Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting PA Saturday Opener

Great story Mark!! PA deer camp is a great time. It was mighty nice of you to slow that first buck down for a fellow camp member.

Tom,

I try my best to help my fellow hunters....I saw one really nice, big bodied buck hanging at the processors. It’s back was covered in thick, beautiful fat...But the ass end of it was completely destroyed by a 86 year old hunter using a 45-70. That hurt seeing it.

If I’m still hunting at 86 years of age...Ass shooting will be on the ballistic table with a 45-70 😬😎

Congrats on a good buck Beaver!

Great write up Beav!

Let me add some background.


Chapter 1: Destiny

I’ve never known someone to use the unicorn emoji with such passion. In fact, until meeting you, I didn’t know there was a unicorn emoji. It was one of many firsts. Before meeting you, I’d never hunted out west. I’d never hunted elk. I’d never shot off a mountain top at another mountain top and I’d never been to the Portland Airport, which is a profound experience. PDX offers people watching rivaling even Anytown, USA’s public boat launch. It’s an amazing place.

Mid-October, I’d been in Northern New Hampshire for a PRS match and my truck was calling for DEF, short for Diesel Emission Fluid. I charted a course to the nearest Walmart. I’ve found it convenient to bop in through the automotive/tire service entrance, getting in and out without a fuss. That’s when I saw it, sticking out of a tri-wall flowing over with giant yellow teddy bears and plush pink horned whales, an adult human sized unicorn!

I dug through the heap, corralling its three unicorns. I’ve no idea who was responsible for putting these two pallets of massive stuffed animals in my path, but the end-cap adjacent the motor oil aisle was kismet.

Lining the three up, I closely inspected each for flaws, the color sequence of their manes and tails, for snout symmetry and for eye sparkle. This went on for some time and not only delayed my DEF refill, but drew considerable attention from other visitors to the motor oil aisle.

After weighing each for their attributes, I’d decided, this is the one.



On my way to the tire department register, I thought to myself, “What in the hell am I going to do with this giant Unicorn between now and when I get home? The truck is full of gear, most of which has to be shuffled to get at the other, the forecast is cold and gloomy—this is nuts. I’ll get one of these at my local Walmart next week.”

Unicorn returned to the herd...

Next week arrives and it’s time to go get Mark a gigantic Walmart Unicorn. Entering the local Super Walmart through the tire department, I search aisle after aisle, row after row, and there are no pallets of plush mythical beasts, none.

In a panic, I ask one Walmart associate after the next, “where are the big red boxes of stuffed animals?” Maybe they’re in the back. Maybe they haven’t put them out yet. When I finally connect with a woman, who I’m convinced knows what I’m talking about, she doesn’t know where they are. She sends me to every corner of the Walmart. Finally, my tireless persistence, hopeful dedication and desperate pleas convince her to look out back.

I wait anxiously for 20 minutes.

She returns with shrugged shoulders, empty handed.

Over the next three weeks I scour this and every other Walmart along my path, but there are no Unicorns.

Then the day after getting to Camp in PA, I head up to the Corry Walmart for a big grocery run. This is typical. On a whim, I roll my cart full of thin cut pork chops, pumpkin pies and broccoli to the intersection of the seasonal section and the automotive section. On a remote end cap, I find a single red tri-wall jettisoned on the remotest of end-caps.

My chest tightens.

I can feel my pulse race.

I can’t believe it, no unicorns.

Then, amidst a tangle of plush limbs and flippers pokes a nose, a unicorn nose!

I named her Destiny.

I am still touched by your persistence and continued pursuit for my Unicorn 🦄 🖕🏾😜

For those curious...Destiny was gifted a beautiful home with a large detached shop and garage for her to live out her days in the care of 12 year old boy.

Prologue:

After I landed at the Portland Airport, waiting on my rifle case to be handed to me. I was tapped on my right shoulder by a old man who said after I made eye contact with him....”You’ve been served” jamming a think folded bundle of paper into my chest then quickly leaving under the power of an old hickory cane.

WTF? Quickly scanning the header on the first page. I realized I had just been served with paternity and spousal support papers from Destiny.

What are the odds that after spending 9 days with her - giving her the best days of my life, she would come after me for more?

Kingston, DNA testing is coming your way brotha. Da baby ain’t mine. 😎

Picturing you carting Destiny, your rifle case, and hunting gear through the Portland Airport—it would have been epic.

P.P.S. I hope he gives it to his little sister for Christmas...

DNA test don’t lie...🦄🤰🏻🤰🏻🦄

That’s what you get picking up woymns at Walmart. Maybe next time you try Amish, they’ll never find Portland.

Come to think of it, maybe they already have..

In Portland, it is most certainly odd he didn’t get pulled aside for the rifle case and hunting gear.

Indeed. The Rainbow Unicorn would've been considered normal.

I love unicorns 🦄. Been hunting them for years.

Great story beav and wonderful stuff guys.

I’m calling BS, sounds like one of them farm hunts where you pick one and tell them the ear tag number and they drag it into a 5x5 pen. I don’t see a single laurel snarled hill and y’all look way too warm. Not even a mention of bears.

Congrats on the buck. Many experienced NE hunters will put in many frigid days and not be so lucky.

I’ve only got the one heated blind. The rest are ladder stands.

I did a fair share of freezing my ass off.

Looking forward to adding out first heated blind to the property. That is our next addition to the 56 acres we bought in 2018.

Planted 100 trees mostly chestnut variations, some apple, pear and oak as well. More to come.

Added a waterhole and couple food plots also.

Surrounded by ANF..

😁

Kingston must be a good friend. Not many would give up their Heater Buddy.

Definitely frigid out there this A.M. Flintlock may be a cold one. Only hunting it after losing buck to a bear during archery. No place to poke an arrow through the laurels at 10’ so I chased him down into the gorge with only a knife. Honestly thought he’d be like the buck stealing bear last year and drop the buck. No, he tunneled through laurels down the gorge cliffs for hours just ahead of me until I ran out of light. I had him broadside during the first day of bear season and a sapling saved him blocking vitals from any shot opportunity.

Hung a stand over his trail leaving his den but Sat the kids had tickets to see Santa and Mama wanted a tree before I left for business. Sun shining and a break in weather after 3 days of snow/ice. Hunters killed him almost under my stand Sat morning. He pegged 545 or something like that. I had him circle me once in a tree just before bear season and thought him smaller. Had I known, I’d have been at least a little slower to chase him without a weapon.

Have pics of a nice 13 a lady hunting above me killed. I wasn’t sure what he’d be when I took pics of him in my yard this summer but even then counted 11 and bulbs still on his beams. I was in a new to me hard access section of the gorge and kicked them up the rock face to the hunters. Glad she got him and I was able to see what he became. I thought him long gone to the Taxi.


Beav, you’ll have to come back for a late Flintlock season. It gets pretty cold, sometimes -10 or colder in the mountains but it’s a fun hunt in the snow.

I sit on a rock or milk crate.

Spent more time in my home made box blind this year, than usual. Mostly due to rain later in the first week, then it got cold again Spent enough time hunting in the rain when I was younger. Ain't younger now..

Took me three seasons to burn up the first little green bottle in my Buddy heater. Polished off the remainder of last year's bottle the first week this year.