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!!

Deer Season 2011

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

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

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

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

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.