Pennsylvania Game News - February 2010 - 4

retired in February 1990 and was replaced by the current editor, Robert “Mitch” Mitchell. Bob was born on December 2, 1925, in Danville, Pennsylvania, the only child of Robert M. Bell and Mary Elizabeth Buckley Bell. He always had an interest in writing, and while in high school, Bob began his writing career by penning an article on different types of sleeping bags. The article, which was submitted to a national magazine, was written with a fountain pen on plain paper. Bob received a check for five dollars when the article appeared in print. He couldn’t believe that people actually got paid for putting words on paper. Anyone who knows Bob knows that he’s a gun enthusiast, and this was evident even at a young age. When Bob was four, his dad gave him a Daisy BB gun. When the two went out shooting, his dad had to cock the gun for him. Bob and his dad shared many good times with the BB gun, and it led to many more birthday guns. On his sixth birthday, he was given a Crossman pellet gun, and at age 11, he received a Winchester M72 bolt action .22 rifle. Later, a Weaver 2½ power scope was put on the .22. Although Bob has owned and sold hundreds of guns throughout his life, he still has the Winchester .22, with the same scope. At age 12 Bob began looking at bigger guns and got his heart set on a M94 Winchester .3030 caliber rifle. The gun, BOB enjoyed hunting just about everything, but pheasants were high on the list. He’s shown here admiring a long-tailed rooster, while CHUCK FERGUS, left, and WES BOWER look on. though, sold for $27.50, and Bob had no way of raising the money. He could only dream. Then an older cousin who was building a house made a proposal Bob couldn’t refuse. If Bob helped out during the summer, his cousin would purchase the gun for him. Bob jumped at the chance and worked six days a week all summer long. As fall approached, the cousin was true to his word and bought Bob a gun; however, the gun was a .32 Special. Bob was thrilled with the rifle and didn‘t care that it wasn’t the .30-30 he had dreamed of owning. Bob later figured out that he had worked that summer for about a nickel an hour. When Bob graduated from high school, in 1943, his dad presented him with a .348 Winchester. Bob could hardly wait for deer season, but as it turned out, he had to wait several years because WWII postponed his plans. He was only 17 when he enlisted in the Army, and like all young men, he wanted to get in on the fighting. When he scored well on a test, however, the army assigned him to an Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) and he was sent to Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon) in Pittsburgh. Bob didn’t like the school or being in the city, and after one semester, he asked the CO if he could transfer to another unit. The CO said that it could be arranged, but that Bob would have to go to basic training GAME NEWS

Pennsylvania Game News - February 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - February 2010