Guys Weekend 2023

Our Annual Guys Weekend trip has come to a close, and it was certainly one for the books. A record number of deer were taken for our crew. While we failed to see the “peak rut” activity we were hoping for, it is hard to argue with the results.

After getting settled into camp Tuesday evening, I hit the woods first thing Wednesday. Robert and I sat for about 3.5 hours in the Graveyard area and failed to see a deer on stand. We decided to head back to camp to re-group before heading out for a long evening sit. Uncle Rob and I headed out near his spot where I hunted off what we call “The Pipeline”. An hour or so into our sit, I saw two doe headed through the bottom at about 75 yards. They hung around a while feeding before meandering off. An hour or so later, another tandem of slick heads came through the same path before heading further into the bottom. While I was hoping there was a nice buck trailing them, it was nice to see deer. It is easy to go an entire sit, or even a whole day, without seeing a deer while hunting the PA mountains, so I thought this was a pretty good start to the week.

Thursday morning had forecasts of heavy rain so everyone decided to sleep in. To our surprise, there was no rain at all the entire day. Everyone was pretty eager to hit the woods, and Uncle Rob, Robert and I all headed out around 11 AM to sit the rest of the day. We spilt up near “Rob’s Spot” off the pipeline, and the action was good from the start.

Robert and I saw a spike cruising at about 60 yards as we headed to our respective trees, setting up about 100 yards apart. When I got to my tree, I saw that Uncle Rob had texted that he saw a big buck headed into the bottom on the other side of the ridge, and soon after our spike made his way over to him. I was settled in by 12:00 PM and upon getting set, Robert said he had watched a big buck bed at about 85 yards in front of him. This was sure to make for a great evening…or so I thought.

Robert routinely checked in on the bedded buck, but he failed to move. The spike made his way back over the ridge, and headed down into the bottom where the 4 does went the night prior. After about 3 hours with no movement from the buck, Uncle Rob said, “maybe he’s dead” though we didn’t think it was likely. “He is either dead, or this is the world’s best deer stump” Robert texted us. The rest of the day went by quietly with none of us seeing any deer.

Robert and I decided to head down into the bottom and check out what he had been staring at for the better part of 6 hours. Sure enough, 85 yards into the bottom, there lay the buck…dead. We approached cautiously, but he was stiff as a board. We checked for any signs of injury, but there were none. Deer die of old age and natural causes all the time in the big woods, but it is pretty crazy to think you would ever watch it happen. We headed out in disbelief of the days events, hopeful Friday would bring more luck.

Robert and I decided to head for the wilderness Friday, and left the truck about an hour before sunrise. We made our way across the meadow and up the “First Finger” as light filled the sky and got set up in our trees at about 7:45 AM. Not 15 minutes later, I heard movement down off the ridge to my right. I looked down to see a rack buck making his way towards me. I could soon see that he was a young 6 point, and decided I wasn’t going to shoot.

The buck made his way to about 45 yards before heading down the point we walked in on. About 30 minutes later, I heard deer running behind me and closing in fast; I quickly grabbed my bow and turned. Two doe made their way to me on the same trail as the buck, and hung around for 15 minutes or so before wandering off. As they fed behind me, I could see another rack buck down in the bottom behind them. An hour after that, I heard more movement from that direction and got turned around in my saddle. Scanning the area, I saw a hunter looking at me waving. Dang. Luckily, he was a true sportsman. He made some hand motions, asking which way he should go. I directed him to the other side of the ridge, as Robert was in the bottom he was headed for.

We climbed down for lunch and a game plan for the afternoon. We finally got service, and learned Dan shot a 5 point around 8:30 AM. Robert said that before coming to me, the 6 point was headed straight towards him but his bow was on the ground. He tried to lift it slowly, but the buck knew something was off, he got to 40 yards before heading my way. We set up on the point near where all the deer were for the afternoon. Despite what felt like a great spot, I only saw one body of a deer far off the entire evening.

Clearly the long hunts of the week got to me Saturday morning, as I woke at 7:15 AM (daylight) with no recollection of snoozing my 5:00 AM alarm. It was a picture perfect November morning, and Curtis shot a mature doe and Clayton a heavy 6 point. I spent Saturday afternoon in the Graveyard area with Robert, with a lone doe spotted while climbing my tree. That brought a bitter sweet ending to our annual Guys Weekend Trip.

That was a wrap on my archery season, and it certainly had its ups and downs. My eyes immediately turned ahead to the upcoming PA Rifle season just two weeks away, and some Ohio Muzzleloader hunts thereafter. On the week, we enjoyed great food, better company, plenty of time in the woods, and made memories that will carry us through to next year. Only 360 days to go!