BarnesX.308

It was the best typical rifle buck from PA in 2016 that was measured by the Northeast Big Buck Club. Most of them were probably scored at the outdoor shows. Probably a lot of bigger bucks still at the taxidermists during show season. We got the rack back from our taxidermist after he caped it out so we had it.

BRUSE

That's a dandy buck congrats to your dad !

TN Lone Wolf

Great buck!

BarnesX.308

Thanks. We spent all day dragging that day. My buddy got a 300 pound bear in the first 30 minutes of the morning. By the time we got back to the cabin with the bear, my dad was walking in and asking for help with his buck. Then I got a 7-pointer in the last hour of light. Full day to be sure. And the bear has to be taken to check station about 30 minutes away. Dinner was late that day.

Muley Hunter

They make you take the bear in the same day you shoot it? That's tough. They give us a week here.

BarnesX.308

I think it's 24 hours. But we always just take them that day. This would be our camps 4th bear. 3 out of the 4 were taken while deer hunting. Our bear season is Thanksgiving week, no bait. And, in some counties, you can take bear the opening week of rifle deer season. That is the week after Thanksgiving. No bait, no dogs. It's usually pretty random. We all get bear tags because you never know when a bear could saunter on by.

Muley Hunter

Yeah, same here. No dogs or bait. They give us a lot of time to hunt for bear. We have too many now.

I hunt for them specifically. I enjoy the challenge of stalking them. Even though the state has a lot of bears. There aren't a lot of them in my area, so it takes a lot of work to get on one. Pretty sneaky rascals.

BarnesX.308

We have a 4 day season statewide. Then a 5 day season in certain WMUs. We also have an archery season which is a few days. Nothing starts until mid-November, though. I wish we could hunt them earlier. We don't have spot and stalk here. It's all heavily forested. Our land is overgrown clear cut, hemlock swamp and laurel tangles. Visibility is almost nil in most places. We have tree stands in small openings. It's all a waiting game for us. Some guys do drives for bears with large groups, but we only have a couple dedicated bear guys in our group.

Muley Hunter

We're lucky. The rifle season is the whole month of Sept. It's a great time to hunt for bear, because they're out 20 hours a day feeding to fatten up for winter. Then we also have archery, muzzleloader, and a new rifle season later in Oct and Nov. You can't do them all. You have to pick the one you want. I take the Sept rifle season and use my muzzleloader for it.

I just wish my area had more bears. Usually, only one bear is taken in this area. It's well earned. I still love the challenge. I'll try to still hunt into berry areas. If that doesn't work i'll spot and stalk. If that fails i'll start calling.

BarnesX.308

We still end up taking about 3000 bears, statewide. I believe the success rate is 3%. We do get some huge ones, though.