Pennsylvania Game News - December 2015 - 4

In a living-room in the Smethport area
was the biggest "hat rack" I'd ever seen - a
mount owned by Beaman Hyde and taken
by Craig Dunn back in 1930.
Beaman was glad to remove his hats
from the mount and bring it outside for
some photos.
He told me Dunn killed the buck a few
miles from Smethport, but he didn't know
much about the hunt.
The mount had been kept in an old
building and had fallen into disrepair
and was nearly thrown away. Beaman
rescued the trophy 10-point, which he
took to the inaugural Pennsylvania Big
Game Scoring session in 1965. The rack
scored 172-4/8.
Eventually, the rack came into the possession of Rebecca Crowell, who said she
ended up with it when her father, Dick
Hyde, passed away.
Earlier this year, Crowell donated the
mount to the Game Commission, where
it now hangs in the lobby of the agency's
Harrisburg headquarters.
She said her father would have wanted
others to see and enjoy it.

where some deer got to live to older ages.
Few hunters from outside the area had
begun to travel there to hunt during those
years following the Great Depression.
Many roads still were dirt and in poor
condition.
All of these factors helped to produce
big bucks and to support a growing deer
herd.
By the 1940s things were changing in
McKean County.
Deer populations had soared to record
levels that were not sustainable.
Meanwhile, the young trees and shrubs
were maturing to heights beyond a deer's
reach. The forest provided less food and
cover, as a result. And deer began decreasing in size and numbers.
Thousands of deer starved to death
during the winters of that time period.
By the 1950s, finding a record buck
was harder to do.
But a few spots - like the one Harry
Helander found in 1955 - were exceptions.
During World War II, McKean County
had a significant role in manufacturing
chemicals and supplying oil for the war
effort.
This resulted in some large areas being
cut over, and in the early to mid-1950s a
few spots were prime deer habitat.
It could have had a part in producing
Helander's record-book buck.

Historic Habitat

The Young Buck

In the early 1930s, McKean County's
forests were a lot different than they are
today.
They were younger and full of small
trees and shrubs, wildflowers, vines and
other plants that were a tremendous food
supply for white-tailed deer.
The conditions also made for very
thick cover that was hard to hunt, and

The real gem among Boone & Crockett Club bucks from McKean County is
a story in itself.
After researching the other three deer,
I wanted to get in touch with C.R. Studholme, who was listed as owner of the
Arthur Young buck, taken in 1830.
As luck would have it, C.R. and his
brother Art were out grouse hunting

he had it measured. It also scored 170-4/8.
From the smile on his face, it's evident
Harry was proud of that buck, and he
should have had no problem seeing its
huge rack in the thicket where he killed it.

The Dunn Buck

4
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - December 2015
