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Thoughts On Another Deer Season

572 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  PrairieHunt 
#1 · (Edited)
On a mountain in eastern Pennsylvania, there once was a high voltage power line that ran over the mountain, through the valley and up over another mountain, on and on and on................That was the tower line that I would follow to my deer stand, which was about 100 yards down a deer trail off this "right-of-way."
But those monsterous towers are long gone, and the brush and trees that the power company would keep trimmed are now beginning to grow thick where the towers once stood. You can still make out the concrete bases and some cables that are strewn about, but the power company cut them down and abandoned that line years ago. If you look from one mountain to the other, or stand in the valley and gaze up towards the top of the mountain, you can still make out a slight gap in the tree line where the towers cut through the timber.

Back in 1969, when I first hunted that mountain, the electric lines hummed with 66,000 volt current as I passed them in the dark on the way to my stand. It was a bit easier walking back then, I was 46 years younger. And instead of using a headlamp, I carried a flashlight to light my way down a deer trail that has been used for probably a hundred years. For all the years that I have hunted that corner of the woods, I have walked the same deer trails, seen droppings and an occasional rub or scrape. There are never any new trails, just the same ones that have run forever, from the fields, through the swamp and laurels and up through the hardwoods and pine and little stands of white birch and go up the mountain to where it flattens out to a plateau where thousands of scrub oak grow. If one was not familiar with the territory, it would be easy to get disoriented and lost up there. I have built 3 or 4 tree stands through the years, it's private property. On one occasion I fell the last 6 feet getting out of one because I wanted to get to a downed deer which I had shot. Definitely not a smart move. I have taken my share of deer there, some buck, some doe. I have sat in the quiet darkness before the shooting hour and listened to the dogs barking on the neighboring farm in the distance. And I have strained to see deer rustling in the leaves as they passed by my stand in the time just before it is light enough to shoot. And then there have been times, in early morning light, that I heard them coming, slow and steady, up through the dry leaves and my heart beat hard with anticipation until I saw the first one poke it's head through the trees. And I'd say to myself, "don't screw this up." Sometimes I hit and sometimes I missed. I shot my nicest buck from that tree stand. A nine pointer that was was chasing a doe at 6:55AM in 1973. It dressed out at 136 pounds which is about average for a deer in that part of the country. There have been nice days and poor days, excellent days of overcast skies with a light snow falling and horrible days of rain and wind. Many memories, many deer stories, many days with friends and hunters. The ones that I was closest to are all dead now, save one, and he is 13 years older than myself and has long given up the hunt. My dad was one of those hunters, he passed away in 1988. Sometimes I still walk past what is left of his old deer stand and look up. I learned a lot from those guys. I have used a Winchester model 94 .32 Winchester Special, Remington 760 Gamemaster .30-06 and a Marlin 1894 .44 Magnum, the ones with the JM stamps. I used to gut deer with my bare hands but somewhere along the line I became allergic to deer blood and I break out in hives so now I wear those plastic gutting gloves that come half way up your arms.

So now, as I anticipate another season, I have to decide which rifle to take and go over my check list as to what to pack. In all reality, I don't think I need a check list anymore. So, in about 6 weeks we'll pack up and head north. This gives me a little range time with the rifle and scope of my choice. Heck, maybe two! It's good to get away to see some friends on the farm that I usually see only once a year. And it's good to sit in that corner of the woods and think. And now I am thinking of how hard it is to get up that mountain, which is really not that steep, to my favorite spot, all in one hike before light. (It is about a half hour walk) Now I usually find a spot down by a stream and hunt there until around 10:00AM and then slowly make my way up the mountain. There aren't as many deer in this part of the state as there used to be, but that is another whole story. But those woods, those trails, that swamp and stream is there, and so are the memories, so I will keep going there as long as I can "get up and go." I have a comfortable folding chair that would sit up just nicely against a tree across the field from the barn.............

It happens, it's exciting and it's soon time to go again.
 
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#2 ·
Thanks...nice story.
I have never deer hunted. I am motivated to hunt them because we have so many here. I see too much road kill. I remember about ten years ago. Fish and Game had to shoot 270 of them. Too many in town. Run over on a busy street in the middle of town. Watch the cops dispatch one that was suffering in front of everybody. Sad.
Back then, I remember repeatedly seeing a 13 pointer in a suburban front yard. That was maybe(?) a mile from the forest. He sure liked that guys front yard. See him at about 4am. When driving a taxi.
I could hire a 'guide' to find me a big buck. Not hard to get a 12 pointer or more. Just hard finding them. Pay the guy who spends his time keeping tabs on these critters.
Got a customer who told me he'd show me how he cleans them. He'll let me know this year. I can go over to his house and watch.
I got motivation to deer hunt. Don't have a freezer yet. Not practiced with my rifle yet. Don't have 'the' load worked up yet. So I'll see. Someday...
 
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