Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Diary of a deer camp

And so it begins-

Sometime in the summer or fall of 1955:

"To whichever camp member reads this

We cleaned the underbrush and dead trees out and I think we should stop using the live trees for target backstops as it is hard on trees. Also got the garbage pile moved. You can start a new one above the cabin behind the brush pile. The water barrel is full of bugs but you can't stop that. I cleaned the gutter out it was full. Burned some wood as you will see. I am not trying to run things but I think all will agree to this."

Bud

This was the first entry in the camp book, or diary of our camp, Camp Opa, built starting in 1955 in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. I am the son of one of the five original members. The original members of our camp were:
Bud Streit
Bob Gamble
Bert Callan
Charlie Fields
Howard Grubb (my father)

My brother and sister visited me from the Youngstown,Ohio area this week. 'Came to see me following my recent heart issues. My brother brought along "the book". I've read this well over 100 times, and every time I crack the cover, I learn something new.

Our camp was built a decade after our men came home from defeating the Axis powers. All these men were still getting on their feet after the horrors they'd lived through just a few years back on the battlefields of Africa, Europe and Asia. All five were skilled trademen who made their living with their backs and hands. An electrician, mill workers, and carpenters. Money was scarce. The lot cost them $50.00, and it was all they could do to scrape that money together. The camp was built mostly out of recycled supplies, or stuff bought from the local sources when they couldn't come up with hand me downs for free.

A simple one room shack, it would become home base for a rich deer hunting tradition that has spanned 7 decades, 2 centuries, and three generations.

Prior to the building of our cabin, the group stayed with an older lady who lived on an old farmstead up on Boone Mountain. Margaret Bundy took in hunters for deer season to make a little extra money. Our guys had stayed at Margaret's for several years after WWII until they built Camp Opamp Opa.

November 28th 1955

"First deer season in camp. Most snow for several years. All members were here plus five guests. Up to third day no one got a deer."

Bud

The first hunting success for the Camp Opa boys:

Dec. 12th 1955

"John Bill and I were here doe. Got three first morning. Weather was fine about three inches of snow temp 22 above."

Bud
My dad's first entry:

April 28th & 29th 1956

"Burt and Grubb up & sided in front of cabin."

I could write for hours on the exploits of the boys from Camp Opa. The good times, and the hard times too, like the passings of loved ones, friends, and members, reclalled now in the pages of this grand book.

I would strongly recommend that every hunting camp, or party keep a book like this. It is really interesting to look back on the rich history we build from year to year.

All the original Camp Opa boys are long gone now. My son is the first and only member of the "third generation" to hunt Boone Mountain in the footsteps of his grandfather. Here's to the hope that our rich tradition forged on the backs of our predecessors never ends.

Rest in Peace to all the Camp Opa boys that went before us. They all left this world a much better place, and we thank them very much.

Grubb

To the camp Opa boys... A tip of the hat and a raise of the glass.

To the founders of Camp Opa, Cheers!

How many other camps keep a diary going? We here about Northern Dave's exploits. The infamous Swamp Squids, the stories make for a great read. There must be other stories out there from other camps just waiting to be shared. Let's here 'em boys!

gopher, know that country very well.. Relatives in the area.. Haven't been in a camp like that for 50 years, but they are a special world all their own.. The camp I was associated with was destroyed by a tornado many years ago.. It was never rebuilt, and the group has either died or quit hunting for the most part..
As others have said, cheers, and best of luck...

I grew up in PA. My Dad always wanted a cabin---never got one--tight money raising 5 kids. My brother & I both have cabins. Mine is a fishing cabin on the Kenai River in AK. My brother lives in Cleveland, his is a deer cabin in SE Ohio. I go there every year and yes we keep a cabin diary. Memories to live on.

Good stuff!! We too have one at our tiny little spot of heaven. im the only one of the five cousins/members that ever remembers to write in it tho. when you sit around and read it, it is funny, almost to the point of embarrassment, as to some of the things, bets, ideas that either yourself, or your other blood relatives did or had. Things that make you scratch your head for sure. Some very funny things, that should go to the grave probably, not written in pencil, crayon, or ink. Someone always takes the pen that is tied to the damn camp log, does anyone else have this issue too?? I only wish that we would remember to write important things in it as well... Good stuff for sure tho guys, take care!! Paul

When I read through the book,I am reminded of how much time our guys spent up at camp. Some years, it was just about every weekend through the summer. And this was before Interstate 80 went through. Anyone journeying to camp from North East Ohio, which is where our guys were from, had a 4 1/2 hour drive on surface roads through the heart of Central Pa. to get to camp. Deer season for us always opens on the the Monday after Thanksgiving. The trip to camp on the Friday after Thanksgiving was commonly about a 6 hour drive. All the little towns along the way were chocked with traffic, as the Orange Army headed east to their cabins. Sometimes getting through Clarion was a real adventure. Every bar, every general store, every gun shop would be packed, as guys prepared for Monday morning.

Was that the tornado that tore up the Parker Dam area over by exit 18 off of Interstate 80? That was a bad one-looked like someone took the whole top off that mountain. Guys told me it was tough hunting in there afer that because of all the blown down timber.

I hope it's still like that when I get to experience it!

I take notes when I'm hunting. Day, weather, ammo, gun, sightings...stuff like that. If I'm at a camp where there is a log, I'll make an entry. I think they're great to re-read over the years.

We started a camp log around 1985, but the old times kept a record of kills on the wall. record goes back to 1941, the year the cabin was built.

Holy Cow! I'm pretty sure it was Clarion that I stayed at for that week I worked in Brookville! That is so cool that I can picture the beautiful country that you hunted. It is one of the prettiest places I have ever seen.

Rooster, if it was a college town 20 miles or so west of Brookville, it was Clarion.

Gopher, the tornado that hit Parker Dam was a bad one, I think some folks were killed in the valley between Sabula and Penfield, I know it blew 3 houses apart, skipped over the hill,took out all the trees around the Lady Jane Mine, skipped over the group cabin (full of Boy Scouts) at PD and trashed a whole lot of country. From what I hear, it's still pretty tough country to get around in but the bears love it. I think Ron T's buddy Harry hunts there some.

Cool thread, I miss the camp I used to hunt from. You guys with a camp log might want to think of safeguarding it. When our camp (old farmhouse owned by cousins) caught fire, there was nothing left.

Dale

Dale-

I had heard about all the damage over by the Lady Jane. They really got waxed over there. 'Can't imagine trying to dig a bear out of those blowdowns. I'm sure they're in there if anyone's goofy enough to go in after them. Harry's camp is over that way-I'm pretty sure they're one hill over from the stike zone from the twister.

Another entry from the book:

Nov. 30th, 1957

Grubb, Bert & Gamble arrived Sat. Bud & Jess came in Sun. Bert got an 8 point Mon & Howard a spike Tues. Jess left Tue, Bud left Wed & Grubb and Bert left Thur. Gamble & Jim Bigger (a friend of Howard) left Sat. noon after 2 days of rain.

Grubb

This was the first entry I could find where my dad took a deer since they built the camp.

Some of the names I am only familiar with from hearing them in the past. Unfortunately, our guys didn't take a lot of pictures. We do have a colored picture of the 5 original members standing by the game pole with 5 bucks. My dad is wearing his old Woolrich hunting suit. I still have that suit and will dust it off and wear it again one of these days. It is one of my most prized possessions.

Jeff if you email it to me, I can get it posted.

Gopher-

I think I can speak for the rest of the class that we'd sure like to hear more entries. It brings up fond memories of camps gone by.

Salute to the founders of Camp Opa!

Thanks CFT. I'm not bragging, but this is a very good read. More on the history of our camp:

I mentioned Margaret Bundy, who took in hunters to make some money in the fall. Margaret fed the guys as part of their rent. Dad said she never admitted to serving them venison,but they had no doubt she was doing it regularly. The guys were up stairs playing cards one night, and as was common practice, heard Margaret's little 32-20 Marlin crack down stairs. Margaret would put out a pot of stewed apples, and wait for the deer to come in. She'd yell up at the guys, "who's shooting up there?" Pretty soon she came running up to tell the guys' she'd hit a little forkhorn, and he ran out and laid down in the middle of the road and she needed them to go drag him in. Dad and several of the guys, no doubt nine sheets to the wind, went out in their skivvies with a hammer to subdue the buck. After they'd chased him across a hayfield, two fence rows and a pasture, they gave up and came back, deeming the deer to be alive and well enough to not be supper for tomorrow night.

There are 7 lots on the trail our camp sits on. We have the last lot up on the hill-tucked right up against the State Forest land. The Stitt boys in Camp Bozo were our dear friends, and had the camp across the trail from us. There was always a friendly competition to see who could have the first deer hanging on the opener. There is a well circulated story about my dad, and one of the Bozo boys each literally riding bucks down the mountain from up above to be the first to hang one on the game pole. They had ended up hunting within a couple hundred yards of each other and both shot bucks the first morning at about 7:45a.m. To the camp that hung the first buck went a bottle of rotgut, and more importantly, bragging rights for the next year.

So here's these two grown men riding deer carcasses down the side of a mountain, only to find that when they got back to camp, the camp cook for the Bozo boys all ready had shot one right off the porch with the old "camp gun"-a well worn 30-40 Krag. That story made the rounds among the camps up there for decades.