Keystoners success page. Lets hear how everyone is doing!

[manofthe45]

Ok the second day of rifle is well underway Lets hear how the year is going for everyone

[The Gamemaster]

I shot a porcupine and a skunk today

[manofthe45]

You broke the law.  Enough said!

[davem270win]

I saw a spike Monday afternoon. My buddy shot a 7 pt Monday AM, and we also had another 7 pt. and an 11 pt. in our club that I know of. We're definitely seeing larger bucks, and this year, there seems to be a few more doe around as well. (Carbon County)

Weather (and fog) was pretty foul on Monday. I've been out in worse, but it definitely wasn't pleasant.

[DDelle338]

  I guess I need to find a place to hunt in Carbon County.

  I've been hunting the State Game Lands around Lebanon since archery opened and have seen the same 4 deer several times. But that's it. AND I think those 4 left the county also. I haven't seen a deer in the area since the end of October.

[rbergum95]

2 does killed, missed 10 point buck. 1 buddy got bobcat and doe, another friend got a 6 point buck. still have 8 days left.

[ratgunner]

Two does ran right up to me today and didnt even see me till about 10yds. away. Then they stood looking at me and didnt want to leave LOL.They were no more than first year deer and I filled my doe tag in early muzzeloader season.   Later I jumped a buck with 3 points on one side and a broken other side.I hit him ,not sure where though :(Followed him a half mile or more,and found where he bedded and thats where the blood stopped.Hope he's okay.I feel kinda crappy about it.

[Davemuzz]

Decided after being out in the rain for 3 hours on the first day, that since the deer were not moving that probably ment that most of the  brave Pa hunters were sitting in coffee shops. So, I decided to "burn" a doe tag and snuck over to the edges of hills until I spotted a doe. Lined up the 45-70 peep sight just to the right of the brisket. Bang, flop. Nice thing about the 45-70...there is no such thing as "trailing 'em".

I havn't seen one with a horn yet....but I'm still lookin.

Dave

[Archblackmage]

lets see 1st day nothing but rain and lazy hunter's,  spent rest of 1st week scouting new places in Allegheny county which lively worker's decided to close road I wanted to look at. This past couple days I notices the BSA Cats Eye 3x10-44 cross hairs rolled when adjusted from one extreme to the other after email company stated out of warranty at lest 10to ship back and 20 to work on. I had a Bushnell but my older brother liberated it from my rifle when his red field wind age ring broke.   Dan Wesson Norwich 1st edition stainless 10" had the Ruger type firing pin transfer bar block broke off and now the action doesn't work correctly and I am not the 1st owner, so no it would not fall under warranty so I don't know if I should send it to the company or go local. and lastly the scout scope on the see through rings on my marlin 357mag shoos high even with it set at its lowest setting though i didn't try it yet at the 100 or 200 yard range yet so I'll try that before changing the rings to quick release rings. OH I didn't see any deer doe or anything but song birds.

[Rummer]

I haven't seen a legal buck yet, but I did fill all 3 of my antlerless tags in 2A.

One of those was my first handgun kill.

All in all, I had a pretty good season.

[Davemuzz]

Had snow today. Finally saw a deer with a horn on it. However, it was only a 4 point. Snow was beautiful! I had "eyeballed" about 8 doe, all nice and all "down over the hill" so the thought of draggin one up was not "in my plan". (A buck...yes...a doe....no way). So, I went for a coffee and came back to a different spot. Stepped out of the truck and loaded the 44. Well, three steps into the woods and there stood a button buck and a small doe. Let's see....level drag, 40 yards....small and tasty....Ok, I'll take this one.

One shot from the scoped Smith 629 and the 200 grain Hornady XTP did it's job. She was slightly quartering too me so I aimed a bit up front. Well, the bullet broke both front legs as it passed thru and took out the pulmonary system. It was bang.....leap.....flop. I like it when there is no trailing involved. Even if there is fresh snow on the ground.

So, that's one with the 45-70 and one with the 44 magnum. Still no buck. However....there is still flintlock season to look forward to!

Dave

[Graybeard]

Here is the story of my friend Barry's hunt in PA yesterday. He had passed on so many shots I have been accusing him of not wanting to skin and process a deer this year.

Bill I really have no problem with dragging and skinning a deer! I then have to cut it up and take care of it! None of that is a bother to me! I don't just know why I pass on so many opportunities at times! This year I passed on some really sweet shots! I guess in the back of my mind I am not worried about going into traditional season empty handed:-)! And part of it is when you opt for that doe you could be spooking a buck just out of sight headed your way! I am not a big fan of having both buck and doe together as I've never come to terms with that! When our seasons were separate I knew it was a doe I was after!
 
Now today I made up my mind that I didn't want to go into tomorrow needing a doe! Everything was stacked against me today also! First it snowed all morning until noon! Lots of snow and heavy at times! But it was also warming up while doing this! So by 1 PM I decided that the snow was over and I needed to go hunting! Now I had to take Donna this evening so I had to be done by 4 PM! That was giving up a prime time in the woods that hour before dark!
 
So I went back and parked the 4 wheeler and had the mindset that if I had a shot I'd be taking it! First off I crossed two groups of fresh deer sign headed down into the hollow! I knew I couldn't just follow them so I circled around and tried to work over toward where I figured they were! When I got to where I could see I saw no deer:-(! I still moved down into the area and cut the sign of two small groups of deer going straight down the hillside and into the bottom of the hollow! So I had put them out of that thicket and not seen them! I started to move up the hollow and two does were still up in the thicker stuff or had circled back around! Probably still there! They broke straight across the hillside toward where I had come down over! The lower one was a jet fighter and was gone so fast that I think it surprised the doe that had gone higher on the hillside! That doe stopped to see where she was and as luck would have it she moved a little and gave me a narrow lane to see her clearly! I'm guessing 60 yards up through the woods and deer like this little area because it has cover! As she came into that I got a freehand shot at her! She disappeared at the shot and I didn't see her running off anywhere! I passed on some really easy shots yet that was still a good shot! So now I have a doe hanging waiting to be butchered! She is as fat a deer as I think I remember seeing! She was in fine shape going into winter! That also could be a sign that a hard winter might be in store for us! I did take a picture of her where she lay!
 
Now I had a pass through and the bullet came out and also went through her off side leg up near where it comes out of her body! I hit the heart and punched through both rib cages! The shot drove her up the hill just a little and she slid down the hillside about ten feet!
 
To me that was a good hunt! Lots of luck to have the deer moving around in there! And I was moving as I figured because of the time frame I had to make it happen if it was gonna happen! It is alway satisfying to me to be hunting on the move and jump or bump into deer and be able to harvest one of them! I also like being quiet and still sitting in the woods and the deer not have a clue that I'm there! But the hunting while moving and I'm the only one there in the woods I feel like I was able to get into position to take the deer! Now sure there was luck as the deer could have been on the next farm and no matter what I done I would have come home empty handed! And to tell the truth I am just a little relieved that there is no pressure for tomorrow:-)!

[irold]

Having trouble seeing deer this year, I hunt in western Pa.....Clarion Co.   The antler restriction seems to be working, we are seeing bigger bucks, just not as many deer in general.  Had the entire week off, saw 7 deer !  Son # 1 got a beauty of an 8 point on Wed. evening, that was the first deer he'd seen !  I realize we don't/won't and can't have a deer around every tree....but in our area we need to knock off killing 2-3 deer with every doe tag.  My biggest problem is keeping my 13 year olds interest up when we go 2 days with out seeing anything.  Hard to explain to them about quality time.....they want to see game !    Some might say, I didn't walk far enough in.....I'm 53, my father is 78 , I had a 13 year old with me......so what if I go back in a couple of miles and we shoot 2 deer...on bare ground, I'd still be dragging...provided I haven't had a heart attack yet.  Sorry to ramble guys, just very disappointed with our deer situation in our area.  ( norhtern 2F)  BTW we hunt from a camp we've owned for years ( when we had deer )don't own much land , we hunt from neighboring farms with permission.  Hate to sell camp.  Maybe thats the answer though.

[DDelle338]

   I used the snow as an opportunity to get out and do research/scouting on Thursday. I figured I could find out where all the deer were. I covered allot of area on the game lands where I have been hunting. I saw some tracks, not many, not many at all! I covered all the areas that should have held deer. Thickets, leeward hillsides, swampy areas etc. etc. All the tracks I saw in the area could have been (probably were) made by one or two deer over the time the snow was on the ground. To you guys that have been filling your multiple doe tags...... it's a shame what we have done to the deer population. I went out again on Friday and decided to hunt by track. I found a set of tracks, the only ones in an area that has allot of rubs. I stayed on those tracks for several hours. When I came to the area I thought he would be, I slowed way down. Taking a step and waiting while scanning the area very carefully. After about 2 hours of this step and wait routine, I bumped into the buck just as he was about to slip farther into the thicket. Coincidentally, I pulled the trigger just as he decided the jump. His legs never came back down to catch him as he plowed head first into the snow.  The little .300sav did its job well. After the dressing, tagging and dragging was done I still had just enough time to push off a hillside for my buddy who was there also. Nothing was there. He gets to hunt the late archery season again this year. I have already made my plans for big game hunting next year. I will be hunting the three days before Thanksgiving. Bear only, next year. IF I buy a license at all!

[JerryKo]

First time in 23 years I had the entire first week to hunt.  Sorry guys, that's probably why the weather was so crappy .  In the first six days of hunting I saw only 11 deer.  Two were bucks.  Nice 8point ran past me and my son(mentor hunting) within about 15 feet.  No shot.  It was later taken by another hunter, just down from us. Three shots though.  The other was a half rack that I could see at least 2 points but through the fog and rain I couldn't find 4 and had to pass.  It was with two doe, which I thought odd.  I have doe tags,but saving for the muzzle loader season.  Me and my son did shoot a doe in the early ML season.  One word of advise, have ALL the flaps open when you shoot a flinter from inside a blind.   It was fun and my son got to see a doe harvested.  I like the early ones, taste much better to me.  All in all I have not seen alot compared to the past. 

Rummer,

I haven't seen a legal buck yet, but I did fill all 3 of my antlerless tags in 2A

I hunt 2A also.  A little south of Brownsville, we're probably neighbors in cyberspace terms anyway.  Good to here you took with a pistol.  I got a BFR 454 last year for Christmas, had hoped to use it this season, but didn't have any luck.  Maybe next year.

Good luck in ML season guys,

JerryKo