Pennsylvania Game News - August 2019 - 18

I in shape? I'd only been to the elk range
once in my life, and that was a visit to
Benezette! But I was all in.
When I returned from the beach, nine
lifelong hunters met me in Slippery Rock.
We sorted out where I could stay: the
Musketeer Camp in Austin. Some had
elk-hunting knowledge, others agreed to
scout and seek landowner permission with
me. I got tips on backpacking, even found
a friend who wanted to tan the hide.
Family reminded me to do it the way
I was taught: permission, preparation and
pursuit. So, we traveled to Cameron and
Elk counties and scouted seven of the next
eight weekends in places like, Top of the
World, Mix Run and Bennett Branch.
We found tracks, scat and big rubs in
two of three areas, but I thought there
would be more. We saw many fine elk.
Over those weekends, I acquired permission from 10 landowners and learned
about more areas and zone boundaries
from Game Commission employees and
a friendly guide, who offered his services,
but admitted after meeting my team I
should do fine on my own.
Harry Calithan, a friend at Butler Hunting and Fishing Club stressed the importance of hunting first with my own rifle.
"A .270 is small, but you know it best,"
Harry offered.
Opening day drew near, and my comical debriefings at the fireplace every night
were mainstays. To bed by 9 p.m. and up
at 4:20 a.m. We stockpiled supplies, filled
propane tanks and piled in a face cord of
split oak. The buildup was every bit exciting as the hunt itself.
I had orders from my wife to get help
while hunting. Jerry, my youngest son,
came home from school for the first two
days, then his brother Johnny came in for
days three and four. They both were glad
18

to be along. Their only duty: make sure I
came home in one piece.
We got to camp on Saturday and
hopes were high, until we scouted around
Driftwood. The elk we saw on earlier
trips weren't around. Locals said this was
common, that they would return to normal
feeding areas the week of the hunt.
I hoped they were right.

Hunting Hard

We jammed to Steely Dan on the
50-minute drive to a very productive
field in the southeast corner of Zone 9. I
set up and watched the field until about
20 minutes after dawn. Then, Jerry and
I climbed the mountain, in slow rain, but
found no elk.
Walking northeast to check some other
scouted sites, we met a hunter named Pat.
His guide seemed disappointed, maybe
because we not only beat them up that
mountain, but had checked it all and were
headed back down.
It would become a common theme.
Jerry and I checked two other spots on
the south edge of Zone 9, both of them
private and one quite high with a grassand-clover food plot. But with nothing
there, we made the steep climb back to
the truck.
Driving east, we came upon a silverhaired man in a small pickup headed
toward us. He turned out to be the last
landowner I wanted to meet.
We soon found we had much in
common. He asked us to come down to
his place and eventually gave me written permission to hunt his property for
the week of elk season.
He even pointed out
the best spots!
Thanks Jess!
We left to

Pennsylvania Game News - August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - August 2019