Pennsylvania Game News - December 2019 - 22

The Letters by Miles Norman is a series
appearing periodically in Game News. Through
this correspondence between Miles and his
older brother Les, who lived out-of-state at
the time, a genuine love and appreciation of
the Pennsylvania outdoors is shared, and the
lost art of letter writing is celebrated.

sound as natural either.
So, you stop and wait a few minutes
to let the woods, and your nerves, calm
down. Only a few feet away, a tiny bird
starts typewriter pecking on a tree, which
doesn't help any.
While you're waiting, you realize that
when you brought your foot down out of
reflex, it was your right foot, and it was
forward. A right-handed person can't
possibly shoot that way. From now on all
your steps have to be led by your left foot.
As you near the tangled brush, you
have to be ever aware of making any
noise, and twice as slow, and twice the
watching and waiting.
It's been 45 minutes, and now you
are on the fringe of the brush. All of a
sudden, there is a rustle of leaves and
you spin around, only to find a few oak
leaves hanging from a branch rattled by
a gust of wind.
Now, you are in the center of the
tangle and you have given up. You are in
the middle of a patch not 30 feet across.
You have looked over every square inch.
No deer.
It sounds like someone threw a concrete block into a Christmas tree and the
rifle comes to your shoulder automatically as you spin toward the sound to see a
brilliant white tail bobbing back and forth
between the frame of wide antlers as the
buck explodes away from you.
What happens next depends on your
nerves and skill, and luck.
Of course, you and I have done most of
22

our hunting from a stand. There is much
to be said for that, too. There is great satisfaction in being alone, looking out on the
ridges and benches and valleys. You have
a great opportunity to observe wildlife in
its natural, unfrightened state. And, it's a
darn good way to produce venison.
It takes a tough hunter to contend with
the weather and to know that you have to
make your stand in one place and hope
the homework has been done correctly
and the deer cooperates. What you don't
do physically you must make up for with
your senses and intuition.
Reflect on past hunts and outdoor
experiences, things you've read, anything
that might help you in your present situation.
Use your head!
Stay alert. Your deer WILL appear
when you least expect it and likely where
you don't expect it. Be aware of all your
senses. Know everything in the area -
every inch of the terrain, what it looks
like, the sounds, the smells, movements
- so that when something is out of place,
you will be aware of it instantly. You have
to pick out a thousand possible paths for
the bullet.
When it comes time to shoot, act carefully and deliberately. Don't wait so long
as to blow your chance, but don't rush it.
Make sure everything is right.
Stay calm. You've been waiting for
years for that deer, don't get all hincky
and blow it. Do like I did, keep your cool
and nail that sucker good. Then fall apart.
Have fun at camp and BE CAREFUL.
Good Luck, Good Hunting,
Les
Les would pass away just 10 years
later, in 1989.
But he left a rich legacy.
Pennsylvania Game News - December 2019

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