Deer Season 2013

This was the best deer season I've ever had. The season began in MD for the opening day of gun season last Saturday, November 30. It was a very cold morning. Temperature was around 16 degrees. I made good time in the morning and arrived at the property about 6:15. I was in my stand and set up by 6:45 and it was just starting to get light. As the sun began creeping up over the Contoctin Mountain range, I just had a feeling it was going to be a morning. At 8:00 am, I caught some movement above me. It was a spike buck sneaking through the thicket. For some reason, he didn't feel something was right and he ran back the direction he came from. Thinking that might be my last chance of the day, I settled back into my comfy tree stand seat. About 15 minutes later I heard a lot of noise behind me. As I turned around, I saw a large group of deer moving into the thicket. Immediately I saw two nice-racked deer...then another. At first I thought I was seeing things. Then two large doe move in. Because I had seen the bucks, I passed on shooting one of the does. I'm glad I did. The deer kept moving in and out of the openings in the thicket. Finally, a nice buck moved into my view and I squeezed the trigger of my .50 caliber in-line. I saw him drop as the other deer all scattered. A nice wide 6 point ran down below me and just stood there. I looked at my watch...it was 8:20 am. I hadn't even had a chance to get cold, and I had my buck....a nice 7-pointer. I was in my truck and on the way to the butcher shop by 10:30 am. On Sunday, I left early in the morning to head up to Tioga County. I was the lucky one who got to go up to camp early to warm up the place. I stopped at Denny's on the way up for my traditional breakfast stop. We had about 3 inches of snow on the ground and the roads were solid ice. I had to put the chains on my F-150 in order to go any farther. It reminded me of deer seasons past. I arrived at camp around 12:30 pm and got the stove lit. It took me a while as it was so cold in the camp, the kerosene had actually frozen inside the line from the tank to the stove. We've never had that happen before. I had to use one of our kerosene lamps to thaw out the line. I had a nice dinner and waited for my Dad, Brother, and Niece to arrive. They arrived just before 9:00 pm and we decided where we would hunt on Monday. Monday morning came early, It was a beautiful morning and we were excited to have the snow to hunt in. We hunted hard all day and we were impressed with the amount of deer sign we saw. However, we didn't see a single deer between the four of us. Monday night, the other three left for home leaving me at camp by myself. I had planned to hunt one more day before coming home. It was a quiet night in the mountains,but I went to bed early. Tuesday morning I awoke to warmer temperatures and fog. It was around 32 degrees. We had a bit of drizzle over night, so the snow was now slippery and slushy. After breakfast, I decided to close up the camp for the winter so that I could hunt my way out of the woods. I packed up the truck and headed to one of my favorite spots to hunt. Just in case I got lucky, I hunted in an area that would provide a downhill drag. I hiked up the hollow and used my summit climber to go up a tree about 15 feet or so. Around 7:45 I had a lone hen turkey pass by just below me. The fog was rolling in and out as it often does when there is snow on the ground with warmer temperatures. Not long after 8 am, I heard something behind me. As I turned around, I saw a deer sneaking up through the thick stuff. Immediately I noticed antlers and could clearly see three points up on the right side. As I took the safety off my .270, the deer stopped. As he started walking again, I squeezed the trigger. As the deer ran off, I looked down at my watch....I almost laughed out loud....it was 8:20 am....the exact time I shot the 7-point in MD just three days earlier. It took me a while to get down out of the tree, and a few minutes later I was standing over a beautiful nice-bodied 8-pointer. I almost couldn't believe it. The only deer I saw in two days, but the only one I needed to see. The drag back to the truck was a little tricky since I had my climber, backpack, rifle, and the deer. However, the snow made it much easier, and by 9:30 I was back at my truck. I was on my way home by 10:30. What a season!! We will be feasting on a lot of venison this year! We probably won't make it up to camp now until Spring.

Bear Season 2013

My 7 year old son accompanied me to camp this weekend for the first day of Bear Season. It was his first hunt. We got a little bit of a late start and hit major traffic on the way, so we didn't arrive at camp until about 9:30 on Friday night. After getting the heat going, we snuggled into the sleeping bag. Saturday morning we awoke and had breakfast. Temperature was around 22 degrees. I was surprised how many hunters were out early. We hunted an area along a clear cut first. Saw a few buck scrapes and rubs, but no bear sign. We were hoping one of the camps would drive the clear cut. By 9:30-10:00, we realized that wasn't going to happen. We headed east to the area where I was hunting turkeys two weeks ago. We ran into several hunters from other camps. We did find a lot of deer sign, bear sign, and turkey sign. However, we didn't see anything. At around 3:00, the Northwest winds began howling and the snow moved in. Suddenly we were cast into a winter wonderland as the snow began blowing. We decided to get down off the top of the ridge and walk back towards the truck. By the time we got back to camp, the ground was covered. The temperature was dropping fast, but it felt great in the camp. After a nice dinner, we drove up to the top of the mountain so we could get a cell signal. I've been an avid Nebraska fan since I was 9 years old. There aren't many of us in PA. Today was a big day since the Huskers were playing PSU. In fact, I passed up a $30.00 ticket to go to the game. My son and I painstakingly watched updates on my phone as the game went into overtime. When Nebraska scored the winning field goal, I'm sure any deer or bear in the area probably heard us yell. After calling home to let the family know we were ok, we drove back down to camp. After a small snack, we snuggled into bed. We could hear the wind howling outside. The sky was crystal clear and the display of stars was beautiful. We awoke around 7:30 this morning. We could tell that the temperature inside the cabin had dropped considerably. Outside it was 9-degrees. There was enough snow on the ground to make for a winter scene. We probably would have heard a lot more shooting yesterday, if the ground had been snow covered. After eating breakfast, we cleaned up camp and got everything ready for the opening of deer season next weekend. My son did awesome on his first-ever hunt. It was a true test for him and he weathered the weather quite well. I'm still concerned about the deer herd up North. I haven't seen a live deer in the woods while hunting since the opening day of bear season 2011....two years ago.

Turkey Season 2013

I arrived at Camp on Nov. 8. It was a very cold evening. Opened camp and started the stove. It's always colder inside the cabin than it is outside. I knew it would be one of those nights to sleep in my clothes. This time, I arrived at camp with a full stomach. A good friend of mine from college just became a pastor in Liberty and he and his family invited me for dinner on the way up. The food and conversation was awesome! A awoke early on Saturday and decided to go up the big hollow across from camp. I had heard some turkeys over there in October. Temperature was around 22 degrees, but it was nice and warm in the camp. About halfway up the hollow, I noticed that first, I'm not as young as I used to be, and second, I began getting a cell-phone signal. Near the top of the hollow, I heard some turkeys fly down off roost. I heard them land, and dig for a while, and then walk off. They were not too far above me. Decided to sneak after them. Oh, how I was wishing for a little snow. I probably covered about 6-7 miles throughout the day, and never did find the turkeys. There were a lot of grapes in the head of the hollow. The turkeys and bear had been scratching quite a bit to find them. In the entire day, I did not see a single deer. A few scrapes and rubs, but not very many. Nothing like I would have seen 10 years ago. There is no question the deer herd is down considerably. Two things that I noticed this trip. Once I got on top the mountain I had a full cell phone signal. I never had that before. They must be constructing more towers. While it felt weird to be getting emails and sports scores while turkey hunting, the ability to send messages home was comforting for the family since I was up here alone. The other thing I noticed was a low humming sound. I heard this back at camp too and all through the night. My guess is it is a far off gas well that wasn't there last season. I'm heading back up this weekend for the opening of bear season, then a week later for deer season. I have never missed an opening day of deer season at Peter's Camp for 39 years. I love this time of year!!