Pennsylvania Game News - July 2011 - 27

rection of the sound. A brief movement caught my attention. Between the trees, 75 or so yards away, the back of a deer materialized. The deer was digging in the leaves and slowly feeding toward me. As I watched I caught the briefest flash of antler. Slowly my rifle came up and I looked intently through the scope. Six long points were easy to see, and being that this was my only day to hunt, the decision was made. If the shot was there, I would take it. Fifty yards out the buck stopped again, scratched around in the leaves, crunched a few acorns and slowly shuffled toward me. The buck seemed to have no idea it was the first day of the season. I was tempted to take the shot; I knew I could make it, but then again, he was unconcerned about anything, and with each step he got closer. I picked out a spot less than 10 yards from my stand where I knew he would pass. It took the buck about five more minutes to close the distance, and when he did, one shot dropped him in his tracks. He was my fifth buck in a row from the stand on the ridge, and the 17th deer taken off of the property in the past 17 years. I began hunting the property when I was 12 and continue to do so, thanks to the generosity of George and his wife, the couple who owns the property. I was 12 when my grandfather bought 17 acres in Columbia County to retire on. He built a house for him and Grandma to live in, and I began to learn how to hunt. Through the course of a few visits with Grandpa we met his neighbor George, and a friendship was developed between George and my grandfather, and an invitation was extended to me. “Sure you can walk around and hunt my property,” George said. “I have some friends who come up for the first day or so of deer season, but you’re more than welcome to hunt as well.” The first few years I hunted close to Grandpa and my father, and ventured up onto George’s piece only when Dad was willing. I harvested a buck and a doe during the first four years, and took sporadic visits
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into George’s portion of the woods. I remember a few things from that time, like when my dad and I peered intently for at least 10 minutes up the old grass road at what we thought was a deer, but turned out to be an odd-angled log and some blowing leaves. Or the one time that I saw what I thought was a cow coming through the woods, only to be shocked to see it was a piebald deer. Still, my grandfather and dad were quite content to hunt lower on Grandpa’s property, so the bulk of my time was spent down there. When I turned 16, though, the urge to explore and find my own spots drove me up the hill and onto George’s property. The memories are so many that it’s hard to pinpoint the first-year memories from those of just a few years ago. Like all well-known properties, though, a simple walk through those woods brought back mental images of each deer, turkey and bear sighting. The first bear I ever saw I spotted one fall evening as I archery hunted the bottom portion of George’s woods. My back was to a 100-acre Christmas tree plantation and I was hunting in a little finger of woods that separated the Christmas tree farm and another field. Some rustling in the woods behind me caused me to look around and there, coming at me, was a large black shape. My brain didn’t register what it was at first, but then, as its head came into view, I realized I was looking at a bear not even 20 yards away. With my heart pounding and being a little nervous because I was on the ground and not in a treestand, I watched as it came plodding slowly toward me. Then, rolling around her feet, three cubs came into view. The cubs ran all around, playing with each other and exploring, as Mom slowly walked through the woods. I will never forget the image of one of the cubs sitting down and tossing leaves
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Pennsylvania Game News - July 2011

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