Authors

Andrew Pursel

Founder, Author

I grew up in Western PA, and I loved making trips up to our “camp” throughout my childhood. It wasn’t until high school when I realized just how special camp was to me. Since then, each and every year I have tried to get to camp more and more. My most fond memories have been spent at camp with family and friends. 

I graduated from Robert Morris University a few years ago with a degree in Finance and Economics. I currently work in the Pittsburgh area and while I love the industry I work in, my passion outside of work has always been the outdoors. Whether it be hunting, fishing, hiking or a slew of other activities – I have always found myself wanting to be outside, and preferably, in the woods. 

I founded Allegheny Antler to share stories about hunting, fishing, and my passion for the outdoors that all started at our “camp”. As we continue to share our stories I hope it may encourage others to do the same. If something you read sparks a memory or story, please reach out or leave a comment, we would love to hear from you!

Rob Nicolls

Author

After growing up in Western PA near Hermitage and attending Penn State University, I currently reside in Cincinnati Ohio with my wife and five children.  We share ownership in camp Bucks n Beards in the Allegheny National Forest region and “go to camp” several times a year, mainly during the fall hunting seasons.

Although I’ve been hunting now for close to 40 years (hard to believe it’s been that long), I still look forward to the PA hunting seasons as much as I did when I was a kid.  I’ve also done some hunting in Southern Ohio and made a few trips out west for elk and mule deer, but I’m primarily a PA hunter.

My hunting/camp experiences are centered around family.  Almost without fail, my trips involve my immediate family, in-laws, cousins, and nephews.  We document these trips in “the log”, which I’m guessing is similar to a lot of other people’s camp traditions.  In more recent times, my son Robert and nephew Andrew (the founder of Allegheny Antler) have been my primary hunting partners and have taken a bigger interest in the log and recording (and re-reading) many of these stories.  These (2) will likely be the primary ones to carry on the camp traditions and it is exciting to see them take on a more active role.  God willing, we will have many more experiences and stories to tell. I hope you enjoy the stories.

Robert Nicolls

Author

I am your average high school junior. I play varsity baseball and spend just as much time playing video games as all the other guys in school. 

Despite loving sports and having a good time with friends, my true interests lie in the wilderness. I have been involved in hunting and fishing since I was about seven years old. At that time I was just walking around in the woods with my dad, holding a plastic rifle that had an orange barrel as I tried to mimic everything he did. 

I quickly learned the ins and outs of real weapons and I was in the woods ready to do real hunting by the age of nine. Since then I have made some amazing memories that will stick with me for a lifetime and I’m always looking to make more.