[Mr. October]

I'll never "get" the PA bear hunting mentality of shooting cubs.

 

[LetThemGrow]

I'll never "get" the PA bear hunting mentality of shooting cubs.

Same as shooting yearling bucks…I have a license that entitles me to “X” and I’m gonna shoot it.

 

[perryhunter4]

I was getting settled in my Summit in an oversized shag-bark hickory tree for an evening hint. Climbing a shag bark hickory with any cable style climber is quite a chore, but this was THE spot. I was climbing with my chest harness attached but because the tree was so large I barely had about an 1-2” of spare belt laced through the chest buckle. I reached my hunting height of about 20’ and was try to turn my summit for a better vantage point on the trail. As I did that somehow the cable on the climber plopped out of the channel. That jolt sent me scrambling and I reached for the tether between me and the tree…as I did that the small 1-2” of spare strap popped through the buckle and I was on my way down.

I always try to climb trees with other saplings nearby, primarily for cover when I get to my hunting height. Realizing this was it, I literally jumped like Tarzan from my platform and grabbed onto one of the saplings. It started to bend under my weight and slowed the fall considerably until it finally broke dripping me about 12-15 feet to the ground.

I shatter my heel and ankle in my right leg. Underwent surgery two weeks after the fall as and had a series of screws and plates installed…5-months of therapy and a second surgery in May to remove the metal screws in favor of screws made of bone because my body wasn’t accepting the metal screws…let moving and getting infected.

My happened to be with me that night which is usually a rarity when I am hunting local. I called him once I composed myself and he helped me out of the woods and to the hospital that night. No doubt, prey scary for him getting that call…

All-in-all I was VERY lucky…had I fallen freely from the original height things would have likely been much different. If I had my feet under the bungee strap in the stirrups things would have likely been much different.

The day after the fall…

Two of the many images after the initial surgery….

Wow….never knew that. Good thing you had somebody with you.

 

[perryhunter4]

Caught a dozen or so bass this morn but most were lacking in size.
Nothing like catching a fish on your first cast of the day though...and it being a walleye to boot! Caught 6 more of them within the first hour.

That’s a good day in the river. Walleye is my favorite fish to eat out of river for sure!
We were out Friday night after flatheads. Caught a 25#’er in deeper water that put up a fight and great run. Biggest one to date for me this far. Can’t wait til the day we hook into one of those 40#’ers.


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[Gene94]

I can’t even begin to count/think about how many cool pics and vids we have gotten over the years. Pop has one where the bear literally figured out how to take down the feeder we had hanging 15’ in the air, suspended between two trees…maybe he’ll share it.

This is one of my favorites….look closely you’ll see one cub sitting in one of our old original wooden stands and you’ll see a 29’ ladder stand in the background. This spot has been a top spot for catching big buck on film, but we have to yet to knock a good one down at this location.

You can see momma is no stranger to the Commission, both ears are tagged. Unfortunately we believe guys I the neighboring lease took her and two of those cubs that fall.

That bear video and the pictures are cool I haven't got any on camera yet this year. Normally do at some point though.

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[Gene94]

Finally some of the good bucks started showing up this past week. The Reveal X did it's job perfectly.

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[AjPUNISHER]

That’s a good day in the river. Walleye is my favorite fish to eat out of river for sure!
We were out Friday night after flatheads. Caught a 25#’er in deeper water that put up a fight and great run. Biggest one to date for me this far. Can’t wait til the day we hook into one of those 40#’ers.

I have not as of yet ever eaten a fish I caught from the river and didn't start keeping fish from it till 1999...after meeting the now 95 yr old young lady who was also fishing. River was very low that year but you could catch a fish on practically every helgrammite you threw out there and sometimes 2-3 fish on the same helgrammite. One outing, I had 2 poles out and was fighting a big carp on one pole when the drag on the other pole started screaming. She picked up that pole and brought in a 21" smallmouth on it. The good ol' days!
I kept fish for her and her now deceased husband ever since then and she's become more like another family member then friend over the years. Her last fishing trip was when she was 88, I had hoped it would be a good outing but unfortunately not much was biting that day. She says she doesn't miss fishing but I know she's fibbing.

The 7 walleye made it a pretty decent morning yesterday. I also had a rainbow trout on for a bit, but unfortunately it got off practically right in front of me. Was a beautifully colored trout and pretty chunky too...doubt I would have kept it but would have definitely gotten a pic of it. I ended up wading out up to above my waist to fish for a while before I quit...it felt pretty good in the heat but I didn't stay cooled off for long after I got out!

Don't recall if you said what you use for bait before but flatheads like sunfish and bluegill quite a bit. Biggest flathead I ever caught was 44"s and went just over 41lbs, caught on a bluegill.
My branch of the susky holds mainly channel cats (as I've never caught any other from it) but I've caught a few in the 30's and 1 in the 40's. I've used rancid stuff, gobs of nightcrawlers, the biggest crayfish I could find (don't know if it made a difference but I sometimes painted part of their back white), fresh chicken fat (that you could throw a country mile without it coming off the hook) and then chunked/live chubs I caught in nearby streams, which were hands down the best bait I ever used. Only problem I had with live chubs was before I started using steel leaders. Once in a while the drag would start burning, you'd attempt to set the hook but the whole "rig" was already bitten off by a musky.

 

[BGM51]

No giants but a nice batchelor group .

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[Gene94]

No giants but a nice batchelor group .

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Nice...I'm pumped for the season.

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[Gene94]

Also caught this big bobcat prowling the lane yesterday and during the night!

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[BGM51]

Party Time

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[perryhunter4]

Also caught this big bobcat prowling the lane yesterday and during the night! View attachment 7424340

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That’s a big cat…looks like he’s been eating good!

 

[Gene94]

That’s a big cat…looks like he’s been eating good!

Yup I was planning to do my best to tag another one last year (I trapped one in 2019) but unbeknownst to me, once the season starts they stop selling tags, just like bear and bonus turkey tags. I got in 1 day late to buy my tag and that is that. No bobcat tag for me last year. Won't happen again

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[Billy H]

I'll never "get" the PA bear hunting mentality of shooting cubs.

A coworker shot a small cub a couple years ago. He was so proud of it ,, was kinda awkward to congratulate him.

 

[nicko]

Considering the fact that a lot of bears every year in Pennsylvania are taken on big drives, I would have to assume that the action and shooting is pretty fast/not a lot of time to size things up/seeing a black mass moving quickly in thick cover and having to make a quick decision.

 

[davydtune]

I guess it could be argued that yearling cubs should be killed if the mother is killed since they could easily die without mom during the winter. Still not my thing at all and is why I do not drive bears. I want to look at them real good to make sure it's a bear I want and that is hard to do when they are cooking it Really don't get the bragging part................I wouldn't want anyone to know if I shot a cub 😌

 

[davydtune]

Also if one where to look at it from strictly a "predator control" standpoint then age makes no difference.

 

[jlh42581]

I have no interest in killing one on a drive, a deer either. Almost every year in archery season I have a shot at one... It's always when they're not in season. Always said if they offered a concurrent archery tag I'd buy it and I have every year since. One day the stars will align.

 

[davydtune]

I do get in on some deer drives during flintlock season but when I say drives it's usually like 3 or 4 of us at the most, lol! More like nudging deer Isn't like we can hit them anyway well unless they are with in like 20 yards it seems, lol! Damn flintchlocks 😁

 

[vonfoust]

I do get in on some deer drives during flintlock season but when I say drives it's usually like 3 or 4 of us at the most, lol! More like nudging deer Isn't like we can hit them anyway well unless they are with in like 20 yards it seems, lol! Damn flintchlocks 😁

I've missed at less than 20 yds with a flintlock.