Peter's Camp Journal

Deer Season 2011

2011-12-12T21:56:00.002-05:00

It seems as if the deer hunting gets tougher up here every year. I don't know if it's because there are fewer deer, the deer are bigger and smarter, there are fewer hunters around, we're just getting older, or all the above. Nevertheless, we arrived at deer camp on Sunday eagerly awaiting the first day. This year, we had a first at Peter's Camp. My niece was hunting with us. She is the first female deer hunter at Peter's Camp! The first day greeted us with Spring like temperatures and very little shooting. It was music to my ears when I heard my friend Matt shoot only 100 yards away from me at 3:00 pm. He dropped a nice 7 pointer. It was the same buck I saw the week before in Bear Season. I think we were the only camp in our area to get a buck on the first day. We were planning on staying up on Tuesday, but the warm weather forced us to bring the deer home early. Three of us came back up on Saturday, and my brother and I hunted the last day. We saw one doe and a bear, but that was it. We had really cold temperatures and a nice 2" snow cover for the last day, and while we didn't see many deer, we did see a lot of tracks. There are definitely some deer around, they're just hard to find. So another deer season is over in PA and I did not get any shooting. I did shoot two deer in Maryland, so we have plenty of venison in the freezer. It may be a while now until I get back to camp. Christmas, New Years, and work will occupy much of my time in the next few months. The camp will now settle in for it's "Long Winter's Nap."

Fall Hunting

2011-11-20T23:37:00.005-05:00

I was able to get up to camp the past two weekends. Last weekend we came up for turkey season. We did find a flock by 10am, but came home empty handed. The birds managed to give us the slip all day, and we realized how out-of-shape we were and how much better-suited the birds are to the rugged terrain. I was surprised at the large number of archers we saw out hunting. The deer are definitely in the rut right now as we saw several buck out running around. This past Saturday, I came up for the first day of bear season. It was one of the first times I've come up in a long time that every cabin was opened. It was great to see so many people up in the cabins. I didn't see any bear. Most of the shooting sounded as if it was over towards Leetonia, so I'll be anxious to see what Paula has to say on her post. I was able to get the leaves cleaned up around the camp. After celebrating Thanksgiving with our families this week, I'll be heading down to Maryland for the first two days of the season and then back up here to camp for the first two days of the PA season. Hopefully, we'll have a good deer season. I love this time of year!

Short Visit

2011-06-11T20:09:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I rode my Kawasaki up to camp to check things out and mow the grass. We were fortunate that there was no damage from the storms two weeks ago...nothing more than a few branches down. The folks down along Pine Creek really got hit pretty hard...especially in the Slate Run, Cedar Run, Gamble Run, and Blackwell areas. The storm was confirmed as an F-1 tornado. I stopped to visit Sandy and Sue down at Petticote Junction. They made out pretty well in the storm. Going all the way up to camp and back on the same day makes for a long ride. Next time, I hope to stay overnight and enjoy some of the quiet and relaxation that only the mountains can provide.

Spring Camping Trip

2011-05-09T23:17:00.002-04:00

We came up Mother's Day weekend for our annual Spring Camping Trip at Petticote Junction Campground. It was a nice weekend, but we experienced some really strange weather on Saturday. Several lightening/hail storms came through the area and we lost our RV awning. They have had 18" of rain up here since the beginning of March and there is a lot of water damage in the mountains. Several of the roads and trails are still closed. Route 414 in the narrows between Cedar Run and Blackwell is just barely passable. Fortunately, everything was ok up at camp. The trout fishing should be good throughout the summer. The streams were so high the first weekend of trout season that they really weren't fishable. They are still currently running very high. The trout should be spread out and there should be good fly fishing later in the spring and into summer. I'll probably come back up soon on my motorcycle.

Last Day in Maryland

2011-01-17T13:12:00.003-05:00

I was hunting in Maryland on the last day of gun season last Saturday. At 4:55 pm, I got my first shot at a deer this entire season. It was a decent sized doe at about 70 yards. I held as steady as I could with the .50 caliber inline and fired. For the first time in many years, I missed completely. About 30 seconds later, I noticed a very large-bodied deer heading my way from the same direction the doe had just traveled. As I raised my binoculars, I noticed that the large deer was a nice racked buck...the first one I had seen the entire season. As he stood there at about 75 yards, totally oblivious to my location, all I could do was laugh as I held my just-emptied inline muzzle loader. Whoever says deer do not have a sense of humor, has obviously never tried to go hunting.

Last Week of Deer Season

2010-12-13T12:19:00.002-05:00

My son, one of his friends from college, and myself arrived at camp on Friday, Dec. 10 for the last two days of deer season. We opened the camp, lit the stove, and then hunted all day. We put on several drives in the thick laurel and I found out that I'm not as young as I used to be. The snow began around 9:30 am and it snowed most of the day. By evening we had not seen any deer, but had another 3-4 inches of fresh snow. My father and brother joined us later that night and we all hunted together on Saturday. There were numerous deer tracks in the snow, but we did not see a single deer between the five of us in two days. It's just been one of those kinds of hunting seasons this year. I've hunted four days in Maryland and three in Pennsylvania and have not gotten any shooting. Nevertheless, it was great to get out and hunt in the beautiful mountains of Tioga County. It's always great to shoot a nice buck, but no day hunting is ever a "bad day." It will probably be Spring until we get back up to camp again.

Deer Season 2010

2010-11-30T15:19:00.003-05:00

Dad and I arrived on Sunday to open camp and start the furnace. It was a beautiful crisp November day. While the camp was warming up a bit, we took a drive around Leetonia to see how many guys were in the woods. We noticed that one of the camps was not even open this year for Deer Season. Most of it's members have died or are too old to come up anymore. The younger generation just didn't take over. It was really sad to see this as we always enjoyed chatting with these guys each hunting season. Back in the 70's it was common for there to be 10-15 guys in the camp. After a nice dinner of lasagna, my brother showed up and the three of us eagerly awaited the 4am alarm on Monday. After breakfast, we all went to our traditional first day spots and listened as the yelling of the first deer drive began across the hollow. Almost immediately, the shooting began. There was quite a lot of shooting today...more than the past few years. Unfortunately, none of the shooting was ours. I saw a few doe, and my brother saw several bear (the one's we didn't see last week in bear season). Nevertheless, a bad day of hunting (in my opinion, there is no such thing)is always better than a good day at work. I realized as I sat in my tree stand that this was my 36th consecutive first day of deer season in Tioga County. I've never missed an opening day since I was 12 and was able to hunt. We are really fortunate to have such a wonderful place to return to each year. Hearing the Tuesday forecast of 3" of rain and flooding, we decided to drive home Monday night. I went back to work today and saved my personal day for another day when the weather would not be so awful. We'll be up next week for the final few days of the season.

Bear Season

2010-11-22T21:35:00.003-05:00

Dad and I traveled to camp for the day for the opening of Bear Season on Nov. 20. We expected to see a lot of hunters since this was the very first year that the season opened on a Saturday. We were surprised, however, to find that there were not that many hunters around. For the first few hours, we hunted in the area where I traditionally hunt on the first day of deer season. We did not see anything, and there was very little deer sign. In the afternoon, I decided to hunt the thick laurel. I saw several deer including one nice buck. Later in the afternoon, a group of young guys put on a few drives and moved some more deer past me, but they did not see any bear. There was no shooting the entire day in our immediate area. We began the journey home around 5:00. It was fun to have a day to hunt bear, but even more exciting to see more deer than we've seen in a while. Based on what I've seen this fall, I'm leaning towards changing my traditional opening day of deer season location. After spending the opening day of deer in Maryland this Saturday,
I'll be heading back to camp for the first two days of deer season.

Turkey Hunt / Fall Cleanup

2010-11-22T21:27:00.003-05:00

On Friday, Nov. 5, I traveled to Bloomsburg University to see my daughter perform in the Fall Play. Afterward, I traveled up to camp. I arrived around 12:45 am on a very cold night. Opened camp, cracked a few windows and got some sleep. At 5:00 I awoke, closed camp, and warmed up in my truck. I traveled to a faithful hunting spot and had breakfast in the truck while waiting for the sun to come up. I hunted all morning in an area where I've seen turkeys in the past. I did see a few deer and a lot of rubs & scrapes. The buck seemed to be in full rut. I found an area where there was a lot of turkey scratchings. I did hear a few but was not able to get them to come into my call. Around 11:30, I went back to camp to clean up the leaves. It took a few hours to get the leaves cleaned up. Later in the afternoon, I hunted in the area where we saw the turkeys a few weeks ago. It didn't take long to discover why the turkeys were hanging in this area. Unlike the area around camp, there were acorns all over the place. This area may be a good area to pursue deer later in the year.

Fall Getaway

2010-10-14T23:11:00.003-04:00

I had Columbus Day off work, so I took the family up to Camp for a one-night getaway. We got to see a black bear and a flock of turkeys on the way into camp. We arrived in time to have a campfire and roast some marshmallows. The night was unbelievably clear. I've never seen such a starlit sky. Around 10 pm the Hoot Owls put on quite a concert - one like I've never heard before. We awoke to a temperature of 40 degrees. The sleeping bags felt great, but it was hard to crawl out of them. After a breakfast of pancakes, we had time for a walk and then a bike ride on the Pine Creek Trail. The drive home proved to be interesting as we encountered thunderstorms, hail the size of quarters, and then a beautiful rainbow. There's nothing like Fall in the mountains of Northern PA. The leaves around camp were past their peak. However, around the Steam Valley area they were absolutely gorgeous. As always, it was great to get back to camp...even for just a day. I hope to make one more trip to clean up some leaves before hunting season. On the way down the mountain, we saw a flock of turkeys. There seem to be a lot of them around this fall. We snapped this picture of the last few to cross the road.

Summer Vacation

2010-08-11T23:07:00.003-04:00

We spent our annual week-long vacation at Pettecote Junction Campground in Cedar Run. It was a beautiful week weather-wise...especially for August. Temperatures were in the 70's during the day and 50's at night. We only used the a/c one night. One of the highlights of the week was hiking the Turkey Path from Colton Point down to Pine Creek and back up to the top again (see picture). Our kids were really troopers. I don't think many 3 and 5-year old kids have made that trip on foot. It is truly a beautiful trail. There are some beautiful falls near Four Mile Run. We're anxious to hike it again when the water is running higher. I spent a day at Camp mowing the lawn and picking up some fallen branches. The porcupines are still chewing up everything at all the cabins. I ran into Paula (Mountain Girl). She was replacing Charlotte's porch floor down in Cedar Run. Our daughter remembered her from two years ago. She said "she was the woman who showed me the snake." We got to see a few nice deer, and several bald eagles during the week. Of course, one of the favorite activities is doing a slow float down Pine Creek in an inner tube. It's always great to get to the mountains of Tioga County.

Spring Clean Up

2010-06-26T20:41:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, we got a chance to go up to camp to do some mowing and clean up. It was a beautiful two days weather-wise. Last night was a beautiful full-moon which lit up the entire forest. We mowed the grass, and fixed up a few things around the camp. The grass was very high and everything looks very green in the mountains. However, the streams are extremely low. We never remembered the streams running this low 20-30 years ago. However as we were talking, we realized that there is a lot more vegetation in the woods than there was 30 years ago. That could be the reason for the lack of water in the streams. Last evening, we took a drive down to Cedar Run for some ice cream. We saw several deer on the way back to camp. A potent storm must have come through in the past week as we had another tree come down behind the cabin and noticed many others down while driving around. Any chance to get to visit the Tioga woods is welcome change to the daily grind. This trip was no exception. The time always goes too fast when were at Camp. We hope to get back soon!

Rainy Day at Camp

2010-05-22T00:31:00.003-04:00

This past week, I had a rare day off work. I was going to travel up to camp for a day of Spring Gobbler hunting and trout fishing. However, the weatherman was calling for steady rain the entire time and his prediction proved to be true. When I got home from work, I decided to ask my 3 year-old son if he wanted to go up to the cabin with me. He was so excited, he was practically packing his stuff before the words were off my lips. We left home around 7 pm and drove straight up to camp. As the weatherman promised, it rained hard all night and all the next day. We spent most of the time inside the cabin playing games and telling stories, but it was a great day together. Our first father-son overnight trip to the mountains. There was one 20 minute long break in the rain which was long enough for me to cut up the downed trees (got a new spark plug for the chainsaw). However, the torrential rain prevented me from getting the grass cut. Oh well, that gives me another "excuse" to have to go back to camp again soon. This was one trip that I was glad that I left the gun and fishing rod at home. A lot of memories were made on this trip.

Spring Trip

2010-05-22T00:21:00.002-04:00

We took our annual Spring camping trip to Petticote Junction Campground the last weekend in April. I had the opportunity to visit camp on April 24. Everything seemed to be fine after the exceptionally hard winter. The snow brought a few trees down. However, everything else seemed just fine. The porcupines are still chewing all of the wooden edges of our cabin and deck. They seem to be working on all the cabins in the area. I wish we had a solution for that problem. I took my chainsaw with me to cut up some of the downed trees, however, I couldn't get it started. My wife, kids, and I took a nice afternoon hike. As we were approaching a clearing in the woods, we walked right up on a nice mature gobbler that was strutting out in the opening. He saw us and didn't hang around long, but it was quite a treat to see. We saw a few other hen turkeys while driving in the truck. We saw a surprising amount of deer sign and bear and turkey sign were just about everywhere. After we enjoyed our picnic lunch, we headed back to the campground. That evening, we enjoyed a nice meal at the Cedar Run Inn to celebrate my wife's birthday. The food was delicious as always. On Sunday, we headed back home. It was great to get away to the mountains for a few days.

Last Week of Deer Camp

2009-12-21T23:34:00.005-05:00

A beautiful blanket of snow covered the ground again this year for the last week of deer camp. One thing about snow, is that it allows us to see the tracks that deer leave behind. There's a lot of debate going on about the size of the deer herd in the Northern Tier. However, the amount of tracks we saw during the last week prove that there are still deer around. While the herd is not the size that it was back in the 1970's, something else has changed too. Snow on the ground also reveals the number of hunters who have walked through. It is very safe to say that there are far more deer in the woods these days than hunters. The four of us basically had the entire township to ourselves for the last few days of hunting season. While this provides for a real rustic hunting experience, it makes it even harder to find the deer. All in all, we did pretty well for a couple of guys. We did see a few deer, including one nice buck, a coyote, and some big gobblers who managed to escape us during turkey season. I took this picture of a gobbler from my tree stand on the last day of the season. The buck managed to give us the slip and will live on to be an even larger buck next year. Although we came home without any deer again this year, we enjoyed the time spent together in the woods. The memories we share will last much longer than the amount of venison we have in our freezers.

Deer Season 2009

2009-12-02T21:45:00.003-05:00

We arrived at Camp Sunday to prepare for the opening of Deer Camp. Monday brought a driving rain. All in all, it was a good day for me as I saw several deer - including two bucks which did not meet the new antler restrictions. I saw another buck on Tuesday that was too small to harvest. It's the most deer that I've seen in recent years. However, I almost felt bad for seeing so many deer because no one else in the camp saw anything. There was very little shooting in our area and none of the camps had deer hanging up as we came home on Tuesday. We are going back up for the last few days of the season. Hopefully, we'll be able to find where the deer are hiding. There is no question that the deer herd is way down in Tioga County. Depending on who's side you are on, you either like this or dislike this change. One thing I noticed this year is the incredible amount of new tree growth on the forest floor in our area. Some places are so thick that you can hardly walk through. Since the deer herd has decreased, the amount of new growth has taken off. I guess this is a small price to pay in order for our children to enjoy the the forest for years to come. Although it's no fun hunting all day without seeing any deer, it would be a worse tragedy for the forest to disappear because of over-browsing. I'll post again next week to report on our second week of deer camp.

Beautiful Foliage

2009-10-13T00:34:00.005-04:00

We traveled up to camp this weekend to enjoy a short vacation and enjoy the foliage. The weather was quite cold for October. Sunday morning, the temperature was 29-degrees. This morning, it was 28-degrees with snow flurries. Fortunately, the heater kept it nice and warm in the cabin. We got some work done around the cabin and did some hiking. This picture was taken off the top of Chimney Rocks Mountain looking towards Cedar Run. This has always been one of our favorite spots. The kids, ages 3 and 5 made it all the way to the top. It won't be long now until we'll be heading back up for deer season.

Summer Vacation

2009-08-05T00:20:00.007-04:00

We spent our annual week at Pettecote Junction Campground in July. As usual, it was a great week and Sandy and Sue were the best of hosts. The Rails/Trails Conservancy was having their annual bike tour on the Canyon Rails Trail this year. They camped at Pettecote for two nights and we got to meet bikers from over 20 different states. They were a great bunch of folks. The campground was full for most of the week. The Bencus's are doing a wonderful job of running the campground. Every year they make a few more improvements. If you haven't gotten down to see their renovated caboose (which is now the campground office) you have to make the trip. The weather was absolutely beautiful for July. 70's during the day and 50's at night. We got some rain, but not enough to ruin any of our plans. Our son really enjoyed looking off the bridge that crosses Pine Creek. Taking them out of his 2-year old hand with a needle wasn't one of the best highlights of the trip. We camped, hiked, and biked for 7 days without seeing a bear. However, on our final day of the trip, we rode about 1 mile up the rails trail from Cedar Run and were able to watch a medium sized black bear strolling along the trail for about 1/2 hour. (see picture) One day on our way south on the rails trail we stumbled along a 150 year-old cemetery near the Black Walnut Bottom Access south of Slate Run. It was a small family cemetery under a big pine tree just off the trail. It was interesting to read some of the tombstones. Most of those buried there were very young. Many were only infants. It reminded us of how hard times were back then. We made it back to camp a few times to do some work and some hiking. The only problem we're having is that the porcupines seem to be chewing any wood that they can sink their teeth into. We've never had this many problems with porcupines. Summer is almost over now. It may be small game season until I get to make it back up to camp again. The rest of the family will be visiting throughout the summer as we have some more work to do. Recently, I just purchased a motorcycle and I'm itching to make the trip up north on two wheels. It may be the excuse I need to make another visit to my favorite place on earth.

What a beautiful weekend!

2009-05-01T14:47:00.002-04:00

We finally travelled back to camp on Saturday, April 25. It seemed like a year since deer season, even though it was only 4 months. Everything at camp seemed fine. The leaves are about 3 weeks behind where they are back home. This year, there was a hatch of gnats (big ones)that attacked you as soon as you stepped outside. Hopefully they will be gone soon. The weather was unseasonably warm - around 88-degrees-most of the weekend. The stiff breeze helped to keep the bugs away, but it also turned out to be a problem as two forest fires were burning over the weekend. One started at the Petticote Junction Campground. It was started by a group of boaters who were throwing fireworks into the dry leaves. Another much larger fire was buring off the West Rim Road, but was contained by Saturday evening. This was the same weekend that the Bull Run Fire was burning last April. I'm hoping to get up at least one time for Spring Gobbler Season. I noticed a large gobbler hanging on the meatpole at one of the camps as you enter Leetonia. Someone was succesful.

Deer Season 2008

2008-12-22T00:59:00.002-05:00

Well, another deer season is behind us. We had the first "white" deer season in a long time. There was snow on the ground for the entire season. We had to strap the tire chains on our 4x4's to get in and out of camp for the first and second weeks of deer season. Although we didn't get any deer at camp this year,as always, we had a great time hunting together as a family. We saw some deer, but the hunting is tough these days up North. There are very few other hunters in the woods to move the deer around. You can't sit in your tree stand all day and see deer like you used to. Also, the herd is down in numbers. One of the highlights of the season for me came on the last day. I was driving through some thick laurel trying to move some deer to my son, when I knocked 3 bears from their den. They weren't too happy about being awakened, but it was exciting to be within 15 yards of them. My son was still talking about the experience on the way home. We may not get back to camp now for a while. The snowmobiles will soon have the road packed down to solid ice. It's great to be able to read Paula's blog. It's kind of like being able to be up there. I'll still be doing some hunting in Maryland this winter, and perhaps take the flintlock out for a walk once or twice. I'm looking forward to a long-awaited Christmas vacation with the family.

Success in Maryland

2008-12-09T13:39:00.002-05:00

This past Saturday, I was successful in harvesting a buck in Maryland. It is the second Maryland deer that I've brought home this hunting season. This weekend, we're heading back up to Tioga County for the last few days of deer season. My son is home from college. It will be great to be able to spend a few days in the woods with him. Since I've already gotten two deer, my role this weekend will be to dress lightly and keep moving through the thick stuff in an attempt to push some deer to one of the other guys in camp. The weather this week has been weird. The temperature is supposed to be near 50 with rain tomorrow and then fall back to the single digits by the weekend. It's hard to say what the roads will be like going back into camp. However, as always, we'll be prepared for just about anything.

Ice & Snow

2008-12-05T08:04:00.004-05:00

Well, we needed to strap on the tire chains to get back into camp for the first day of buck season. We had about 5 inches of snow on top of the mountain. Dad and I arrived at camp around noon on Sunday to get the heat going. It was about 20 degrees outside and inside. The camp really didn't begin to warm up until we fired up the oven and started the meatloaf around 5:00 pm. The rest of the gang arrived safely just in time to enjoy the venison meatloaf. We hunted hard for three days and then inched our way back down off the mountain. We didn't see many deer, or other hunters for that matter, but as always, we had a great time just being out in the mountains. I think the icy roads really deterred some hunters from coming up. I'll be heading down to Maryland to hunt this Saturday, and then we're heading back up to camp for the last few days of the season next week.

A Cold Day Hunting

2008-11-23T21:41:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, a friend and I decided that we wanted to go up to camp for one last day of turkey hunting. We left home at 4:00 am and traveled all the way to camp. Arriving around 7:30 am, we were excited by the fresh coating of snow on the ground, but not the temperature (9-degrees.) I can't remember the last time I hunted in 9 degree weather...esp. in November. We saw a lot of game today. Many turkeys...although the turkeys ended up being the hunters as we did not bring any home for thanksgiving...and several deer including a few nice bucks and a piebald deer. It was a beautiful animal...not quite albino...but very close as it just had a few patches of brown. Once again, I did not have my camera with me when I needed it. A lot of the camps were open today with hunters eagerly anticipating the opening of bear season on Monday. Not being a bear hunter, I'm eagerly awaiting the opening of deer season the following week. It's hard to believe that another PA deer season is just a week away. I'm sure I'll have a lot of information to post following deer camp 2008.

Turkey Hunting

2008-11-03T16:29:00.003-05:00

I traveled up to camp this past weekend. It was a beautiful fall weekend. We hunted all day for turkeys. Although we didn't find any turkeys, we did see a lot of signs pointing to where they had been...feathers, scratching, etc. I probably covered at least 5-7 miles on foot. I found out just how out-of-shape I am. The wild cherry trees seem to be having a banner year. The birds, deer, bear, all seem to be feeding on the wild cherries. Although I didn't find any turkeys, I did manage to bring home a grouse. I look forward to adding it to the thanksgiving dinner this year. Except for a flat tire (they always seem to happen way back in the mountains...so much for my AAA membership) we had a great day of hunting. There seems to be a lot of deer sign in our area....buck rubs, scrapes, etc. The deer are probably moving a lot right now. I was particularly surprised at the lack of hunters I saw out and about. It seems as if fewer folks are heading to the big woods every year. It's nice to have such a beautiful spot all to ourselves. However, it makes the hunting that much harder. Oh well, I guess that's why they call it hunting. I hope to get up again this weekend to do some more scouting before deer season. As I always say, "any day spent in the woods of Tioga County is far better than a day at work."

Longing to be up north

2008-10-08T08:43:00.002-04:00

The weather is turning colder now. The past two mornings have had temperatures in the upper 30's. I finally broke down and turned on the furnace. I haven't lit the coal fire yet. I'll wait a few more weeks until the up/down temperatures change to down. As the leaves begin to turn and the temperatues drop, I find it harder to focus on my office duties. My mind is constantly traveling up to Tioga County. I'm wondering "where are the bucks hanging out?" Where are the turkeys feeding?" The colder the weather gets, the harder it is to concentrate on work. Fortunately, I have a few Saturdays off in November and I'll get the chance to travel up to camp and do some turkey hunting. While I enjoy turkey hunting a great deal, turkey hunting for me is really "deer scouting." Actually, the turkeys are always found where the food is. Therefore, if you find the food, you'll not only find turkeys, but usually also deer. These days, there seem to be fewer and fewer hunters traveling up to north to hunt. This makes the hunting much more challenging. However, there is something magical about the solitude and challenge of hunting when you know you are probably the only guy in a few square miles of forest. I look forward to the days in November, and will post my stories (every trip is a story) when I get back. I enjoy reading Paula's blog. It's my window to the north from home. I try not to be too jealous of her being able to live up there year round.

Hunting in Maryland

2008-09-20T20:20:00.002-04:00

This year, I've done something I've never done before. I bought a hunting license for another state besides PA. I have a friend who lives in Maryland and owns some private land. There are a lot of deer on her property, so I plan on doing a good amount of hunting down there this year. I still prefer hunting in the North woods of Tioga County. However, the deer seem to be few and far between up here these days. Hunting in Maryland is a lot different. The general hunting license allows you to kill 10 doe and 2 buck. There's just seems to be something not right about listening to the traffic on I-70 while you are hunting in your tree stand. There's nothing like the Mountains of Tioga County. I'm anxiously awaiting the 2008 deer hunting season. However, the Maryland license gives me a chance to do some more hunting. The drive is much shorter, and with gas prices the way they are now-a-days, I won't be able to make as many trips to camp this year.

Visit with Mountain Girl, Paula

2008-08-29T14:32:00.004-04:00

On Saturday, August 23, the family and I travelled to Leetonia to meet Mountain Girl, Paula. What a beautiful place she has. In a way I 'm am so jealous that she gets to live up in that beautiful spot all year. I'd love to be able to live there. However, the 3 1/2 hour commute one way to work every day would problaby take it's toll rather quickly. We talked for a while, then Paula showed our daughter her Tee Pee. After our visit, Paula invited us to drive up to her million dollar view at the top of the ridge. We took the truck up to the top and parked. She didn't underestimate the view at all. What a gorgeous spot. We went on a hike back into the Pines on her property. We weren't 100 yards into the pines when my wife spotted a very large buck sneaking up over the hill. I'm not sure how many points he had, but his antlers were much wider than his body. In the woods, we found the perfect picnic spot. There were several pine stumps set up in a circle. Nearby, someone had made carvings of a bear and an eagle (surprised?). We sat down and enjoyed our picnic lunch. On the way back down the trail, we saw two very large turkeys. Although I wanted to stay all day, we eventually had to head back home.

We're all thankful that Paula appears to be healing well from her accident. She has the most original body cast you'll ever see. (visit her blog at http://leetonia-eaglebear.blogspot.com/). When you pass the spot where her car went down over the bank, it is amazing to realize that she climbed back to the road using her one good arm. We enjoyed getting to meet our new friend in person, and look forward to seeing her again in the future.

Summer of 2008

2008-08-29T14:22:00.008-04:00

Well, we were able to get up to camp a few times over the summer. This summer's weather was ablsolutely gorgeous. Very few days saw the temperature get above 90. We just spent a weekend in Cedar Run and the daytime temperatures were in the 70's each day. Everything at camp is ok. Over 30 cabins have been broken into this summer. However, the only problem that we have had this summer is porcupines. Yes, the porcupines are chewing everything they can get their teeth on. We've had to replace entire sections of decking, and railing. This past week we realized that we never had this problem when we were allowed to keep a salt lick at the camp. We now think they are chewing the wood to get the sodium that is in the treated lumber.

I'm looking forward to getting up to camp at least once in the fall to hunt turkeys. There are a lot of them around this summer. We have seen very few deer, but the deer we have seen have been nice sized and appear to be very healthy. We've seen several groups of fawns. Bears seem to be everywhere and many times these days seem to outnumber the deer.

You can hardly tell where the Bull Run fire went through except for the burned out laurel in some places. It's amazing how the ferns have come up and the trees have opened as if the fire was never there. It will be interesting to see if the burned out areas will change the movement of the deer this fall.

Missing the Northwoods

2008-05-07T12:08:00.004-04:00

I'm sitting here today realizing that this may be the first year in recent memory that I won't get back to the cabin for Spring Gobbler Season. A hectic work schedule, high gas prices, and two very energetic toddlers at home means that I won't get to take my gun for a walk this year in search of gobblers. While I thoroughly enjoy turkey hunting, spring gobbler season has always been a great time to walk in the woods - calling in a turkey is just icing on the cake. I was fortunate to just happen to be camping in the mountains the day the forest fire broke out. We were all relieved to know that the cabin survived. However, I'm anxious to return as soon as possible to discover how far into our hunting territory the fire actually burned. I've enjoyed reading Paula's blog. It has allowed me to experience Spring in the Leetonia valley, even though I haven't been able to get back up there. In many ways, I envy those who are able to live up there year-round. Who knows? Perhaps some day, I'll be able to do the same.

View of the fire from Cedar Run

2008-04-25T11:18:00.003-04:00

Here is another picture of the fire I took from the bike trail just south of Cedar Run on Sunday, April 20. This was taken about two hours before the rains came down.

The Bull Run Forest Fire

2008-04-24T14:02:00.004-04:00

A very large forest fire began burning near Route 414 on Saturday morning, April 19. Driven by stiff winds, it burned quickly up Bull Run Hollow in Northern Lycoming County and spread into a 5,000 acre inferno covering a very large area. The fire jumped Mine Hole Road on Saturday night and burned all the way to the Spinning Wheel Hollow. This was a real scare for all of us at Peter's Camp. Our camp sits near the Spinning Wheel Hollow and the fire literally ended in our backyard. We can thank the Lord Almighty for sending a two hour rain shower at 4:00 pm on Sunday. This all but stopped the fire from spreading and gave the fireman a chance to surround it. A great deal of forest land was burned West from Pine Creek, North of the Fahneystock Road, South of the West Rim Road, and East of the Spinning Wheel Hollow. This will obviously have an effect on the hunting for this coming season. I need to take a moment to thank all the firefighters who worked very hard to keep this fire from burning any cabins. Their valiant efforts will never be forgotten by those of us who love to spend time at our cabins in the Northwoods.