Pennsylvania Game News - December 2009 - 15

None of my friends who comprise our unofficial company of longhunters were hunting the final day, as we had filled enough tags to provide sufficient meat for the freezer. Only one of those friends had taken a buck, which fell in archery season, and the rest of us had filled tags during the antlerless muzzleloader season. Still, none of them were interested in joining me on a buckor-nothing hunt the final Saturday of the flintlock season on SGL 257, located in the Lewistown Valley area of eastern Schuylkill County. Besides having to live with feeling of guilt for an entire year, my decision to hunt the final day was based on solid evidence of buck activity I had found while helping push deer for some friends the final Monday of the season. This area has excellent hunting for turkeys and deer, and it was obvious from some fresh rubs and scrapes that had not been there a week earlier that the secondary rut had begun. Unfortunately, the places that had the freshest sign were concentrated among the patches of thick laurel that are found throughout the hardwood forest. That meant finding a set-up spot within the laurel that would provide shooting lanes and concealment, as any shot would be close. For that reason, my rifle of choice was a 54-caliber Cabela’s Hawken with a 1-in48 twist barrel that allows the option of using roundballs or conical bullets. In the last few years, major improvements have been made — from a safety standpoint — in the manufacturing of conical bullets that prevent them from moving in the barrel off the powder charge when the rifle is being carried. Not wanting to have a roundball deflect off an obstruction, I rammed home a Hornady conical on top of a charge of Goex FFFg powder and got dressed in Mossy Oak camouflage. It felt strange to be hunting the final day of the season with Buster and the buckskins at home, but some sacrifices are worth making. DECEMBER 2009 Arriving at sunrise near the area I planned to spend the day, I wanted to have enough light for a shot while stillhunting into my set-up location. Picking my way through a patch of briars, I found a deadfall to serve as a chair, poured some coffee and took out my book. During the course of the day, a few shots were heard coming from a nearby farm that is open for public hunting, but nothing from the woods outside my world of laurel. Still, it was a wonderful day. Then, with fewer than two hours left in the season, things got better. A lot better. Off to my left there came the faint, unmistakable sound of a deer moving, which was much more discreet than the thrashing sounds of squirrels. Through the laurel a deer’s body was visible, and for the next 10 minutes my heart pounded as I kneeled and silently eased the hammer to full cock. Without warning, the deer took a few quick steps and revealed its wellpolished antlers. Standing in the laurel, at a distance of 40 yards, it was easy to count the three points on each side of the rack, and by reflex I shouldered the rifle, aimed at the lung area and fired. When the white smoke cleared, I saw the deer had dropped in its tracks, but I still reloaded. There was no need for a finishing shot, however, as the bullet had passed through its body, and at 3:10 p.m., on the final day of the flintlock season, I was filling out my tag for a 6-point buck. That this 180-pound, corn-fed trophy presented me with my biggest whitetail rack ever, on the final day of flintlock season, is what memories are made of. It also assures that, as long as I have an unfilled back tag, the tradition of hunting the last day is one that will continue.

Pennsylvania Game News - December 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - December 2009