Saturday Opener

Well, the first Saturday opener of my lifetime is in the books, and I think it is safe to say, for our group at least, it was a bust.

Myself, Ken, Rob, Robert, Emma, Jess, Vince, Craig, Dan, Teagan and Aiden all made our annual trek into the wilderness. I headed to the Coon side of the point of the First Finger for first light. I had scouted out the ridge the previous few days, and there was a lot of deer sign in the area.

I ended up just a few hundred yards from where I shot my buck on the previous opening day in 2018 just below the Little Saddle. I arrived with plenty of time before daylight, so I changed into some dry clothes and settled in.

The morning started off pretty slow, for not just me but seemingly everyone. I hadn’t gotten word that there were any deer sightings, but it did seem a lot of our crew was seeing some other hunters in the area (something unusual for us in recent years).

Around 9 AM I heard movement to my right. “Finally, this has to be deer” I thought as I dropped to my knee. I listened and waited as I heard them approach. After waiting a few minutes I moved slightly as my knee grew sore from its awkward resting place.

Immediately I saw the head of a doe that caught my movement. Just like that they walked off around the point of the First Finger. Little did I know, those 3 deer would be the most seen on the day.

While the deer sightings were low and the sightings of other hunters were high (Robert saw 12) I realized it was an extra day in Penn’s woods – and a beautiful one at that – with a chance to get back after it on Monday after Sunday off.

Now, you’d think after not seeing anything in the wilderness on Saturday we would have learned our lesson and try somewhere else… but hey what can I say? We’re stubborn.

Without the 1-3″ of snow that was predicted we headed back in at 5:30 AM. With little to no action by 9 AM everyone was up and moving. I moved up the First Finger and into the head of the Jeep Trail Valley. I dropped down in as Ken recently saw a 6 point there.

Suddenly I looked to my left and and saw a tail running away at 40 yards and a rack chasing it. I followed them up to the Cannon Range where I spooked another wider-racked buck.

Soon after, Ken, Vince and Rob headed my way to meet for lunch. I saw an orange hat coming my way and gave a wave. As he got closer I realized it was Ken.

We were all talking on the radio and he said “Oh I see another hunter” and began to walk away. I told him it was me multiple times, but for some reason he wasn’t getting my call. I watched Ken walk towards the 2nd Finger on the Cannon Range (away from where he came from near the 3rd Finger). Minutes later, he said he was on the 3rd Finger headed for the Target, which gave us all a good laugh as he was clearly lost.

I ended up working out the 3rd Finger and Rob out around it in Jack’s. Meanwhile, Ken and Vince were (allegedly) working the 2nd Finger to our left and Robert was set up in the Big Saddle of the 2nd Finger.

Rob radioed that he kicked some tails up working his way around so I was on high alert. As we began to come around the point I happened to look up to my left and I saw a rack buck at under 60 yards. I pulled up my scope and tried to get steady. I thought I counted 3 on a side, but the deer continued to move. Unfortunately, I couldn’t tell if it was definitely legal before it spooked.

At this point Rob in I were pretty much in constant communication but we had yet to fetch a response from the rest of the guys. We decided to keep pushing out the 2nd Finger and Jack’s as we had already made it back that far.

Rob ended up busting another spike and two really nice bucks that he chased a while but never got a shot at. I tried to get in place but never laid eyes on the deer. We both worked to the point of the 2nd Finger and once again tried to contact the other hunters.

Finally, we got a response. Everyone was at the truck. AND Teagan had taken a nice 9 point that they were all admiring. Somehow, our plans got miscommunicated, and while Rob and I expected Ken, Robert and Vince to be moving with us, they were heading out of the woods.

Regardless, Rob and I decided we had better head for the truck to meet up with the group. Just like that, the much anticipated opening weekend had come to a close.

Now it is quite obvious that the lack of deer seen had little to do with the season opening on a Saturday rather than a Monday and probably more to do with a lot of other factors at play.

So as far as the Saturday opener goes, I guess I would say I am ambivalent. On one hand, I love the Pennsylvania tradition of spending the entire Thanksgiving weekend hanging out, eating good food, spending time with family and prepping for opening day Monday. That being said, I also enjoyed the added day in the woods Saturday and the added opportunities at deer that accompanied it.

While my preference on an opening day is one of mixed emotions, one thing I can guarantee is that regardless whether the season opens Saturday or Monday, I know I will be deep in the Alleghenies chasing whitetails.