Reflections
The 2021 Pennsylvania hunting season is officially underway, and I am often finding myself reflecting on last season. It was without a doubt my best year in the woods to date, and one that I will not soon forget.
The year started out with trying my hand at shed hunting. It was something I always wanted to get into, and COVID shutting everything down gave me a great excuse to head to the woods. I ended up finding 4 antlers over the course of 2 hikes. Two of which ended up as matching sides (from the 2018 season) to a nice 10 point that I actually ended up harvesting in November, but we’ll get to that in a minute.
When the season arrived I was eager to get into the stand. The first two weeks of archery were warm and slow, so when the early muzzleloader season arrived I decided to take out the smoke pole in search of a mature doe. As the sun rose on a beautiful frost-covered crisp PA mountain morning, some deer came running past my stand. All three were antlerless, and one was noticeably larger than her counterparts. Off-hand, I centered the cross hairs and hit my mark on the large-bodied doe.
The second weekend of the early muzzleloader season I decided to carry both my muzzleloader and my bow, unsure of whether or not I would attempt to shoot another doe. However, when the moment arrived and two deer worked into range, my mind was set. Once again I took aim at a mature PA doe, and was lucky enough to make another clean shot. Neither of the old deer ran more than 30 yards.
With two mature PA does tagged, I had only my buck tag left. While I wasn’t necessarily set on holding out for a mature buck, I have always wanted to get a wall-hanger in PA and I had plenty of meat in the freezer. Our annual Guys Weekend trip was slow. While we hit the woods in the first week of November hoping the rut would be in full swing, not many deer were spotted. I would have to try to fill my final tag during gun season.
I decided to take my late grandpa’s Winchester Model 70 Featherweight .257 Roberts that he handed down to my mom, and then me. This is a gun I have always cherished for both its beauty and rich history in our family. Both my mother and I took our first deer with the gun, and I thought it would be great to be able to shoot a buck with it.
When the first day of rifle season arrived, we made our annual trek into the big woods. I was enjoying my morning coffee when I heard a deer running through the woods behind me. I snapped my head and saw a doe trotting past, presumably pushed by another hunter. Not long after, I heard noise from where the doe ran. I turned to see a large bodied deer and wide rack coming down the hill straight at me. Quickly, I grabbed my gun and mounted it to the small tree I was leaning against. Only seconds after spotting the buck, I took aim and squeezed off a shot.
POW! As the shot rang out, the buck bounded downhill straight at me. I quickly chambered another round, literally in fear the buck would run into me. From the hip, I fired another shot. The deer switched direction, ran 10 yards, and ran directly into a tree. There, he fell and I knew I had made a good shot.
Adrenaline began to course through my veins as I stared at the mountain monarch. Immediately radio-calls began coming in from our hunting party. “I just shot a giant” I let them know through the radio, trying to keep some form of composure.
With the buck down, I made my way over to him taking in just how spectacular of an animal he was. I’ll spare you the details of the story, and to hear it all you’ll have to check it here.
The 2020 season marked the first where I tagged out completely, and did so with 3 tags as opposed to the traditional 2. The accomplishment was enough in and of itself, but to take all three mature deer from the mountains of the Allegheny National Forest made it all the better. While it was a season I will never forget, I am just as eager to hit the woods this season with similar success on my mind.
Good luck to all hitting the woods this fall. With any luck you will be hearing from the Allegheny Antler team soon!
