Pennsylvania Game News - November 2019 - 39

coincidence that many dedicated black
bear hunters or members of a bear gang
that drive the thickets also are successful
deer hunters.

LIKE CLOCKWORK
If there's one tenet of deer hunting carved in stone, it's that a deer can
appear at any moment, any time of day.
However, there are certain times that are
especially productive. Because I'm far
back in and on stand early, the first prime
slot is between 7 and 8:30 a.m., when
deer pushed by hunters first arrive at my
thicket. It may be earlier or later for you
depending on where you hunt.
Next, those hunters who are
meeting for lunch at their
vehicles or heading back
to camp for a bite to eat
stir up those deer that have
lingered on their way to
deep cover. Be especially
watchful between 11 a.m.
and noon. Several seasons
ago, I had more than two
dozen deer in singles and
small groups slip into my
thicket from three different directions during
the lunch-hour rush. A
nice gray buck with his
tail clamped down tight,
pushed by the lunchtime
crowd, fell to my .45-70
as he was hustling into the
grapevine tangles.
As hunters filter back
in after lunch, or decide
to spend the afternoon
roaming around, they stir
things up again, so be alert.
Toward day's end, it's more
of the same, as hunters call
it quits. Prime time begins
NOVEMBER 2019

around 3:30 p.m., and that last hour or
so can be doubly good, not only for deer
moving into cover, but for deer moving
back out into the woods.
Since you're going to be sitting tight
all day in or near dense cover, a small
hunter's stool with a quiet swivel seat is
a handy item. It keeps your profile low
and allows you to adjust your shooting
position easily with just a slight turn for
deer coming in from different directions.
Even in the depths of a thicket, a good
pair of small binoculars is invaluable.
Deer can be hard to pick out of a busy,
brushy background when there is no
snow. A good optic makes it easier to
locate parts of a deer: an ear, a muzzle, a
horizontal back.
Binoculars also make it easier to determine if a buck's rack is legal, which can
be difficult against a backdrop of tine-like
branches. A pair of small, light 6X35 or
8X32 binoculars are best. Compact 8x20s
are OK, but have a narrow field of view.
The big, heavy 10x42s or 12x50s are
meant for glassing across canyons.

BRUSH-GUN THOUGHTS
Today, a brush gun is not defined by
the cartridge it is chambered for, but by
the gun's configuration. A fast-handling,
short-barreled rifle with a compact,
low-powered optic is ideal. In another
era, lever- and pump-actions were synonymous with the brush-gun concept.
But I'm not particular about the type of
action I use, being as satisfied with my
single-shot Ruger No.1 in .45-70 as I am
with my Remington 7600 pump in .257
Roberts and a full clip.
Placing a slug through a window in
deep cover requires precise aiming, not
slamming a string of hasty shots at a running deer.
My favorite group of cartridges are the
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