What's deer season to you?
I've gone through a few distinct phases throughout my hunting life. But one thing I've always returned to, and have always enjoyed, is deer camp in Pennsylvania.
Even a few years when I was already tagged out in archery I still made the trip to camp and went out and sat in the morning with someone and then helped recover deer/ put on drives/do camp chores etc. for a few days. I always make sure I save a tag now.
Our camp is in West- central pa farmland . Not a mountain camp like many others in the state. But we still have a camp feel. As a kid it wasn't uncommon for us to have a full roster on Monday ( PA used to require a camp roster for everybody hunting) and then 10-12 guys throughout the first week. The two Saturdays would always fill up again.
We'd sit until 9 am then meet up to start putting on drives. Back then we were able to hunt lots of farms and we would drive all week long. When the three day doe season came in, we had a 'blast' literally. I distinctly remember 13 deer in my uncle's truck after a pair of drives one morning, most of the party had their doe before lunch that day and we quickly filled the rest of the tags that afternoon. The deer were plentiful. It wasn't uncommon to see 100+ deer in a day. Big bucks were few, but I've never really chased big bucks anyway.
Remington 760s, 7600s and lever action .30-30s were most common. I remember watching a cousin shoot a doe at 600 yards with a .264 win mag and I was amazed at the shot and at the rifle.
Things have certainly changed. Many of those farms are now leased and managed for big buck. Many of the members have passed on. And their kids have grown up and moved away. We no longer have specific doe days where we only focus on hunting doe(I always have loved hunting doe) and we don't see 100 deer a day anymore either. There were a few years we stopped shooting doe entirely as the population plummeted in the early- mid 2000s. We no longer shoot spikes and 4 points either now. There's still a few pump guns that show up every year.
But it's still deer camp, and I still love it. Dad, several uncle's and a few great uncle's, a few cousins, a best friend, a sister and the wife now make the trip. We still put on some drives, although not as many or as far as we used to. The land access just isn't there now. Every season someone gets a 'big buck' ..... At least a couple nice 8 pointers every year. These bucks were basically unheard of for us 15 years ago but antler restrictions have certainly worked in that sense.
There's just something special about deer camp. I love being able to archery hunt in Ohio (sept-feb is a nice long season) and I've hunted a few other places as well. But none of them are as 'special' to me as deer camp.
There are some beautiful areas in this country. And I'm often envious when I see pictures of hunts out west, or in Alaska. But certainly thankful to have gotten to grow up and experience what a traditional deer camp is like and I hope I can pass some of that on to my kids as they begin their own hunting journeys over the next few years .
What's deer season mean to you and what makes it special?