HuntingPA

Hey where are all the trees??? You got no trees ..man that just looks incrediblly strange to me. My Griz at the ATV access only camp...in Realtree of course My new 2500HD Silverado.. My old 2500HD Siverado the day we had to say goodbye in Northern Ontario...an old guy feel asleep going the other direction doing 60MPH. I swerved enough to save everyone's life... Best truck I ever had, and I believe it protected our lives well that day. Miss ya girl....

Hmmmm, I could see that being a good thing on the way home, but on the way TO WORK??? Well, I guess you could like your job alot more than I like mine. CONGRATS!

Pork loin and sauerkraut is the tradtion up here in the northwoods....it is supposed to bring you luck in the new year. (does not apply to pigs ) I'd enjoy sitting down to that table...have to swap out the Bud light though, BL gives me a headache for some reason. HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!

I had some living under an outbuilding one year, I used a a few live traps and caught 5 in 3 days and that must of been all of them. I agree they are not very happy in there, but I can say they looked much more peaceful when I released them back into the wild :angel1:

We camped up there this summer (in Grand Isle NY) for a 3 day weekend and absolutely loved everyday at the Falls region we had. I have lived within 3+ hours of it all my life and never saw it at 42 Years old . I crossed the border twice near it, but always late at night to go north on a fishing trip. We did all the attractions and got so many great photos and my kids just loved it all...it might be between Canada and the US, but the population on that section of river on any given day in the summer is more people from anywhere but US and Canada....Incredible thing to see from the top, from the bottom, and from the boat. But I gotta say it was nice too just to see a couple other guys with camo ballcaps on to give a grin too...and I'll leave it at that.

i am farily new here too, although I feel like I made some friends already at RT.com I currently run a hunting website focused on the State of Pennsylvania. Realtree has been an annual supporter of the site for over the last decade, recently I had a great conversation with some of the RT staff and we got to talking hunting MB a little. Figured it was time to join RTs. I am from NW PA, my whole family is outdoorsy, my wife and oldest son (13) , hunt with me now,but we are workign on getting my daughter 12, and youngest boy 7 , in the woods this Fall. We do lots of great stuff outdoors all year long. Although PA is a hotbed for Outdoor issues (deer mgmt, crossbows,...etc), I am more focused on what brings hunters together than what can tear the ranks apart. I like to tell stories more than spout stats, I like to share pics of my families adventures, and I really like being able to talk to other hunters from all over the nation as things from state to state can be so different., yet we got that one common bond. Realtree is a great group of folks, both behind the scenes and on these boards. Thanks for having me around. John

I'll certainly give ya a Amen...to FAMILY, friends and the Great Outdoors. Here is hoping 2011 allows all of us more time to freely live the dream.

WOW...those are fantactic looking rooms. The boys and I got some work to do on ours, of course with only 130 Sq ft (13x10) and two walls being windows and the other two being double doors, it fills up pretty fast. Tbow, I have never seen a door cut like that to match the pitch of your roof, that is really cool. Yours must be in the attic space of the house or above the garage. Great use of that space, great vision in the final product.. Are you a woodworker? Did you make the desk? I have several decorative duck decoys I have not moved into my cave yet, I need more shelving or table tops, would like a bookcase as well but no place for it. What is the story on the old crossbow? Union, you got some absolutely beautiful mounts both shoulder and euro. I could hang out in that room forever, although I stink at pool...

I think it is something sublimnal with that Hyundi girl...something in her eyes memorize and then something must be hidden within the song. We might use 10% of brain , but I think us guys use about 99.9% of our "other brain" during the day , advertisers and Babe's wife knows it. Speaking of women, there is a spammer down in the woman's forum that just posted ....just a heads up . .

CONGRATULATIONS on the nice doe and the new addition you got coming along. My wife was 4-5 months pregenant with our first child when she got her one and only buck( so far). A nice 5 pointer, the baby she was carrying is now 13 and a pretty good hunter himself (and BIGGER than his Mom by a good 10" and 40 lbs)...Guess you can say John has been hunting with us his whole life. It can be tough when the young hang around the doe after she goes down, I had that happen in archery this year on a doe I took, fawn even followed me a bit on the drag out, then just beeded around there for a couple days. But within a week that little fawn got to be pretty smart all on her own, nailing me a couple times as i headed to stand and making quite the ruckus at me. By rifle season she was running with some other deer, but the day after the season I was getting some stuff out of the stands and she fed in our small food plot right near where I got her Mom and we just stared at each other for awhile, like she knew the chasing was all over and I was once again not a threat. Hunting is some spiritual stuff... BEST OF LUCK and continued success.

WV andMD are south to a guy that never left PA to hunt. I can't believe the liberal bag limits and LONG rifle seasons you guys have..you give a guy in PA more than two tags and two weeks with a rifle and everyone is saying we shot the herd off in 5 years...LOL Can you tell me the approximate # of licensed hunters in your home states, and if you have alot of public land or is it alot of private ranches. TN sounds like heaven to this backstrap eating addict, how many deer does the average SERIOUS hunter get over the course of the season in TN? I almost went to SC this year, a place called Deerfield plantation but the only time I could go was late Sept, and some guys i know down there in the military said it is not that fun hunting deer in 85 degree weather...

I didn't see the word "wife" when I read the post for the first time....and thought oh well my time here at RT has been fun but time to move on...LOL, gald I re-read it. Anytime, I hear a woman say "time to eat" it sounds sexy to me. :eat:

Cool! by 12/18 our rifle season is over for about a week, the chasing a good month in most cases and the only thing left is the late archery/flintlock...in my neck of the woods that is usually just hunting thermal cover near food sources on deer grouping up to beat the snow. You either see none or a dozen. So do the deer go nocturnal with the rut knowing the gun pressure is out there? I mean up here it seems like when it is on, its on, and they will run thru a firing squad to find a hot doe...but then again up they are just accustomed to bowhunting pressure during our rut and it does not seem to bother them at all since most guys in the woods are stationary and 20' up. I would like to try a southern hunt, even a DIY...I got to look into my days available and such, and would also like to bring my son, Dad or wife along to hunt...so lots of logisitcs. But i REALLY appreciate the offer on giving me some places to try. I'll do the same in PA if you ever want to see what a one and done (for bucks) state is like. Glad i started this one....been great to learn about Mississippi and Texas.

It was easy, as long as you have your bottom boards level, it is a snap with a good nail gun. and square walls, I would not want to do it with a hammer and nail punch. Use random lengths,etc..it will look better, I got a little too uniform here because the walls were so short. Sounds funny but the fun part is the how each board varies in the knots and wood grain, keeps it interesting. In the summer of 2001 we rebuilt our deer camp and did the entire inside in Pine T&G, good to use if the place will go from 5 degrees one day to 65 degrees the next, like a camp does. In fact that is when I got this stuff cause we got a good deal on it because of the quanity we bought, by the end of the summer I could put it up in my sleep. The cabin shell was built by a cabinet maker and his crew with unbelivable precision, made that job real easy. Polyureathaning the boards is enough to drive you insane though, so it is best to be there already..

Life is too short......PERIOD, luckily I don't believe this one is the only one we get .

I made note of that...our rut is early November, treats us well in the archery season, but i'd never be against experiencing another whitetail rut in full swing.. in the same hunting year As far as the honor system and the 5 does/3bucks per hunter limit....I CAN NOT EVEN FATHOM SOMETHING LIKE THAT BEING DONE HERE IN PA EVER!!! That is an absolutely amazing statement to me. Great stuff on East TX too , thanks for the replies and keep them coming.

I am always curious to how the whitetail hunting goes in other parts of the country, so you guys down south where are you in your deer season? Mid-season, late-season, post season....? When is your rut. Never hunted anywhere but PA, which is now in its late archery and flintlock season for next couple weeks (last season of the year for us)...seasons I like to be out in, but I always wondered if there was still good mid season hunting to be had down south now (especially after my vacation day bank refills on 1/1) Heck some of you guys can shoot a couple bucks a day correct?? Just wondering and figure it to be a good across the boundries discussion for this board.

Please do, would love to meet you guys. We are only 2 miles off of Route 6, riverfront on the Allegheny , across the river from Rt 62. , Right at the NE corner of State gameland 86, which is out front. There are your hints, the hunt begins....LOL Cool side note, on Christmas day i was out there talking with my Dad on the phone and a eagle came right over the shed in back yard and past the back window of the room...we see alot of eagles out there thorughout the year but usually much higher, but it made the room seem that much better and more wild with the fire going etc... We have moved some furniture in to it by the way. Some log tables my folks bought for us and an old couch for now, still shopping for the comfy stuff. Thanks for all the comments guys they are appreciated. I brought the newest addition home last night for the room...my 2010 archery buck a buddy euro mounted for me. I have not hung it up yet as i am still in the fondle the rack and remember stage, but it likely will go up next to the 2006 head mount he did for me. I would leave it as a centerpeice on that table, but with 3 kids, a small pesky dog and curious cat in the house...I want it more out of reach than that Can't wait to til the weekend and having that Sunday morning coffee out there again, my folks are visiting this weekend so maybe I can get Pap to tell his grandkids a tale or two out there, he got some good ones and some of my racks are sure to ignite memories in his mind as well. that right there is the motivation to keep working on it. My laptop has shown a couple DVDs out there so far ..but not hunting DVDs...Christmas Vacation and Grown Ups, loved them both.

We looked at one here a few years ago on 25 acres...It was real nice inside, they sort of split the house down the middle long ways, one side had a second floor with bedrooms, the other half was wide open to down below with a open hallway/balcony running the length under the peak. It was really nicely done in wood inside, with a open kitchen. Had a hunting lodge feel to it...I of course liked alot. The real down side was the #1 rule in RE, location, in that is was at the very back of the 25 acres, and the road in was shared with oil and gas guys and an absolute mess...when we called the realtor to look at it he asked if we had a good 4WD, he didn't , so we met him at the end of the road and he drove back with us. It was cool that day, but would of got old fast when you had to do that raod as part of you daily routine (likely why it was for sale)....nothing to do with any cons on the functionality of that house. I thought it was the perfect choice for the backwoods location. Anyways, the house looked great, maintenance free outside even in that damp wooded setting, nestled in some hemlocks and had a buck rub about 25 yards from the front deck, setup so it could easily be heated by one wood stove (or other heat source) in a central location....it made an impression on me. We bought our 54 acres elsewhere the next week, no house on it yet, but the design of that one influenced our plans that is for sure.

My boys and I have been turning our formerly unused 130 sq foot sunroom (just used for storage) into our “man cave” and thought I'd share the progress. I got the woodstove years ago about the same time I put in the pine tongue and grove boards up, but then not much else had been done to it for years. My oldest son (13) recently has got a bit of a building/remodleing bug and asked “why don’t we make it a trophy room and finish it up this winter"…I loved the sound of that so we cleaned it out, chipped out the old tile floor, got some laminate floor to put over the remaining concrete base. After the holidays (and once the word cash means something again) we are going to finish the trim work and get better man furniture (recliner, etc..), but we could not wait to start moving our trophies in and start dcorating the cave with bones and hides. My son contributed the smallie and euro mount so far..he promises to add more... Over the holidays we had the fire going and most guests stopping by to visit wanted to sit out there for a spell, said it was "like being at camp", well that was the whole idea...

Now that is one beautiful smile in a great setting. That picture will definately get more valuable with age.

Thanks guys...i figured some would see the humor in it as well. Joey does like "BIG BUCKS'...LOL ckrich, kids are God's true gift to the hunter. Best of times to you when the time comes. My best days had nothing to do with deer kills. 14 years ago I likely would of never said that

No contest for me… This is BY FAR, my favorite deer kill ever. It was in 2007, my oldest was 10 years old…and it was the first year PA allowed anyone under 12 to hunt deer via their mentor program. John was a real trooper the first two days of rifle, lots of rain, and the only deer he saw was the big doe his Mom got around 11AM on the opener. By the first Saturday, a cold snap changed things to snow but we still have yet to see a deer and I was worrying about loosing his interest…but the cold temps got the guys out moving around and deer up on their feet, we heard some shooting on the neighboring property and then had a buck and 5 does come by us, moving pretty quick til they got into some cover. I stopped the buck in an opening…and Johnny heart shot it with his single shot .243 BEST DAY of my hunting life…so far. Do not have TV quality video or anything, just some short clips from a handheld camera. I did not get the shot on film like I intended as I was too busy coaching and concentrating on getting the job done first. After the shot, We had to stay in stand for a good 20 minutes eventhough we saw the buck go down, cause our knees were bouncing so bad with excitement, I did not want to attempt climbing down the ladder. He is now 13 and must be twice this size and his voice changed the whole nine yards, man they do some changing quick …still his only buck kill though. Here he is the little guy as the days starts… Here he is after we got to the buck. This is not one of those monsterbuck, high BC score posts, I likely won't have many of those...but it made #1 in my memory record book and truthfully it is the only one I ever read.

Shared this with some of my buddies and they enjoyed it so I thought maybe the folks at Realtree forums might too. The week before Christmas the girls (my wife and daughter) went out shopping , leaving me and my two boys (7 and 13) home with a night to ourselves. So sensing an opportunity for a "guys night" and knowing these boys would be getting techno toys for Christmas that likely will make just hanging by a fire with Dad seem a bit boring for awhile... I decided to lit a fire in the woodstove of the man cave room and just swap tales and hangout with my boys, No TV , no nothing...just the racks on the wall, a fire, and sense of imigination. My 13 year old has been hunting for 4 years and has done pretty well getting 3 deer so far (no misses), and has actual stories to tell...but my 7 year old has only been in stand with me a couple times during the season, and has yet to carry a gun out there despite PA's new mentoring program that would allow him to do so. I just did not see Joey as ready yet.....but maybe that is changing, we will see....I may have to buy more bullets first. This was Joey's third story of the night, and after a very entertaining first two, I decided I had to capture one for "old times sake" and to show his Mom when she got home of how her boys spent their time. Keep in mind he has never been to deer or bear camp during the season, but must listen to me when I come home and from that he pieced together this...hope it gives you a chuckle. Click on picture for video...

Here are my last few….I use pics I take while out with my family. If I got to stare at a PC for a living it does not mean I can’t enjoy what truly matters. The current one is from this fall when I had my boys out pheasant hunting. These are all my summer ones…all from our annual Outer Banks, NC vacation. This one likely being my favorite for awhile…my wife taking her turn looking out over the ocean on a gulf stream trip, realized how luck of a man I am, and snapped the pic to remind myself.