Pennsylvania Game News - July 2023 - 23

Another backed a truck into a ditch.
Merciless-but-good-natured ribbing
always rains down upon the unlucky.
Last year, 10 hunters started the
day by gathering at the Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources
forestry building near LaPorte. A deer
drive in crisp early morning air in
nearby Loyalsock State Forest proved
uneventful, but at least gave the guys a
taste of the cooperation and teamwork -
not to mention excitement - that would
mark the day.
Later, the hunters regrouped at the
pole barn back at Scott's property in
Elkland Township. They were tired,
many ready to quit, as daylight waned.
But when someone suggested just one
more drive, they agreed food and rest
would wait. They would hunt some
neighboring properties before finishing
up in the surrounding woodlots
and fields.
Starting along a dirt road, five drivers
advanced into the woods, dressed
in fluorescent orange and calling out
periodically to keep everyone aware
of their positions. Old snow crunched
beneath boots as they slowly hiked
uphill, zigzagging through beech brush.
The ground ultimately leveled, but a
tangled labyrinth of downed timber and
slash appeared, forcing them to climb
over stumps and gnarled branches.
As they did, the woods exploded.
A large doe bounded through the
line, nearly knocking over one stunned
driver. Three deer flared off to the right,
white flags waving back and forth as
they headed toward the posted hunters
a few hundred yards ahead in a hemlock
swamp. I was one of them, farthest
down the line.
JULY 2023
One to Donate
Shortly after setting up in a hemlock stand
along a wetland edge, to post for the day's
final drive, I noticed movement to my right.
A mature doe approached.
Spooked by the other standers headed
to their posts, she was headed back into the
drive, toward where those putting on the
push were coming from.
But first she stopped, in an opening 45
yards away, broadside. She was distracted
and unaware. I took the shot.
As the smoke cleared, I caught a glimpse
of her traveling back into the swamp before
she disappeared.
Moving to where the doe had been standing,
I noticed blood on the snow. But since
the drive was now underway, I returned to
my post, to give the deer time to bed down
and the drive to go on undisturbed.
About eight more deer passed through,
beyond me and toward others, before the
drivers came through, at which time I followed
the blood trail in the snow. The deer
barely had traveled out of sight, falling about
75 yards away. A well-placed shot from the
Traditions 50-caliber had done the job.
I had loaned the rifle earlier in the day to
Bill Williams, the author of this story. Apparently
he warmed it up for me.
Earlier in the season I was fortunate
enough to harvest a couple other does and
a nice buck, so this one would be a donation,
headed for Hunters Sharing the Harvest.
- Kevin Wenner
23
Pennsylvania Game News - July 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - July 2023
