Pennsylvania Game News - September 2012 - 49

AN IDEAL hunting companion doesn’t mind helping with the dragging chores; especially appreciated with a big doe.

Bob Steiner

the part of the hunt that is about being abroad on the land, as I call it, as much as waiting for game. I know I’ll be as excited to hear you shoot as I would be if I got the shot; well, almost as excited. If your hunting style isn’t putting on drives, I also like to still-hunt. If we coordinate which direction we’re moving, we might stir something up and one of us get a shot. If you like to “stump-up” for long hours, that’s okay with me. I’ll find a spot to sit for a while and then I’ll do some “sneaking and peeking,” and we can check in together at some point and see how it’s going. I’m agreeable to just about any hunting style. I’ve even participated in all-day organized group drives, but to tell the truth, one day in a row was enough of that for me. It was a different experience and I’m glad I did it, but it’s not the way I’d like to hunt all the time. When I said we’ll check in together during the day that could either mean I’ll go to your stand, we’ll arrange a rendezvous some place or we’ll talk on the radio. If you don’t have a hand-held radio, you can borrow one of mine. I’m not much for using techno-gadgets just because they’re
SEPTEMBER 2012

there, but I have found radios helpful in keeping in touch about where we are in the woods, what we’re going to do next, whether we need help dragging after a shot, or to discuss going back to the car and getting lunch. About using radios, right up front I’ll say I won’t tell you about game coming your way and I expect you not to tell me either. That’s illegal, as we both know, and it’s not sporting. It’s not fair to the game or the experience I want from the hunt. I’ll be real disappointed if you say, “Hey, there’s a big one headed toward you,” and I won’t go hunting with you again if that’s your habit. If you’re the kind who scoffs at game laws, you’re better off telling me right now, because we’re not suited to hunt together. Yeah, I do expect a respect for the law and a high level of sportsmanship from my hunting companions. I do from myself, too, and really try to meet it. I know the hunt is cheapened when we don’t keep the unspoken promise of honorable conduct we make to ourselves, other hunters and the wildlife we hunt. I’ve spent a long enough time in the woods alone, sitting and thinking and staring at the clouds, that I’ve gotten to know myself pretty well. A buck with big antlers would be nice to get because the animal is so beautiful, but I’ve decided that the circumstances, the where and why and how, of the kill are really the trophy I take away. That’s just me. I won’t expect you to hurry over to gut and drag my deer. If we have radios, I’ll let you know I got one, though. You probably heard the shot and are wondering. I’ve never been squeamish about cleaning my own game. I watched my dad and uncle field-dressing rabbits when I was a kid, and I actually prefer to do the chore myself. I’ll be doing the cooking, so I like to handle the process of an animal going from in-theround to cleaned out, cooling and becom49

Pennsylvania Game News - September 2012

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