Pennsylvania Game News - March 2011 - 27

had corn out and the bears had found it. As we got closer to the camp we found more piles of yellow dung. I circled the woods around the camp to look for hunting stands and found only one, but beside it was a pile of shelled corn. We took photos and collected evidence, because I thought it likely that someone would be hunting from the treestand on the opening day of bear season, when I planned on returning. As often happens for a WCO, however, plans change quickly. Over the weekend I got more reports of baiting sites around the county. Turned out that I sent two of my deputies to the bait I had discovered, because there appeared to be only one stand, and I would help neighboring WCO Brian Witherite with a large baited area he had discovered. On Sunday evening we met, and I explained to deputies Bob Turner and Bob Johnson how to get to the camp and where the corn was located. I told them that I had found only one stand, but that additional people may be hunting from the camp. At ﬁ rst light on Monday morning a team of several WCOs and deputies descended on a large baited property in the southern part of the county, only to ﬁ nd empty treestands and no one around the camp. Once all the ofﬁcers were out of the woods, we decided what areas we were going to patrol and then headed off to check other bear hunters. As I drove down the road my cell phone beeped, indicating I had a voice mail. The message was from Deputy Turner; he wanted me to call him ASAP regarding the bait site he was checking. When I called back he informed me that no one was in the treestand when he and Deputy Johnson got to the camp, but there was a group hunting out of the camp and they had shot a large bear. I told him to start collecting the necessary information and that I would be there shortly. I arrived at the camp to ﬁnd fresh corn scattered in the lane and woods, and raw bacon on the hot rocks of the ﬁre pit. Deputies Turner and Johnson had the group of
MARCH 2011

four hunters sitting at a picnic table. The hunters were identiﬁed as Fred, Ted, Bill and Chuck. Deputy Turner explained that he and Deputy Johnson were walking up the road toward the camp at ﬁ rst light and heard several shots. When they arrived at the camp no one was in the treestand, but they did talk to the camp cook who told the deputies that all the guys were way down over the hill. Deputy Turner said he started to walk down behind the camp and saw Ted and Bill coming back to camp, carrying three riﬂ es. When Deputy Turner asked where the other guys were, the hunters told him their buddy had just shot a bear and was down in the woods. Deputy Turner walked through the woods a short distance and found Fred completing the tag and placing it on a large bear with Chuck standing beside him. I informed the group why we were investigating and that the best way for me to ﬁnd out what had transpired was to have each person take me to his hunting location and tell me his version of what happened. To begin, I asked Fred to show me where he had been hunting. Fred took me over to the cabin door and told me he walked below camp and into the laurel when a bear jumped up from the laurel. Fred then led me to the area where he ﬁred the ﬁrst shot. I looked on the ground and found a spent .338 case, the same caliber Fred was using. Fred said that the bear continued to run down the hill and Ted shot at it one time. Fred told me he continued down the hill and got up on a rock where he was able to see the bear again. He ﬁ red a second shot and killed the bear (the spent cartridge case was still in his chamber). I mentioned the corn, and Fred said he had only noticed it that morning, after arriving at the camp. He said he was trying to move away from the area.
27

Pennsylvania Game News - March 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - March 2011