Pennsylvania Game News - December 2021 - 17

" Camp 4 Pines " sign to post outside the
camper, reminiscent of how things were
done years ago.
Fritch - who had harvested just one
buck prior to last season - saw four does
and a spike to start opening morning. He
returned to the camper for lunch, ran out
with Swigart for gas for the generator,
then got back into the woods a little after
1 p.m.
He was walking along, headed to a spot
that he and his dad often hunted, when he
saw a doe 200 yards away.
Thinking that some other hunters
might be moving deer, he settled in to
watch.
Not long after, a buck emerged from
some brush in front of him, about 40
yards away.
" It took my breath away. I thought,
I've never seen a deer this big in my life, "
Fritch said.
It went left. Fritch shot, but missed,
more than once. Miraculously, the deer
stopped, allowing Fritch to find it in the
scope and fire, at which point the deer
disappeared.
For good, it seemed.
" After I was done hyperventilating for
a little bit, I thought, OK, let me go see, "
Fritch said. " So I walked the way I thought
it went. No blood, no nothing. I searched
there until right around dark. "
He returned to camp emptyhanded,
dejectedly trying to explain to Swigart
the buck he'd seen.
" I was like, dude, it looked like it had
a rib cage on its head, " Fritch said. " It
just had all these long fingers going up.
That's the only way I could describe
it to him.
" I kept telling him Saturday night,
it's going to haunt me. Especially
since no one's even going to understand
it. "
DECEMBER 2021
They went out again Sunday, returning
to where Fritch shot at the massive buck
to look for blood, hair or some other sign
he got it. Fritch, who admits to missing
more than a few deer in years past, wasn't
optimistic.
He walked to one side of a thicket,
Swigart to the other. The two joke and
tease each other a lot, so when Swigart
said he found the deer, Fritch wasn't surprised.
But he didn't believe him either.
" I'm full-on expecting him to come
around and tell me the deer is lying right
there, so sure enough when he does, telling
me the deer is monstrous, I was like,
seriously, stop it. I was on the verge of
tears, " Fritch said.
But the buck, an 11-point with tall
tines, was indeed down. Nick tagged it,
dressed it and took it straight home to
show Nico and the rest of his family.
Soon he'll have it back from the
taxidermist. But already, more than ever,
he's committed to keeping Camp 4 Pines
going.
Nico is learning to shoot using grandfather
Lou's .22 rifle. When he's ready
for deer, he'll use his granddad's .30-30.
And he'll hunt from Camp 4 Pines,
his dad said.
" There have been times in my life
when I couldn't have kept things going,
but I'm at the point where I can now, "
Fritch said. " I'm going to keep it going
as long as I can.
" No one's ever seen a deer like that
up there, so for me to get it, and in that
spot where my dad and I used to hunt,
it's pretty crazy. In some weird way,
I honestly believe it was some sort of
way of my dad letting me know he's
looking out for me and I'm doing some
things right.
" And I am sure he was saying 'Darn it,
knock the deer down already.' "
17
Pennsylvania Game News - December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - December 2021
