By KATHY MELLOTT
As certain as turkey and cranberries are on the menu each fourth Thursday in November, the following Monday sends hunters into the woods for the first day of Pennsylvania’s rifle deer season.
Hunters say they are spending the weekend digging out warm clothing and fluorescent-orange accessories. Many also are sighting in their rifles and hoping for a banner year when they bag that elusive buck with a full rack.
“I think so far it’s looking real good, we had a record archery season,” said Adam Thomas, owner of Thomas Smoked Meats of Riverside, where some of the harvest will be taken.
“I’m expecting with last year’s rainy first day, it spared a lot of deer for us for this year,” he said.
He anticipates processing 1,200 deer during the 12-day hunting season, up from 1,100 last year.
The 6 inches of snow in the Ebensburg area and further into northern Cambria County could spell a successful first day for many, said Marty Zearing, owner of Ebensburg Hunting & Fishing.
“A lot of people are looking forward to hunting in the snow,” Zearing said of the white covering, which can assist in tracking deer.
Zearing was especially busy late last week due in part to the snow, but also because of the loss of Bowman’s Sporting Goods of Patton, which opened in 1965 and was one of the area’s largest dealers of sporting goods, including deer hunting supplies.
A Nov. 3 fire caused more than $1 million in damage to Bowman’s, the Central Hotel and a coin-operated laundry.
Most hunters will head into the woods before dawn to be ready for daybreak shortly before 7 a.m.
A growing number of hunters in the Cambria-Somerset region are not overly optimistic about their chances of bagging a deer following a five-year attempt to reduce the population by selling more licenses than usual, said Mel Schake, information education supervisor with the Pennsylvania Game Commission in Bolivar.
“In recent years we’ve had more in the way of complaints because they didn’t think they were seeing as many deer. I’m not so sure that’s true,” Schake said.
One hunter heading into the woods Monday morning is confident he’ll see plenty of deer.
Fred Smith of the Patton area has not missed a deer season since he’s been old enough to hunt.
“I certainly am ready. I’ve been hunting since I was 12 years old. That was 44 years ago,” said Smith, who is head of the Cambria County elections office.
He and four buddies will be hunting in the Blacklick-Barr Township area on state game lands near Duman Park.
“We’ve been hunting there for about 15 years, and I usually bag a buck or a doe. We always see deer up there,” he said.
A key to a successful hunt is to get out into the woods in the months and weeks prior to opening day, Smith said.
He’s already made about nine trips into the area this year, looking for deer tracks, antler rubbings on trees and escape routes used by the whitetails.
Ron Slezak of the Johnstown area, a hunter for the past 30 years, will hunt for a week at a camp in McKean County.
The biggest deer Slezak has bagged was a 10-point during muzzleloader season in 2001.
Some snow could move in later today, and the weather during the next few days will be relatively cold with snow showers, said Alan Reppert, a meteorologist with AccuWeather in State College.
“Actually, we could see some decent weather for tracking deer,” Reppert said.
Safety
tips
Safety tips for non-hunters in rural and wooded areas:
• Stay away from wooded areas Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and Dec. 13.
• When walking, even on a stroll with the dog, wear a fluorescent- orange vest.
• Limit walking to times of full daylight.
• For the next two weeks walk through the woods on Sundays, when hunting is prohibited.
