I'm going to go out on a limb here and call BULLS@!& on this one. Those look nothing like any PA buck tag I have ever seen. More like the antlerless tag, but not a general license PA tag.

If I'm wrong, I apologize to the hunters who took these great bucks. Yes, it is possible in some areas of PA, we've seen it time and time again. I'm just not sure how valid this pic really is of being a PA harvest.

There is nothing fake or staged about the picture.Back in January I had to see a guy that works for that taxidermist and I saw that picture on their computer as a screen saver.I asked the owner's wife to e-mail it to me when I got back to work.From what they told me,those bucks were from the last thursday of the season.This taxidermist is locateda few miles from my house in 2G.I think he told me 9 of those bucks came from public land.I know the guy who shot the big buck in the lower right hand corner.The day I was in the shop,he had almost 400 bucks being brought in and guys were still bringing them in.I'm positive that he broke the 400 mark.It's true that not every deer he mounts is from 2G or Pa for that matter.However,the vast majority of bucks are taken in either 2G,2F or 2E.The point point is,his business has actually picked up and he's mounting much larger bucks than ever before.Prior to AR he was lucky to get 2-3 bucks a year with spreads around 20 inches.Now he's doing more than 50 a year that big,not to mention all the ones that came in just shy.When you walk in there and see all those racks,it's simply mind bogling that anyone copuld complainabout how poor the hunting is.

The tags on the antlers are from the taxidermist.The picture came from me and it's 100% legitimate.

Anyone who may think this photo was staged take a good look. The light from the flash is one directional. Second you will see a small reflection of the flash in the lower left of the cab window.To clone in deer from other photos, you would absolutely loose that directional lighting.

LOL...you got me with that one!.....I really set myself up there.....Maybe we will see them at the next one. I'm really curious what some of those deer scored, that one I mentioned earlier (bottom right) is a PIG! If that is true that 9 of the 11 came from public land, someone is doing it right, or else very lucky!

Thanks again for sharing that pic Doug. I figured I'd wait and let you take credit for it rather than disclose my source right away.

I have to say that I get to hunt in the best part of Illionis each year and that truckload would stop traffic out there too. Truly some magnificent animals.

Of course, it's happening all over PA. Here's an outfitter doing a brisk business in 2F and putting his hunters on public ground and his clients are harvesting some very nice bucks.

http://www.alleghenywildernessoutfitter.com/

I can see no discrepancy with the tags on the antlers. Every taxidermistI know uses some form of tag to identify the customer belonging to each rack, another tag affixed to the capes before they are sent to be tanned, so they get back with the matching rack, and every taxidermist uses a different style of tag. While the bucks are definite eye poppers, and all arguments of AR aside....I wouldn't call BS unless there was more evidence of it. It seems a quick call or visit to the taxidermist in question would quickly dispel any myths, so the odds of getting away with posting a doctored photo or a false claim of origin would not be in Doug's favor.Yes, those are gagger bucks. Yes, some guys are obviously still killing them here in PA.

LOL, I do it all the time. and "oftener" with each passing year


Here's my guesstimate of that guy on the bottom left


Left Right
M 22 22
G1 3 3 (WAG! cant see it)
G28 8
G3 7 4/8 9
G4 45 4/8

H1 4 4 WAG!
H24 4 WAG!
H3 4 4/8 4
H4 44
total 57 63 4/8

Abnormal points 1

Inside spread 18

Total gross 139 4/8 net 135 4/8

JMHO!!! from one picture

The guy that killed that buck owns a business in Dubois.It scored right around 150.I'm not positive but I think it was killed in Elk county.My buddy's step son killed the largest one brought into that taxidermist this year and it scored just under 160 and was aged at 7 1/2 .That buck isn't in the pictureand it was killed in elk state forest nearSinnemahoning.Last year,he had a buck in that scored just under 190.

Anyone that knows me,would realize that I wouldn't know how to doctor up a picture.I didn't even know how to post it for crying out loud.That picture is the screen saver on the computer for Cessna's taxidermy.I saw it and had them e-mail it my computer at work.There's nothing phony about it.The guy in the picture is Cliff Cessna.There's also another picture with the same deer that hasone ofhis employees in it.

Cessna's taxidermy 814-371-7639.Call and tell Cliff AR's don't work and don't forget to let him know how few deer are out there.Be ready to burn some minutes on that phone call.Picture is legit.