Four of us traveled up to Camp F-Troop last week for the fall muzzleloader deer season, and the trip was a great success. We climbed mountains, visited our favorite old boulders from hunting seasons past and enjoyed crisp mornings and sunny afternoons in the colorful autumn forest. Todd and I took our guns and cameras for excellent walks in the woods, and Billy shot a fine, hefty doe an hour before dark on Tuesday, but Brett claimed the most interesting hunt of all, since he had to work past three bucks in one day Monday to find an antlerless deer.
That morning Brett hunted alone at Fern Hollow Run while the rest of us were still en route. He hiked up the fire trail that runs above the trout stream for a mile and stopped frequently to search for signs of deer. At 10 a.m. he left the trail and climbed the slope toward the mountaintop plateau, where sometime later, he stopped and rested against the side of a large sandstone boulder.
Just then a big deer broke over the crest of the ridge and trotted toward him, apparently spooked by someone or something on the sidehill slope below. It was a buck, he saw right away, and a good one. Brett froze in place as the deer closed to within 30 yards and stopped and stood motionless among the amber and bronze leaves recently fallen to the ground. It was an elegant eight-point with heavy and symmetrical antlers, a beautiful animal, but unfortunately not fair game in this season. Then Brett noticed something else, the dark-colored sparring marks of dried blood on the deer’s thick neck. Apparently there was another buck in the area big enough to challenge this one.
An hour later, Todd, Billy and I arrived at camp, and the four of us planned an afternoon hunt. We scattered up the mountainside behind camp in a semi-organized manner with plans to meet up just after dark. Brett hiked south for half a mile to a spot where a small trail angles uphill toward the mountaintop. Not 15 minutes later he spotted a deer on the trail 100 yards above. He cranked up his scope to 7-power and studied the deer as it drank from a shallow watercourse at the edge of the trail. The deer lifted its head and revealed two small shovel-tipped forkhorns. Another buck! Brett was amazed.
After a moment, the young buck wandered off up the trail. Brett watched it disappear and shook his head in frustration, then headed north up the hill toward the area where he knew Todd, Billy and I would be hunting. A half hour later he stopped behind a big white pine, scanned the upward slope for sign and noticed an odd-colored light patch in the sun that didn’t quite fit in with the dull colors of the forest. He lifted his scope and saw that it was a third buck staring back at him, a thick-bodied deer with wide antlers of heavy mass and eight or ten points. “Come on,” Brett said to himself. “I go years without seeing a buck in the woods sometimes, and now I walk up on three in one day when they’re not legal game?” He watched as the big buck spooked and bounded away, then continued his hunt.
Later, Brett heard a small commotion in the dry leaves to his left. He turned and saw a group of six deer come over the ridge and stop 75 yards away. He raised his scope and saw that they were antlerless — finally — a herd of three adult does and three yearlings. But he couldn’t shoot because the deer were milling around close together, and he was afraid of hitting more than one.
Eventually one of the adult does stepped away from the group and stood broadside, looking back at the others. Brett fired his 50-caliber Thompson Center inline, and the deer dropped and rolled down the hill until it came to rest against a shag-barked hickory. He tagged and field-dressed the animal and began dragging it quickly down the slope. He knew he had a good story to tell the boys at camp that night.
Good luck out there. And have a great week outdoors.
Trail Notes: Looking for the ideal holiday gift for an outdoors person? Paperback copies of my book The F-Troop Camp Chronicles are on sale at The Book Rack, Daffin’s, Copyland, Luigi’s Pizza, Greenville News, Courthouse Square Drygoods Co, Allied News, CDS Sports, and Neshannock Creek Fly Shop. For special prices on signed and numbered hardcovers, use the contact info below.
Don Feigert is the outdoors writer for THE HERALD and the ALLIED NEWS. He can be contacted at 724-931-1699 or dfeigert@verizon.net. Visit his Website at www.donfeigert.com.
Sports
Related Photos
Outdoors: Muzzleloader season brings buck sightings
- Sports
-
-
Roundup: Hickory girls beat Franklin in battle of 5-AAA leaders
Knowing its male counterparts upset Franklin 48 hours earlier, the Hickory High girls basketball team was not to be outdone.
Forcing Franklin into a substandard shooting performance, the Lady Hornets harvested a 53-42 District 10 Region 5-AAA win Monday night. -
SPORTVIEW: Reynolds, Greenville are 2 of state's historic programs
CONGRATULATIONS TO the Reynolds High wrestling program which became the fastest Class AA team in the history of the state to reach 700 wins last weekend.
The program, which began in 1960-61 under coach Dick Sherwood, has set a torrid pace for winning since that 4-4 season.
Ironically, the school’s 700th victory came Saturday in the District 10 Dual Meet Championships against long-time rival Greenville, which went over the 700-win plateau in 2009. Greenville is believed to be the first AA team to reach 700 wins, while Reynolds did it in the shortest time. -
Hickory soccer standouts Free, Richards to Ashland University
Hickory High girls’ soccer coach B.J. Rudge believes the bar has been elevated, and his Lady Hornets have helped hoist it.
“In general, soccer has grown in this area ... and what our girls have accomplished is a reflection of the whole (Shenango) Valley,” Rudge recently observed. -
Ft. LeBoeuf beats Reynolds at D-10 AA Team Duals
EDINBORO — The Reynolds Raiders notched the school’s 700th victory in the semifinals of the District 10 Dual Meet Championships Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately for the Raiders, No. 701 will have to come later.
The Raiders topped long-time rival Greenville, 51-16, in the semis to become the first Class AA school in Pennsylvania history to 700 wins. However, in the D-10 finals at Edinboro University’s McComb Field House, the Raiders fell to familiar foe Fort LeBoeuf, 31-28. -
Roundup: Popatak hits 1,000; Hickory, Farrell, Sharon boys win 6-AAA contests
ä Hickory 64, Franklin 52 — At “The Castle” in Franklin, the Knights (9-3, 15-3) led 28-21 at halftime, but coach Nick Cannone’s Hornets (11-2, 13-5) came storming back and outscored the hosts 24-9 in the 3rd quarter and 19-15 in the 4th to win a key Region 6-AAA clash.
Vinnie Mastrian rifled in a career-high 28 points to lead Hickory while Matt Votino scored 22. -
Roundup: WM, Sharpsville, Lakeview grab region wins
When in doubt, defer to Dogan.
West Middlesex High junior point guard Matt Dogan dominated the 2nd half of Friday night’s District 10 Region 1-A contest with visiting VisionQuest.
Dogan deposited 18 of his game-high 27 points after intermission, converting 12 of 16 free-throw attempts, leading the Big Reds to their 9th consecutive conquest, 56-41. -
Greenville's Zahniser headed to St. Francis
Nico Zahniser believes four years of scholastic football prepared him for the next level — and learning how to win and lose was only part of the process.
The Greenville High senior committed to St. Francis University of Loretto earlier this week, where he hopes to become part of a Red Flash resurgence under coach Chris Villarrrial. -
Belichick: Indy friendlier after failed '09 call against Colts
Coach Bill Belichick jokes about the welcome he has gotten since arriving in Indianapolis -- where Colts fans are less-than-friendly toward his New England Patriots -- for Super Bowl XLVI.
-
SLIDESHOW: Super Bowl by the numbers
The nation's biggest sporting event produces some staggering statistics, from the number of chicken wings consumed -- 1.25 billion -- to the amount of money some people plan to bet on the game.
-
Roundup: Hickory, Sharon, GC boys grab 6-AAA wins
The District 10 Class AA Team Dual-Meet Championships have been owned by Reynolds and Fort LeBoeuf since its inception, with the Raiders winning 10 titles under now retired coach Brian Hills and the Bison winning the other 3.
The two teams are heavily favored to meet again Saturday in the finals of the tourney at Edinboro University’s McComb Field House which expands to 8 teams this year for the first time. The top 2 teams advance to the state tourney the following weekend. - More Sports Headlines
-
