Daryl Crawford
50 Cal.
Yesterday was a good day.
Some of you know that my father in law, Buck, succumbed to Covid last May. He went quickly. He and I used to hunt the late season (muzzleloader season here in PA) at a hunting club we both belong to in Pike County. The last two years he did not, due to declining health.
I inherited his .54 T/C. It has some wear, some dings, and needed a little attention but it sure can shoot. Buck took quite a few deer with that muzzleloader. I took it out on the range on Monday just to make sure of sight picture and load. I wanted to hunt with Buck's gun this year.
I only had limited time to hunt this week and had responsibilities around home with my mother in law and family, so a trip up to Pike County was out. I decided to hunt a game land near my house. It is highly pressured during the rifle season and sees quite a few hunters in the late season, at least when the weather is good.
I've hunted the ground in previous years so I knew of some promising locations. I squirrel hunted this fall and new where some bedding areas were, where water was, and where food was. Generally, the deer seem to bed on the southern slope in the day and move down to fields to feed at night, at least in late December and January.
On Tuesday we had a skim coating of snow and my truck was the only vehicle in the parking lot. I hunted in on the logging road, cut some track and followed it up the side of the mountain. I was following 4 sets of hoof prints. They led up to one water hole and bedding area that I expected to hunt. I saw a tail as I still hunted up the slope. I ended up setting in some brush 40 yards from the water. Nothing came by and I had to cut my hunt short to help my mother in law. On my way out, the lot was full of vehicles.
Wednesday morning saw me pull in the same parking lot and it was empty. I decided to hunt the base of the mountain on a whim. I set up in a deadfall and hung a bit of camo material on one side. I saw movement early to my front right, but the light wasn't all the way up and the woods were dense so I couldn't be sure of what I was seeing. After a couple hours I decided to take a quick scout to find an afternoon spot. In hopes of catching them as they staged in thick cover near the bottom, I crept into a dense thicket and found a deer superhighway. Mutiple trails converged and split in this dense area of brush and saplings. I found a small clearing in the center and an area off to the side I could tuck into. I'd have limited visibility in 3 directions so the deer could sneak up on me, but I liked my odds. I backed out, grabbed some lunch, then snuck in by 1:30 to wait for the deer to move through. I expected them to come through at last light.
At 3:45 I was startled by 2 small doe who appeared out of the brush to my front right. I couldn't move because they were 10 yards from me. They started nosing around on the ground which gave me time to slowly bring the gun up. One startled and bounded a few yards away and the other followed. I used that time to finish shouldering Buck's rifle. When the larger of the 2 doe stopped at 35 yards down the one trail I actually had visibility on and turned broadside, I touched it off. She dropped on the spot. Buck's rifle sounded off in the Pennsylvania woods again. Just a small doe, not a trophy to most, but significant to me.
I'll remember this hunt for a long time. It was like Buck was hunting the woods with me.
Some of you know that my father in law, Buck, succumbed to Covid last May. He went quickly. He and I used to hunt the late season (muzzleloader season here in PA) at a hunting club we both belong to in Pike County. The last two years he did not, due to declining health.
I inherited his .54 T/C. It has some wear, some dings, and needed a little attention but it sure can shoot. Buck took quite a few deer with that muzzleloader. I took it out on the range on Monday just to make sure of sight picture and load. I wanted to hunt with Buck's gun this year.
I only had limited time to hunt this week and had responsibilities around home with my mother in law and family, so a trip up to Pike County was out. I decided to hunt a game land near my house. It is highly pressured during the rifle season and sees quite a few hunters in the late season, at least when the weather is good.
I've hunted the ground in previous years so I knew of some promising locations. I squirrel hunted this fall and new where some bedding areas were, where water was, and where food was. Generally, the deer seem to bed on the southern slope in the day and move down to fields to feed at night, at least in late December and January.
On Tuesday we had a skim coating of snow and my truck was the only vehicle in the parking lot. I hunted in on the logging road, cut some track and followed it up the side of the mountain. I was following 4 sets of hoof prints. They led up to one water hole and bedding area that I expected to hunt. I saw a tail as I still hunted up the slope. I ended up setting in some brush 40 yards from the water. Nothing came by and I had to cut my hunt short to help my mother in law. On my way out, the lot was full of vehicles.
Wednesday morning saw me pull in the same parking lot and it was empty. I decided to hunt the base of the mountain on a whim. I set up in a deadfall and hung a bit of camo material on one side. I saw movement early to my front right, but the light wasn't all the way up and the woods were dense so I couldn't be sure of what I was seeing. After a couple hours I decided to take a quick scout to find an afternoon spot. In hopes of catching them as they staged in thick cover near the bottom, I crept into a dense thicket and found a deer superhighway. Mutiple trails converged and split in this dense area of brush and saplings. I found a small clearing in the center and an area off to the side I could tuck into. I'd have limited visibility in 3 directions so the deer could sneak up on me, but I liked my odds. I backed out, grabbed some lunch, then snuck in by 1:30 to wait for the deer to move through. I expected them to come through at last light.
At 3:45 I was startled by 2 small doe who appeared out of the brush to my front right. I couldn't move because they were 10 yards from me. They started nosing around on the ground which gave me time to slowly bring the gun up. One startled and bounded a few yards away and the other followed. I used that time to finish shouldering Buck's rifle. When the larger of the 2 doe stopped at 35 yards down the one trail I actually had visibility on and turned broadside, I touched it off. She dropped on the spot. Buck's rifle sounded off in the Pennsylvania woods again. Just a small doe, not a trophy to most, but significant to me.
I'll remember this hunt for a long time. It was like Buck was hunting the woods with me.
