Pennsylvania Rifle Season 2007

[justice4all]

I thought I'd let you all know how my season went, attach a photo, and review some of the gear I used.

Opening day was miserable, as it was cold, rainy, and so foggy you couldn't see more than 20 yards. I was in my new Skybox Deluxe ladder stand, 20 feet up, but rock-solid and comfortable behind the shooting rail. A couple of does came by, but I only had a buck tag, and the unit we hunt is three points or better on a side.

Tuesday was a little better; the fog had lifted, but otherwise the weather was the same. I was back in my stand, when this 8 point came trotting past my stand. He was to my left, giving me a nice broadside shot when I first saw him, but as I raised my rifle he turned directly toward me, and exposed nothing but his head and chest for me to shoot at. I quickly found him in my Leupold 2.5X scout scope. At that pont he was about 30 yards away, and I put a 160 grain Hornady Leverevolution 30-30 round from my Marlin 336 right in the middle of his brisket. He went maybe ten yards in the opposite direction, before dying within seconds.

I recovered a nicely mushroomed and largely intact bullet from near his hindquarters.

All in all, I am very pleased with the performance of the stand, the scope and XS mounting system, the rifle, and the round. I'm not a big fan of the PA antler restrictions because we don't shoot as many deer as we used to, but I have to admit, the ones we do kill are usually pretty nice.

 

[bdg146]

Congratulations on the nice looking deer. I tend to agree about the PA regs... not as many deer, but some of the buck killed are nicer than I ever thought I'd see in PA. Unfortunately, I've been skunked the past 7-8 years... haven't had a single shot at a buck. So I'm just admiring others' deer for now!

Where in PA were you? Quite an opening day, huh? I usually stay in my stand all day, but I was down by 10 am this year. No point it sitting in the middle of a fog blanket waiting for the deer that weren't moving anyway. Decided to walk around and see if I could chase anything around. Not much luck, but I did manage to chase a doe to my 13-year old cousin, which definitely made it worth it. He didn't want to take a doe on opening day, but at least I made his day a little more exciting. Hard to believe I didn't see a single deer in 2 days when seeing 20 deer a day was the norm 10 years ago. Things have certainly changed a bit in PA.

 

[Steve in PA]

Those that did get a buck usually got something very nice, however the pickin's were mighty slim out there in the woods. I was off for the week of bear season and the first week of deer season.......but only saw 3 deer.

 

[kmrcstintn]

good work!

I was on private land with plenty of deer around; heard a buck the first day; heard several does the 2nd and 4th days; saw nothing; friend got a large 7 pointer on the 5th day after bleat calling him in through thickets;

heard lots of activity at night near the cabin on Monday night (to include a deer being courted by a buck); I think I kicked something out near my stand in pitch dark while walking the trail; thought I saw 3 shadowy figures just before shooting times...again while too dark for a clean shot!

the depleted herds on public lands disapppointed several coworkers who ventured into the woods...bucks too small or lots of does without mature bucks...hopefully we'll get the numbers back up

 

[justice4all]

We hunt on family land in Oil City, unit 2F, Venango County. Our property borders the Allegheny River.

We saw a fair number of deer, but several in our group are non-residents--as you can see I came all the way from Colorado--so we mostly didn't have doe tags. If we had/when we do--it's been several years--our success rate is much better.

But every year we get at least one decent buck.

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

My cousin shot a nice 8 point up there. He lives in Wilkes-Barre and hunts a private mountain that's been in his family for generations. I went up there in 68, but it was too darn cold for my blood. They do have some huge deer though and some pretty good whiskey too.

 

[kmrcstintn]

351WIN...I am originally from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area of PA (born, raised, reared into early adulthood)...which "mountain" does he hunt? just curious... no matter anyhow, my father is living with me in the Hershey area and we won't be going back up there;

he has memories of when he lived in Wilkes-Barre Township and used to just drive up 'Giant's Despair' Road, pull off the side, walk in the woods and find a good spot; another area was the undeveloped coal silt banks and hilly country up near Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township at the foot of Bear Creek Mountain;

everywhere there is No Trespassing signs and spurts of houses here and there; seems that land is getting gobbled up and there is very few places to hunt in that area anymore;

we tried an area off of the Northeast Extension of the PA Turnpike a few years back and we must have seen between 15-20 hunters walking behind us along a powerline clearing; 2 of them even parked themselves on the edge within 100 yards of us...there was no way we would have seen or heard anything due to the movement, noise, and scent of hunters...the hunters behind us was complete breach of courtesy...they seen us and even waved at us; we had our backs to the clearing to avoid shooting into the woods on the other side of the clearing; these 2 jokers park within our area to shoot at any deer that would have been kicked out and coming across the clearing; plain ole rude and ignorant

I am so disgusted with trying to hunt after 3-4 fruitless years; it's even worse since I am approaching middle age and I got started very late since my dad worked so much and couldn't take me out as a kid/teenager; oh well...sorry about ranting...thanks y'all

 

[Rottweiler]

I agree with you guys about deer season in PA not being what it used to be. I've been going there hunting every year for the past...let's just say LONG time. I own a 65 acre tract in Westmoreland county. The past about 5 years have been terrible. This year was the worst. I saw a total of 11 deer in 2 full weeks of hunting. 1 buck, a spike,and he wasn't legal for the area I was in. 10 years ago I would consider it a BAD DAY if I saw less than 20 deer and 3-4 good shooter bucks.

I don't understand why that state changed their doe hunting policy to make the whole season a doe season. THEY DON'T HAVE ANY DEER LEFT.

I have sent letters to their fish and game department explaining that I dump into their local economy a couple thousand dollars (license, fuel, restaurant meals, groceries,beer, ect)each year to hunt on land that I own there. I have friends that also go there from other states and spend even bigger money than I do. That is all changing. I won't be going back to hunt there until the deer population is back up to the levels it was in the past. They have all said the same. By the way...we are looking for land in other states Iowa is looking pretty good, so are Michigan and West Virginia and Virginia. We won't spend a penny in New York until they get rid of their current senators.We've heard Ohio has some potential but don't want to be limited to shotguns

 

[zinj]

we are looking for land in other states Iowa is looking pretty good...
...We've heard Ohio has some potential but don't want to be limited to shotguns

Iowa is shotgun only too (except southern counties which have antlerless only seasons in January).

 

[kmrcstintn]

I can understand that moving from rifle to shotty isn't the best scenario, but with the advancements in the technology of slugging nowadays, the dismal days of shooting pumpkin balls while using a front bead can be overcome easily and quickly...

fully rifled barrels, high recoil resistant optics, polymer tipped sabot slug loads & other advancements in the sabot slug market...100 to 150 yards with practice and acclimation...heck, Mossberg even ports their barrels to cut the recoil for the shooter

heck, even muzzleloading is going high tech with 209 primer in-line ignition systems, quality optics, polymer tipped saboted loads, metallurgy to withstand 150 grain charges of synthetic powders...even here, the advancement in recoil pad technology will cut the felt recoil of the hardest hitting powder charges

 

[Orr89rocz]

nothing wrong with slugs. i use a slug gun in PA and not required to. My slug gun will make some pretty nice groups at 100 yards, on par with some of my rifles on occassion. recoil is higher but in the right gun it can be fun to shoot. my gun weighs 11 lbs now and its nice. Plus deer dont usually go far when hit by a nice modern sabot round

We had a good year this year. i shot a nice 9 point, my brother shot a nicer 9 point, and the other guy we hunt with shot a really nice 10 point. i only saw 3 deer the first day and one of those was the 9 point. Everyone else saw more deer

I agree tho, since the antler restrictions, we have been seeing more classier bucks. But not as many deer as we used to. depends on the area tho.

 

[bdg146]

I was all for the extended doe season and increased doe tags at first. We were seeing too many deer (if there is such a thing) before they did all of this. And it worked: bigger bucks, more suitable deer population. The problem is that the game commission is slow to (or maybe doesn't want to) react to the success of their own policies. They should've backed off on the number of doe tags and the length of the season after a couple years, but they've yet to change anything. I've never been much for conspiracy theories, but there are a ton out there. My personal opinion is that the game commission is enjoying the extra revenue from all the doe tags they've been selling, so why decrease the number available.

Of course, the game commission doesn't control what we hunters shoot. If only there was a way to tell everyone not to shoot as many doe this year...

 

[Rottweiler]

Zinj,

Thanks for the heads up on Iowa counties. I'll mention that to my buddies who are also looking fo new hunting grounds too

 

[MCgunner]

So, I'm thinkin', "What, they can't use cap locks, just flint lock Pennsylvania rifles?" LOL

Congrats! I ain't got one this year........yet. It ain't over 'til it's over.

 

[kmrcstintn]

PA got wise and has no restriction on muzzleloader type for early season (rutting time), but still has the flintlock only for the primitive days after Christmas

 

[Orr89rocz]

i think they should keep flintlock only and get rid of the inline muzzleloader stuff. Those new muzzleloaders are basically single shot rifles, so its like a new rifle season and kinda, even tho its only for doe. basically they made doe season open for a LONG period of time and i think they are killing way to many doe. Then again, i see alot of does and far less bucks, so maybe having more doe killed could be a good thing. But also, its probly an area thing since some areas have more deer than others. that muzzleloader season overlaps prime archery season too so thats not good for archers

i also dont like the Flintlock rules of one antlerless deer and an additional antlerless deer with each required antlerless license. basically a free doe tag if you didnt get a buck. one more reason to shoot more doe.

 

[T.R.]

That's a dandy buck you've taken.

I hunted in Beaver County opening day until about 10AM. The rain made it too miserable for any type of enjoyment. Current antler restrictions and liberal doe tags have many Pennsylvania hunters displeased with the boys in Harrisburg. But many bucks coming out of Beaver County seem to be bigger than ever before. I'm certain that the day is coming when western Pennsylvania will regularily produce P & Y entries!

Thanks for sharing your photo.
TR

 

[DropOut]

I won't say much besides I basically haven't seen anything and my anger towards the game burns commission hotter.

Actually, I haven't seen a deer in the woods for about four years now - no joke...And I live in Clearfield County, where EVERYONE hunts deer...

 

[justice4all]

DropOut, that sucks. I know it's hard to stay motivated when you don't see anything. I'm 0 for 4 hunting elk out here, and the last season I hunted sun up to sun down everyday of the five day season and didn't even see a single elk. Hunting is definitely a low odds sport for me.

 

[Orr89rocz]

just gotta find the good areas, but i used to hunt clearfield county and there was ALOT of pressure up there. My neighbors still hunt there and my dad used to hunt with them for YEARS. No wonder there aint any deer, there are too many being killed now period, and way to many ppl in the woods, deer constantly run into another gun. Back when i hunted it about 7-8 years ago, there was some deer there. i saw about 10 a day or so, depending.

my dad usually got a buck, nothing big but something to shoot at. Now i dont know what they are doing up there, I know my neighbor shot a doe this year and his nephew shot a nice buck. Thats about all i have heard from them in the last couple years.

I have to check the previous stats on how many deer were killed in that county each year. i know its up there. Its suprising tho, cuz allegheny and westmoreland counties are full of deer and usually boast the largest harvest each year. There is alot of pressure here too and still seems to grow deer each year

 

[kmrcstintn]

I read in one of the PA game or PA hunting periodicals that the forecast for southcentral states was basically 'fair-to-middlin' with little praise or little detraction; I was hoping to harvest one based that I was on private land and that the area sees very little disturbance...they were acting weird this year...only 1 guy got anything & that was a fluke due to a hormone driven buck that lost its sense of judgement and came in to his bleat calling hot & heavy (this was on the first Friday of the firearms season)

 

[XDKingslayer]

We hunt on family land in Oil City, unit 2F, Venango County. Our property borders the Allegheny River.

We saw a fair number of deer, but several in our group are non-residents--as you can see I came all the way from Colorado--so we mostly didn't have doe tags. If we had/when we do--it's been several years--our success rate is much better.

My brother got his 9 point that dressed at 205 just up the river from you between Warren and Oil City.

I'd like to see a picture of the recovered bullet if you don't mind. I've been wondering how those new lever action bullets perform.