4 INCHES OF NEW SNOW

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND SAFE NEW YEAR!!!!!!

I think we will be visiting the rifle range more often in 2010

A SNOWY DAY OF HUNTING

Only 3 of us headed out today. The drive to our hunting grounds was interesting and challenging. Heavy snow fell for most of the morning.

Expectations were not high when we finally arrived, but, when it comes to Whitetails, you never know.

Every drive produced deer, and more shots were fired.

The Whitetail have expanded there lead, and it is starting to look like a rout.

ARMSTRONG COUNTY WHITETAILS 15 (missed deer)

PA. FLINTLOCKERS 2 (harvested deer)

We are taking tomorrow off, and will give it another go on Saturday.

(click on pics to enlarge)

BLAST FROM THE PAST

We all went out again today with the firesticks. The temp. starting out was a brisk 9 degrees, and finished at a balmy 23 degrees

(click on pics to enlarge)

SLIP SLIDING AWAY

We started our regular routine of 1 man drives. All drives were successful (to an extent) with someone seeing deer and shots being fired.

Here is a pic of Butch sliding down a steep grade in which he managed to keep his feet under him, barely.

STEEP TERRAIN

Some of the areas we hunt do pose a problem. Steep grades and frozen ground make it a challenge.

CLIMBING OUT

There was plenty of deer sign and Butch ended up scoring on a doe as they fed towards him while he waited to start another drive. This is the 2nd deer we harvested this Flintlock season.

BUTCH'S DOE

DAYS END

Nothing finishes a day better than some kind of fish product in a can, soaked in hot sauce and mustard, and spread on a cracker. UMMM UMMM GOOD!

So far this season, the Deer are winning the Game.

ARMSTRONG COUNTY WHITETAILS 13 (missed shots)

PA. FLINTLOCKERS 2 (harvested deer)

FLINTLOCK SEASON

Flintlock Season has finally arrived, and we have 2 weeks to fill our unused deer tags.

(click on pics to enlarge)

COLD AND SNOWY

Snowy, cold, and windy conditions greeted us today. 19 degrees for a high with heavy wind gusts. Pretty much a typical Flintlock Season here in Pa.

The day started out slow with only a few deer spotted, but plenty of deer sign.

DEER DRIVE

We saw no other hunters in the woods to get the deer moving so Joe and Butch took turns trying to roust them out.

END OF THE DAY

Joe M. Kurt P. Steve M.(cuz) and Butch P.

It turned out to be a very good day for the hunters and the deer. After a slow start we ended up seeing over 40 deer and 3 shots were fired. Not a deer hair was shed!!

MORE PICS OF BUTCH'S BUCK

Hi all, here are a couple more pics of Butch's archery buck.
The spread and length of tines are impressive!

CONGRATULATIONS JOE !!

Good job guys!!

Congratulations Joe on his taking of a nice 7 pt.

It took Joe and his son a 1/2 day to get the buck back to the truck.

They are a couple of jackasses!! (i mean that in a good way)

(just a reminder, click on pics to enlarge)

JOE M. BUCK

JOE M. and STEVE J.

Joe and Steve sharing memories and a Labatts Blue at our meat pole.They also shared a couple V.O. golds as they skinned Joe's deer.

BROKEN HORN BUCK

conse Steve J. of Broken Horn Camp harvested an exceptional 10 pt. behind camp the 2nd day of the season. It is the 3rd consecutive buck that he has harvested from his stand. Good job Steve!

THAT'S A WALL HANGER!!!

STILL WAITING

Here I am in my tree stand while Joe and his boy were putting on a drive.

A shooter buck ran (flew) past me at 7:30 a.m. the 1st day, made a U-turn, and headed back from where he came I didn't even have time to react! During the rest of the day, I only saw 1 other deer.

BEAR SEASON

Myself, Mark H. Joe M. young Joe M. and Doug A.

(missing from pic, Eric, our photog)

Here is our Bear hunting crew before a scouting mission. Plenty of bear sign was found and a good day was anticipated by all. The weather was perfect for the opener, but we had no luck. Young Joe did catch a glimpse of a decent sized bear twice in a laurel thicket, but had no time to get off a shot. As far as we know, 3 bear were harvested in the area we were hunting.

Oh well, Better Luck Next Year!

OUR NEW FRIEND

We welcomed a new visitor to our bear hunting camp. A Lebanese friend of ours. Maarkiababada Harbabadi.

He enjoyed the time in the woods and said, " the Ticks reminded him of the Sand fleas in his homeland". He left early from camp saying he had other matters to attend to.

NICE 1 BOB !

Congratulations to Bob W. on his 8 pt. harvested at Crane Naval Base in Kentucky.

Bob currently lives in the State of Indiana, (but raised in Pa.). He and his brother Butch are frequent guests at camp, and great Trout Fisherman, specializing in fishing on smaller trout streams. Bob applied for a lottery license on the base and was lucky enough to score.

GOOD JOB BOB!!!

CONGRATS!!!!!

Congratulation's are in order for Butch P. He harvested a buck of a life time the next to last day of the Archery Season. An 8pt. with a 20+ inch spread. He earned it!! Butch only missed 5 days the entire archery season, and that was due to work obligations.

He has been scouting this buck, and others, since the summer. His hard work has paid off! The 8pt. met his demise 10 minutes before our legal hunting hours ended. The buck traveled 200 yards and ended up 30 yards from where he took the shot.(more pics will be posted) By the way, there is a larger buck roaming in the area.

GOOD JOB BUTCH!!!!

YOUNG DOE

Joe and I headed back out today, our 4Th consecutive day of archery hunting. It was a perfect day. Temps in the lower 60s with a cold front and rain moving in.

We reached our stands, and before long, deer were active. Here are a few pics of today's action. No buck as you can see, but we are still hopeful. The season closes this coming Saturday. There is still time.

No matter what, it has been a very enjoyable time in the outdoors with good friends.

Just a reminder. click on pics to enlarge (maybe?)

GOTCHA!!!

No, she didn't see me. I am convinced that the flash from a camera does not effect a deer in any way. I have taken a few pics of deer and the flash has absolutely no effect on their behavior.

1 LUCKY DOE

1 lucky doe here. If that deer was one year older, she would be heading to the freezer. She was completely unaware of my presence.

ARCHERY HUNTING

Headed out with Joe M. today to do some archery hunting. We parked at another good friends house (Butch P.) and all 3 of us headed out. Not much action this evening but I did see another 4 pt. that hung around for about 10 minutes. That was all she wrote for the evening. If I could combine the last 2 buck I've seen into 1, my buck hunting would be over for the year. I have been seeing deer everyday I have been out for the last week and a half. No signs of rutting buck though.

CLICK ON PICS TO ENLARGE

I almost talked myself out of archery hunting today. The PENN STATE, Mich. game , on the tube, was tempting me. I fought the urge to watch and headed out. Within 10 min. of reaching my stand and settling in, a small buck appeared out of nowhere. It fed around me from 4:30 to
5:05. He was a small 4 pt. that never new I was there. After enjoying supper, he bedded down 1 tree to the left of me at 15 yards. For the next 2 hours, I could barely move. Around 5:45 a doe and her fawn showed up and were directly below my stand. They hung around and fed until 6:00 The whole time the buck never moved from its bed!! Finally, at 6:10, the 4 pt. rose, fed a while, and moved off. All this time I never picked up my bow! WHAT A GREAT EVENING IN THE STAND!! ( my apology for the pics quality)

BYE BYE 4 PT.

CAMP IN OCTOBER

JOE K. Headed to camp this weekend. I was going to stay home, but, earlier in the week, a good friend of mine Joe K. asked if I was interested. I'm glad he did!!

We decided to do some trout fishing, mushroom picking, and observe some fall foliage.

We arrived Thursday evening with camp in fine shape. After unpacking, we threw back a couple of beers and watched the Pens beat up on the Flyer's.

A great start to the weekend!

KINZUA TROUT 1st cast

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we headed to Kinzua Cr. for some trout fishing. My 1st and 2nd casts yielded 2 nice Rainbows and Joe missed 2.

CAST 2

I don't know what happened after that? The creek went dead. Not even a bump. I did manage to land the largest fish of the weekend about 2 hrs later, but that was all for the day.

We headed to another area to search for some wild mushrooms. There were plenty of mushrooms, but not what we were looking for.
After heading back to camp for some lunch my cousin Ray dropped in for a visit. He came bearing gifts (a case of Genny) Did I mention that Ray is my favorite cousin? Well he is now. After a couple of laughs he left for the Sportsman's camp in Kane.

Joe and I ended up doing yard work and put in a raised garden bed for garlic and onions.

Saturday we headed to the river, parked at Costa's, but we were surprised by the major construction going on in the river. Not a good sign. We drove to the bridge above the covered bridge(we have to come up with a name) and I landed 2 Brownies down stream.

ALLEGHENY BROWNS

The wind and rain chased us off the river and we headed back to camp enjoying the changing leaves.

FALL FOLIAGE

After some lunch, Joe headed behind camp to fish while I watched the Penn State game.

Joe had no success until he reached the bridge. From there to the Colored camp he landed 4 0r 5 and lost a few more. 1 nice carry over Brown. All in the slow water.

We had Pittsburgh steaks for supper and watched the Pens beat the leafs .

All and all a great weekend.

Grandma is indeed wise but is not seen often. You might miss her but the Betula buzzards are always seen after she has appearred.

Grandma Fricke

I have never met her, but, I heard that she is a very wise woman, and has passed her wisdom to others. She can not take the cold weather in the great white north, but is managing well.

Another great friend

We met in the 7th grade, and have been best friends ever since. The best hunter I have ever been in the woods with.

My mom always said "you are lucky to have 1 good friend in your life" I have been blessed with more then that

Another great friend

Typical day of trout fishing for this guy. Hard worker, hard fisherman, GREAT COOK!!

My partner

Big brookie, big man, big heart, great friend

BIG BROWNIE

This is the most memorable fish I ever caught. A beautiful cool crisp fall day.

WEATHER CHANGE IN THE GREAT WHITE NORTH

Hi all, here is my 1st post and a pic of our newest addition(thanks to you know who).

As the hunting season approaches I will update when possible. I probably will upload

some PICS FROM THE PAST!!!!!