has acquired since last years hunt...Being from out of State and the Noob, it was hilarious just listening to the epic adventures and life long memories they have made together at Camp.

For me, this was another opportunity to see a different type of hunting environment and culture different from my Western hunting background. I tried to adapt quickly, by listening the night before the Saturday opener on how these hunts typically go...Stand hunting, maybe some stalk hunting after first light, pay attention to your scent - Kingston used a lot of scent killer spray on me and my gear. The rest of the PA hunting style mimicked to a degree the same things I deal with hunting the coastal areas of Oregon. I was ready!

Opening day I found myself at the bottom looking up a 26’ft extension ladder that was our staircase into the elevated deer blind. Hmmm-It’s dark, I’ve never seen the stand before, with a loaded pack and rifle slung over my shoulder, I was supposed to quietly scamper up this aluminum bitch??? I definitely don’t hunt out these things back home...

Here I would like to take a moment to give Hank - Godogs57 a quick shout out for introducing me to getting into and out of an elevated blind while hunting with him in Georgia the week & half prior to me coming to Pennsylvania...Thanks Hank, you probably saved me a broken bone or three with your tutorial on all things deer blind. 😬

I watched closely as Kingston clambered up the ladder, opening a small window at the top, then opening the entrance door. He then did a slight side dismount from the ladder into and through the doorway while his hands held a firm grip on the inside wall studs through the window...No problem! I’m a house painter... I can repeat that circus trick, I hoped.

I spent most of my 4 days hunting inside this blind...We saw enough deer come through, that I was sure a legal buck would eventually give me a chance at filling my tag.

3 of the 6 days Kingston hunted a different blind so that we could cover more area than both of us sitting in the same blind.

Day 2 I got my first opportunity at a legal buck...Around 7:50AM i glassed up several deer feeding approximately 160 yards from me. There was a lot of cover between me and the deer...Beech trees, Hemlock and probably another 5 species of flora & fauna making a shot difficult...A 450 Bushmaster seemed very appealing at that moment.

I stayed on the glass until I finally caught sight of horns several inches above the ears of a buck. I couldn’t get a good look at the points, between the thick cover, still early morning light and the slow feeding movement the deer were doing, made calling the buck legal difficult in my bins.

I decided to take another laze for yardage on the buck and got 157, 160, 146...Screw it, my rangefinder was hitting limbs or the cover, giving me back inconsistent numbers. I picked up my rifle, dialed up the farthest number of 160 yards on my NF and started watching the buck through my scope, hoping he would find his way into an opening, so I could count his points...

What must have been close to 15 minutes, I watched and waited, cussing in my head this thick cover until the buck hit a spot where his head, neck and shoulder was free of tree clutter. 3 up on one side...4 on the other. Legal!

Rifle on the buck...I pulled on the top of his exposed shoulder and sent one after him...Slight recoil took my sight picture, but I was back into the scope in a fraction of a second to see the buck hunch up...I didn’t hear the telltale sound of a solid hit like I often get in West Country, but that would be expected shooting in a blind and my muzzle break adding to the level of noise coming back at me.

I don’t see a downed deer....My cell phone vibrates, it’s Kingston calling from another blind. Yep, told him I had shot, I need to check for a dead deer...Txt you later with details...Beaver out.

Out the blind I go, but, down the ladder this time...Same deal as going up the ladder, but in reverse, and it’s light now, so I can at least see this little nightmare.. JFC Kingston! build some stairs. Grins.

I had a marker in my head where I thought the deer would be dead...I went to it, searched, nothing. Joe, one of our hunters came over and helped me look...Still Nothing! No blood. No whiff of dead animal in the air. 45 minutes later, I’m heading back to the blind to look again at my reference marker, thinking I’m way off. I take another yardage laze at the spot the buck was standing and I got 172 yards.

I had dialed range of 160 yards, even if the buck was at 170 yards, pulling on the top shoulder, I should have still hit him good....I’m getting ready to climb back out and increase my search area based on the new 170 yards data when I hear a shot coming from the top of the ridge where I was going to go look again for the buck.

I climb out to meet John who is another of our camp hunters standing at the bottom of the ladder. John asks me “who shot”? I have no idea, but it was close, so it had to be one of our boys...John and I start to make our way up to the ridge when we see Nick, yet again, another camp hunter coming over the top and down towards us, and he’s dragging a buck!

Nick walks up to us and says to me...”Thanks for blowing his leg off”. The bucks front leg was just barely attached, only held on by hide and ligaments. Nick told us that after I had shot a short while later the buck walked up within 30 yards of his blind and he killed him. Thank God!

The rest of my hunt was full days of seeing doe’s, small bucks, and skippers, until the last day for me hunting, Kingston and I team up in the same blind after some good snow finally hit...The entire day we didn’t see a deer. Just before 5PM, Kingston says he see’s a deer coming towards us on my right side....

I can’t see anything deer like from my position. Kingston has a good line of sight on it and tells me it’s a buck, then he says it’s a legal buck, then it’s a shooter buck..I still can’t see the buck...I’m totally buckless at this moment. I whispered to Kingston, you see it, just kill him!...My buddy said no, he’s yours, just watch down below about 75 yards, you should see him coming through the trees.

I put my rifle up, resting it on the window sill when my eyes finally see movement...The buck is gonna walk right in front of me.

My scope was back at its 100 yard zero...Now, I could easily pick the buck up in the scope, it’s a 3x4 or 7 pointer, or 8 pointer if you boys in the East count brow tines, I don’t remember what you all count for points.... I let him walk into an ambush shot I placed in front of him where I had a good opening to hit him....On the shot, I actually lost my sight picture for a couple seconds...

When I got back into the scope, I could see the buck hitting the ground with all fours and lighting up his afterburners running off...I’m saying to Kingston, I fùck’n missed him! How the hell could I do that? I’m watching the ass end of the buck disappearing into the trees below us in mere seconds...I’m doing a mental inventory check of all the things I could have done wrong at the break of the shot when...

Kingston asked me where I shot him at? I said “heart shot”....King said, “You got a dead deer then”!....

Kingston told me that when I shot, the buck hunched and went straight up in the air, did an all four legs splayed out sideways maneuver, then came down and tore off... He said it looked like a typical heart shot...

I unfortunately, couldn’t confirm anything because my eyes went off the scope on the recoil....Hashtag# When shooting from a window sill in an awkward shooting position - hold your rifle a smidge more firmly...Hint.

My pard, being more skilled at climbing HIS ladder, he said for me to stay put while he went to find the spot where the buck was when I shot...

Moments later King is yelling up that he found blood. I only feel relief. It’s getting close to dark, so I pack up the gear in the blind and slowly, baby crawl my way out of the blind and down the ladder to help search...By the time I get down, Kingston is coming out from the bottom headed towards me....”You find it”? I ask....”Yeah”, “It’s at the bottom on a 2 track path”...”Just follow the blood trail, you can’t miss him”......I start to walk in for the deer, while Kingston grabbed our gear and headed to camp and his ATV to haul the buck out.

It’s a short walk, around, over, and occasionally under the plentiful amounts of snow covered slash and debris that covers the hunting grounds here...I went slow, I’m used to this sort of leg traps back home where snags and downed trees and limbs are lurking underfoot to twist your ankle, knee or worse, break a hunters bones...

I find the buck in a really good spot for him to die, at least for me to drop his guts and get him out. I finger bang a blood spot on his hide, confirmation from the hole position - Heart should be thrashed. I got to work, found the heart and the entire top of it was wrecked - cool!

I finished up the buck. Washed my hands and blade with clean snow then Kingston arrived with the transport...We loaded the buck and headed back to camp...My hunt was now over.



The Buck!


To all the Pennsylvania hunters. For me it was an experience I was fortunate to take part in being on hollowed ground during your rifle deer season. It reminded me of being a young boy in the 70’s, not yet old enough to hunt, but wishing I was, while my dad, his hunting buds and my two older brothers would talk for weeks about where they would be hunting that season and who would be bringing what supplies...Damn, they all seemed to kill big Mule Deer bucks.

Hunting back then was traditional and symbolic with dad’s hunting with mostly their sons, extended family members and close friends. Hunt camps were in huge military tents for 10 days, where the same faces each year would be present with new editions to the camp being a son who finally was of age to hunt. All those days of my past came back to me as I sat and listened to each member at this long established hunting camp. One brought his son who was now able to hunt. Another member brought his boy who is a year away from taking part with a rifle...It was a great time seeing hunting very much alive in Pennsylvania. Thank you...Beaver




Me...Fat Head Westie Hunter

Couple of things of note...I’m not sure if this is an isolated thing or widespread throughout the South and Midwest. I was planning on putting my skinning blade into service when we got back to camp with my buck. Kingston said they have a local guy who’s just up the road from camp that processes game animals for cheap. All you have to do it gut the critter. The processor skins, cuts, debones, makes burger and packages everything up within 2-3 days....Cost $60 bucks!

I found this same service offered in Georgia while hunting...The processor in Georgia would even gut, skin, and cape your animal for a very small fee. This is definitely a service I don’t have out West, at least where I’m from. I imagine Oregon must have a State Law that requires all animals must be gutted, skinned and off the bone before taken in for processing. Guessing here, on that. Wow!


Kingston, Thanks for inviting me out to hunt with you and your group. Meeting the Jack was very cool. Love that guy. Joe, Tommy and Nick were hilarious. John boy is a douche bag! Sorry about that fact.

Our hunts worked out, at least for me. I appreciate the effort you made putting this together and holding off on the trigger, so I could kill a Pennsylvania Whitetail.

Your pick-up/drop off at the airport service was exceptional, too - especially with the luxurious new Ford diesel you provided just for me.

It was a good hunt!

Mark
😎


PS

Destiny and me in the end just weren’t compatible...I’m sorry! 🖕🏾



Destiny my Emo Support Unicorn

[url=https://postimg.cc/5QbG5zFd][/url

My Thank You To Kingston for Destiny 🙄

The Ladder 😩




Beaver got a Beaver blade for his Birthday from Kingston. It’s Awesome!




Dead Heads from PA




The Rendering Guys Work Shop

The Killing Fields of Pennsylvania



My Host and Friend Kingston

One of the absolute best Deer write ups of the year. Congratulations on your Pa buck and thanks for letting us in on the entire story.

What part of Warren? Used to hunt the Tidioute area.

Great story and some great bucks !

Bat,
Thank you...There’s been some truly great stories written this season. Appreciate you considered mine worth the read.

I’m sorry about exact location..I’ll have to defer your question on where we were hunting in Warren, County to Kingston.

Gleason Hill Road is road sign I remember seeing a few times...😎

Awesome write up!! How did you like the "camp" thing? I love it. It looks like you guys did a pretty good number on the bucks too!

Great write-up Beav, Thanks for sharing. I moved away from Pa years ago but still return every year for the atmosphere.

Tommy,

I got learned up hunting in that deer blind in PA. You remember that thread awhile back about the guy checking his safety if it was working properly by pulling the trigger inside his deer blind?

I made a pretty subjective post at him based on my Western hunting experience, saying the accidental discharge probably cost him a deer by scaring out a critter, at least for his morning hunt.

You quickly shoved my post us my ass by saying you’ve killed several deer out of the same blind on the same day.

I saw the same thing happen. These deer are constantly moving, especially if they’re being pushed by other hunters. I shot and wounded that first buck, yet within a couple hours I had doe’s, and small bucks walking into my blind and bedding in front of me.

I guess the saying “If you only know, what you know”....”Maybe you should shut your yapper, until you learn everything you don’t know”.

Our camp only tagged a couple bucks...The picture of those dead heads were from our area, just other luckier hunters.

😎

Rainbow unicorn? You have a .270 too, eh?
Happy to hear you had a great (and successful) trip.

That's a great first buck - congrats to the young man!