PA Rifle Season Opener

[oldblue]

OK all you Pennsylvania hunters lets start a thread on how our season is going. We get started on Monday, Dec 1 and lets starting posting to this thread to report on what is happening around the state.

I will get back with everyone on Monday night to report what happen we me and my Dad. Hope to read how you guys are doing as well.

See you Monday night.

Andy (live in Union County and hunt in Northumberland County)

[Flintlock1776]

Good luck. I used to hunt a bit west of Coudersport and all over in the Poconos. The Orange Army is something to see. I tried last year but it rained. I won't be there this year but wish you all the best!

[oldblue]

PA Rifle Season

Well opening day was a bit foggy and just a little wet. Not to bad all in all. Dad and I were in the ladder stand before first light and saw 7 doe on the far side of the field we were watching. Had a doe shot on the other side of the field (big field), but that is about all the action we had close to us. There was alot of shooting around us, but nothing (other than that one) real close. All in all not a bad day, but nothing to exciting either.

Second day (Tuesday) Dad and I were watching several huge corn fields that were bordered by woods. As I was walking along the field to my Dad 4 doe and 1 buck came out of the woods heading across the field. The buck was a spikey (not legal in PA) so it was nice to see the deer but did not get any shooting again.

Third day was at the same spot watching some corn fields with a hollow behind me........a hunter got in behind me and took a couple of shots at a buck that was bedded down in the hollow. The buck came in my direction but was going about 100 mph so I really only got a brief look at him before he went into the woods and only a tail twice as he headed up the hollow.

That's my report on PA hunting so far.

Have fun and keep smiling.

Andy

[LifeNRA]

Got to my stand about a half hour before sunrise. Sat there in the rain a fog all morning. About 11 AM, I was getting a little worried about not seeing any deer. But I always remember my father saying three words to me, "You never know". Those three words from him have always kept my drive going during deer hunting. Because he is right, you do never know when that deer will show up.

At 11:20AM I seen two deer that suddenly appeared from no where! They must have followed the bottom of the mountain bench I was sitting on top of. At first sighting all I seen was two deer, then I saw that it was a doe in front, followed by a buck. I seen the left side as it was facing me and mentally said big rack, at least four points not counting the brow tines. The two deer were coming up to my left, they were not running, just a fast walk. I knew I wasn't going to be able to stop him. So I just followed through with one shot. Dropped him where was. After about five minutes of watching him and getting a hold of my father I walked over. His rack on the right side was buried in the leaves, but his left side was exposed. I counted five points and yelled, "Ten pointer cool!". But once I grabbed the rack and pulled it up I immediately noticed two busted points. I was bummed. But in my eyes he lived, fought, and chased the does as a ten!

[Sherk's Guide Service]

For me, I was guiding. I was able to harvest a decent 7 point with the bow back in October.

I was guiding a first-year youth hunter. I chose to still-hunt since we had more than a foot of snow. At 8:15 am five bucks together came in front of us. Long story short, he shot the smallest one which was a busted up five or six point at one time.

Needless to say, the kid was thrilled. He said he has never done something as fun as that ever. That made my season.

Best of luck to any of you unlucky hunters.

[jbeck]

I Videoed a hunt with a 14 yr. old boy. He shot a 16" 9 pt. at 8:45. If I was smarter I could upload the video to the web, but I aint' that smart.

[oldblue]

Another PA rifle season bits the dust. All in all it was not that exciting and very unproductive. I mentioned in an earlier post what we saw while out hunting during the start of the season. Well I have only one more sighting to mention and that was yesterday. Dad and I were moving by truck to another location to see if we could find any deer and a legal buck (at least 8 points) ran across the road in front of us. Stopped up the mountain about 50 yards away and then took off at warp speed for parts unknown. That concludes my hunting until spring gobbler season.

Hope everyone is safe and sound. Hope everyone is now concentrating on Christmas and New Years and your families.

God Bless and be safe.

Andy:D

[Hoyt03]

I'll be out after xmas with the bow. Deer go underground during the gun season. They'll come back around when things settle down.

[Grizz]

Just found the thread, but figured I'd still post. I was able to hunt the first week of rifle, here's how it went down.

First day I was up at our families camp, which borders the Allegheny National Forest. We had about a foot of snow on the ground, but that had been knocked down significantly by the rain from the night before. Myself and my dad never saw a single deer, but my uncle ended up shooting what he thought was a doe (ended up being a button head) about 1:00 in the afternoon and said he saw 6 other deer. He was one of the very few shots I heard on our side of the mountain, but on the other side it sounded like a holy war and we never did find out how things went over there.

Tuesday - Friday I decided to hunt a farm that I had grown up hunting in Butler, PA. Tuesday morning I saw a good number of deer despite the wind swirling where I had posted up. 5 does came out into the field about 7:15, caught a nose full of my scent and gave me the white tail salute as they exited from whence they came. About 10 minutes after that a group of 11 came from the same direction as the first group, but instead of stopping and turning back they simply stepped it up a notch and went from trotting to sprinting across the field once they got wind of me. I did manage to get the scope on them and saw that the last one in the group was a buck. I could count at least 3 points per side, but couldn't put browtines on him so I never clicked the safety off. Could have taken a shot at one of the does in the group, but didn't in hopes of getting a better shot later in the week. After that I saw 2 more does which once again got a nose full of my scent and thought better than to cross the field.

Tuesday afternoon I got to my spot about 3:00. Saw a small spike as I was walking in. Nice bodied deer, just wasnt legal. Just before 4:00 deer started moving. Saw 3 button heads running together. About 4:30 I heard something behind me, turned around and caught 3 deer moving toward me. Got down on one knee and hid behind the thicket I was standing beside and waited for the deer to clear the thicket. Once they did I saw they were 3 small does standing about 35 yds away. My doe tag was for zone 1A and I knew that zone allowed me to take a doe throughout the entire season, so I put the crosshairs on the largest of the 3 and squeezed the trigger. She dropped in her tracks and I tagged her and got her to the butcher, in hopes that I could have her back before I had to leave.

Wednesday morning the wind wasn't right again, so after watching the weather report I just crawled back into bed. No sense in further educating the deer of my where-abouts two mornings in a row.

Wednesday night I saw 5 deer already out in the field at 2:30 in the afternoon as I walked back to my spot. It was the 3 button heads I had previously seen and the other two were small does, which I think were the same one's that were with the one I shot the night before. The wind direction had changed and was in my favor, so I was able to watch them for the entire evening as they grazed in the field. I saw 3 other does that night and that was it.

Thursday morning the wind was right so I headed out. Saw a mom and two little ones and the same 3 button heads I'd seen every other time I was out.

Thursday night I went hunting with an old friend of mine from high school. We hit up some state game lands near East Butler, PA. Saw a bunch of deer sign, but never a single deer.

I woke up Friday morning and decided that was going to be the last time I was going to hunt before heading back to Georgia. It was a nice, cold morning and the wind was perfect. Didn't see a deer until 7:40, when I had a nice size doe and a little one come out and feed in the field. My dad hadn't been able to take a doe yet and he was hunting about 75 yds to my left, and the two does were heading that way. So I crouched down behind some brush to break up my outline and they walked right in front of me about 60 yds out and continued on, right toward my dad. I thought for sure he would take the big doe, but the gun never went off. Found out later on he only saw the bigger doe by herself and at the time didnt think she was that big, but once the little one caught up it was too late b/c they were then on the horizon line. About 8:15 I saw 4 deer come out into the field. I put the scope on em, first 3 were does. Scoped the last one and saw antler. At this point they were about 250 yds out and it was hard to see if he had 4 points on one side. I waited until they hit the horizon line and scoped him again. I counted 5 points on his left side so I knew he was a shooter. I waited another few minutes until they made their way to the middle of the field where I had a good size hill that gave me a good back drop for a shot. Once they got there I picked him up in the scope, clicked the safety off, put the crosshairs right behind his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. They all ran and I managed to get another shot off before they ran down over the hill. I wasn't sure if I'd hit him or not b/c he took off just as fast as the other 3. Dad and I went out to the field to look for signs of a hit, but didnt find, hair, or blood, or even a track b/c the ground was frozen solid. I stayed out in the field to continue to look for blood while dad took a walk into the woods. About 5 minutes later he yelled for me to come down and meet him. I walked down an old 4 wheeler trail about 50 yds and he was standing just off the trail to my left. When I walked around the other side of the berry bush I saw he was standing next to my buck. I had hit further back than I thought, but caught the liver and back of a lung. Ended up being a would be 11 point, but two tines had been busted off and one was too short to score, so he was a 10 point. He had an 18 1/4" spread and weighed in just under 200 lbs. I'm thrilled and glad I was able to fill both my tags. It made having to pay the out of state fee worth it.

I found out later on that dad ended up taking a real nice size doe on Wednesday or Thursday of the last week of the season, but never got a shot at a legal buck.

All in all it was a very productive season for us. We saw a lot of deer, but the mature deer were very hard to come by. The tags are filled and the freezer is full so I can't do anything but smile after this season. I've been trying to figure out how to post a pic, but I don't think I can from my computer at work and I still haven't had a chance to download anything onto my computer at home, but I'll keep trying.