Pa. Rifle Buck Season!

FLDBRED

FLDBRED

Well-known member
Ok guys I know we hate to do it, but in a couple of days we're going to have to hang up the shotguns and pick up the rifles. Who's going out for deer? What County? Deer Camp?
 
I'll be hunting on some private land a friend of mine owns in Adams county. Checked things out last weekend and saw one deer while we were there. We also saw some rubs and other deer signs. Just looking to get some meat for the freezer. Good luck next week.
 
We'll be heading to camp Sunday in Bradford County. I'll be in the same stand I've been in since 1986. Man I've seen some crazy things out of that stand over the years. Last year I saw a fisher for the first time, the year before a mink actually touched my boot!

Brian, those farm deer in Adams County must put on some decent weight!
 
WOW!!! What a great start to the deer season, Monday I saw over 30 deer,a couple of small bucks but the rest were does. I can't even begin to explain what happened on Tuesday. I saw one of the biggest bucks of my life and he was only 50 yards away.My scope must be way off and I missed a real easy shot, when I went to put another round in ,the clip didn't push the next shell up ,I tried this twice, the whole time he just stood there broadside, then he just trotted away! This has never happened to me before,my gun is always on and my equipment works, and it had to happen on a monster!

I am going back to camp for Friday to Tuesday!

How did the rest of you guys make out?
 
Went out on Monday and saw 8 doe and no bucks. I have a doe tag but the ones I saw were too small to take. I saw the last deer of the day at 8:30 am. Went out today in the late afternoon and shot a decent size doe at 4:15. I was just interested in getting some meat for the freezer. Good luck on your next outing.
 
Well Ive been at it pretty hard and Ive seen deer every day, but nothing like that monster I saw on Tuesday, I guess the antler restrictions are working! I am going to go back to work for a couple of days and then go again Friday and Saturday! Good luck to everyone!
 
Took an hour and a half ride up to some land we have in Juniata county to try and fill my buck tag. My wife and I bought 6.5 acres a few years ago with long term plans of putting some type of cabin on it. It sits in the middle of part of the Tuscarora State Forest. Was in my stand by 5:30 and it wasn't too long after that I could hear some walking in the area. But I never did see anything on the day. I heard a few shots in the area before I got tired of sitting and got out of my stand a little before lunch. Walk around for a little to look things over and took a couple of pictures. The stream that is in the back of our property is running high. It will be nice if it stays that way in the spring. Here are a couple of pics of the area:
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At least some of the other animals kept me entertained in the morning. On the way home I drove up one of the roads that goes to the top of the mountain. I saw a older hunter taking a break and asked him how things were going. Said he saw a few deer but couldn't get a shot at any of them. He also told me he locked his keys in the truck. I offered him a ride back down to his place in the valley but he said nobody was home and he doesn't know where the spare key is. So he decided to stay and hunt. I guess that is one way to stay in the woods longer. He did tell me he saw some grouse tracks so maybe I'll have to head back up with the dogs. Time to put the rifle away and get the shotgun back out. The dogs have been driving me and my wife nuts!
 
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Great! You have a nice setup there! Your right..it's almost time to break out the shotgun again! I can't wait. Are you going to attend any of the flushing surveys this year?
 
I helped out with the flushing survey the last two years around Turbotville and I thought it would be nice to help with the Hegens-Gratz area this year since it would be closer. But a lot of it depends when they do it. My 5 year old son started wrestling this year and he has a match every Saturaday starting in January for at least two months. Plus we are going to Florida in mid Feb. I'll have to keep an eye out for the flushing schedule. Will you be helping with any of them, Hollow Watcher?
 
I understand..your a busy man but that's a good thing! I'll be there..I have been involved since the beginning..actually seeing the progress is something special! I may help out with the Hegins-Gratz's surveys as well! The surveys can not come soon enough!
 
I just walked in from deer camp. I saw that monster buck on Friday while still hunting, the one moment I let my guard up I spooked him, he was bedded down 25 yrds. from my brothers old stand, go figure! This morning I passed on a small legal buck, with hopes of connecting on the big guy, well we know what happens when we do that!It's been tuff couple of weeks, I'm getting worn out!

Looks like a nice piece of property Brian, there's nothing better than having your own piece of heaven! Is there much deer sign on it? Are you going to do any habitat work? Any trout in that creek?
 
The stream is stocked with trout and the area stays busy during the spring and summer. There are deer signs in the area. There are many tracks and I do see deer when I'm up there, just not on Friday. Last year I saw two buck that were too small to take. I also saw a few doe but it was during the first week of the season when it was buck only. I saw a bear one time and have heard other people talk about bear beeing close by. I would like to put food plots or something on the land but I'm not sure what would work well. It has a lot of mature trees on it and is pretty well shaded. A lot of the trees are hemlock with some smaller beech trees mixed in. But there is plenty of water. Any ideas of what I could do? I didn't look into what I could do. We would like to put a cabin up but that is a long term plan. We do plan to get a sand mount put in this summer so it is taken care of.
 
A lot of what you should do depends on your surrounding areas. Sometimes this is not as easy as it sounds. I bought my 30 acres in 1986 thinking it would be a "base" camp for the area. I had no idea it would turn into that great little hunting spot that it did. Out of the 30 acres, about 6 were in fields, we thought it would be a good idea to put in some Whitetail Clover as food plots. It worked ok, but the deer didn't really favor our property over any body's else is. We took a hard look and realized we were surrounded by large farms, my little food plots were just a drop in the bucket. We then change to creating cover...what a difference! So if you are surrounded by forest, then food plots would make sense. Take a look of an aerial view of your property and decide what would be more beneficial. I will tell you this, if you don't have a good chainsaw you should invest in one, it will become your best friend. Once you decide on food or cover let me know,there are a lot of fun things to do! You might also want to talk to the Fish Commission on stream improvements to keep some of those trout on your property.
 
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