PA opener!!!!!
 

Hey guys , i jsut got in from a fun filled morning of RAIN and coldness, didnt see a bird let alone a deer. I hope it will let up for tonights hunt, i am looking forward to going back out after hockey practice , so maybe that will be the time to see some deer. How did everyone elses first hunt of the year go? anyone Tag an dandy?

Good luck guys!!!!1[8D]

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

oubleLung55 that freezen rain just goes right threw you

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Wet ,seen three doe heading for the thicket to bed,no shot available. Heck if they are going to bed ,so am I. I drove around the area and all the hunters were sitting in there trucks drinking coffee. One guy was drinking out of a southern comfort bottle. O-BOY glad I dont hunt near him

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Lonewolf... that rain rips u apart , i jsut put my gortex on for the hunt , and put my hood up and sat there , i figured if im gonna shoot in the rain and risk the tracking job its gonna have to be a big boy. But i hope tonight clears up a bit.

As for the southern comfort , that is just funny , i dont understand how u could possibly drink this early , or drink UNTIL this early.

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Report from central PA:

Nothing tagged here either, rain, cold, blarg.

Saw 3 deer at about 9am, coming off the fields (VERY late, they knew what was coming, rain started here just a little after that), then another group of about 7-9 came up a little farther out, but of course they picked to come up across the direction the wind was blowing, so they winded me and turned tail and ran.

They were awfully spooky this morning, the wind had them nervous.

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Sullivan County - Hard rain, thick fog, high winds, 38 degrees. Sat in the stand this morning and got wet and cold. Tree was swaying and creaking in the wind. In the open the rain is horizontal. Visibility is about 15-20 yards. Saw 2 does and a big spike on the way in. They were bedded in a grass field - out in the open getting rained on. Those deer were in the same field last night. I guess they never left to go bed this morning. Clothes are in the dryer. I' ll be heading back out for the day around 2:00. It looks like the fog cleared a little but it' s still raining and windy.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

bigdog02- just wondering,were you wearing any kind of carbon or scent-lok suit?

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

DoubleLung55 man do I miss archery hunting but due to arthritis and a complete detereated of the cervical spine that won' t let me draw a bow anylonger with doing more damage to my neck I had to tell myself bow hunting is over and I did enjoy it for the 35 years,but I will be out there with my flinter and that cold weather does more harm to you later on in life .good luck with the season and those guy' s drinking so early in the morning that why they want you to wear red or orange some people should just not be in the woods
BE SAFE AND GOOD HUNTING

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Montgomery Co.:

Same here as well, rain and cold. I thought I would wait it out until around 10:00 when everyone elase would get down and push something but all that I did was get even more wet. Going back out in about an hour.

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

lol carbon and scent lok suits are a luxury i can' t afford this season,.
Had on cover scent, and used as much scent eliminator as I could, just guess there was something I missed. That is part of the reason too why no scent lok for me, i mean I know it works, but it seems like if you forgot, mess up, or don' t do one thing, then the whole setup is blown, so I usually just try to play the wind and use it as my best scent cover up.
No biggie for me, I am used to hunting from the ground and always played the wind and would use minimal scents other than attractants. Just wasn' t my luck that they came up the trail on the side of the stand that the wind was blowing to.

The way I had the stand setup trails broke off about 100yards or so below me, over a small ridge, if they go to the left (my right) through a small feeding area where they have been feeding recently) then they would be upwind of me, and I would be in the clear. If they go right at the trailhead, then they would come up downwind of me, on a farther off trail, WELL out of bow range. I took my chances with this stand hoping that I might score lucky and some would use the upwind trail this morning, but just wasn' t my day :-)

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

I was hunting SGL #46 in northern Lancaster. I saw 1 doe, she bolted when she knew I was there, maybe 12 yards from where I was standing. The rain was there all day, but it was pretty light, plus I had the gore-tex on.

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Lycoming and Sullivan County' s,

Rain here as well, sat through the cold morning from dark til eleven o' clock, had a mature doe and 2 fawns come in to me at 9:00, had shot opps on the mature doe, passed on her and they bedded down at 40, 43 and 48 yards for 2 hours.....glad the ASAT worked it' s magic....I was able to get down and leave without spooking them....

Evening hunt, in a tree at three til dark......shot opps on a mature doe with a button 3 different times...passed her as well, then a small 3 came in, not a legal shooter but would' ve passed regardless, let him have a few years.

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Tonight , the rain stopped but it was still chilly. I saw some squirrels , a fox, and leaving the stand almost got ran down by a deer , but was too dark to tell what it was. cant get out monday , so tuesday ill return.

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Somerset Co. had hard rain overnight but stopped long enough to get a morning hunt in.Saw 2 doe,9 turkey,and a fox squirrel.Rained pretty hard early afternoon but passed quickly.Saw 3 doe in the evening.Didn' t take any shots.The wind was gusting hard all day,too.

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

WYOMING COUNTY!

rain, rain and more rain. cold windy and damp. saw two deer at 80 yards heading to bed first thing in the morning. hunted till noon and that was it. thank god we have a lengthy season. good luck to all!

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

i had a SMALL doe come in to about ten yards i was on the ground , my buddy who was about about 100 yards up the hill from me in a tree saw a 10 pointer but it was about 60yards out and didn' t come any closer , and what a beautiful rainy day!!

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Mont. Co.
Went back out around 2:30. Did not see anything until around 6:00. I guess that was the magic number because things started moving. A 5" spike walked about 15 yards in front of me and hung out for a while. After that a big doe came walking out behind me at 50 yards but must of gotten spoked because she turned around and jogged off away from me. It was nice though just to see some deer.

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

I had to climb down @ 0830. The rain got heavier as the morning went on as well as the wind. Saw a soaked squirrel on the way out. Can' t wait for this week :)

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Everything is ready for tomorrow! I am hunting from dawn till dusk all by myself since my husband has to work late. I am thrilled to have the woods to myself all day! I doubt I will sleep well tonight since it seems like forever since last season. Good luck tomorrow everyone!![8D]

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Went back out from 2:00 til close. Nothing in treestand. At 4:30 I went to a hay field and waited at the edge. To nice doe came out and fed about 150 yards away. I snuck back into the woods and closed the distance. I snuck back out to the field edge (ehind a stone wall, barberry bushes and small trees) and I was about 25 yards from the feeding does. I got on position for a shot and drew my bow. However, I didn' t like my footing and passed. The deer were feeding down the field and getting out of range. I got back into the woods, snuck down about 50 yards and snuck back up. Again, I had a decent shot but not what I wanted. With all the fog and rain, I wanted to make sure I had a deer that would drop quick and not chance a low-light, wet ground tracking job. I decided to head far down-field, set up and intercept them. Unfortunately, my luck ran out and I guess I made too much noise on my last sneak attempt. When I got back to the edge of the field, the deer were gone. I had an adrenaline rush for about 2 hours so it was still a great afternoon. On my way out I heard about 6 or 8 coyotes going berzerk about 200 yards away from me. Maybe somebody else shot a deer. I saw a spike on my way out and a nice 8-point on my way down the mountain that evening. I hope next weekend' s is better. Fog rolled back in around 6:00. Wednesday we' re going fishing in the ocean. Supposed to be 70 degrees and winds 10 knots or less. Last fishing trip of the season then it' s all about deer.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Report for Clarion Co. and Allegheny County:

Clarion
I set up for the morning hunt in Clarion County. Boy was it cold. I had one doe and a small 4pt (browtine was small) half rack come in to 30 yards, being the first day, I passed. Something bigger will come along sooner or later. I was out of the woods around 10:30 ish when i couldn' t take it any more. I was miserably cold and wet.

On the drive home, saw a 6 (even 3x3) point being loaded onto a truck by an out of state hunter. Correct me if i' m wrong, but I didn' t think out of state hunters had any special privelages. 4 points or better on 1 side for Clarion Co. this year.

Allegheny
Was in the woods around 3:30 after a drying the cloths and a short nap. Twas a bit gusty @ 20ft. Not even an hour in the stand, and the deer were moving. Had 3 doe come by and milled around for about 20 min perfectly downwind from me. Guess the scent control worked for me. After they moved out, a BIG spike come by about 20min later. Too bad we can' t take management deer here in PA. This guy looked to be a few years old. Anyway, while the spike was milling around, a decent 8 come in to about 40/45 yards. He never came any closer and I' m definatly not comfortable with making a shot in the field over 30yards not like he presented a decent shot anyway. All-in-all it was a good day for me! No shot' s but a good day! I' m excited for the rest of the season!

I' m on midnight shift tonight (sunday) but I plan on bein out as soon as i get home tomorrow morning.

Good luck!

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Not all of Clarion County is 4 pt/side. North of I-80 and 322 is WMU #2F and it' s 3pt/side.

I had wet windy morning....got soaked and froze. Climbed down around 8:45 and went home to dry out. Went back out around 3:15. Still windy, but not raining. I had a mature doe and a yearling come in about 4:45. They were upwind, but the high winds had them flighty....I took a broadside shot at the doe at about 20-22 yards....for the first time in my life I had a deer " jump the string" .....her chest absolutetly hit the ground befoere she sprang up and away. That was the most excitement I had all day....today should be nice to hunt before this warm front comes in.

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

Nothing but wet in the morning.
Evening was a different story. I saw 5 bucks, the biggest of which was an 8 with a 14" spread. They were pushing/sparring and scraping all along the edge of the field. Saw some does mixed in here and there. THe highlight was a bunch of red foxes. One came out in the field and hunted his way across it. 30 min later another come out and started calling to the 1st. It made some crazy noises that I never heard before. Anything from a normal sounding yip, to really bad turkey imitations to something sounding like a screech owl. Man did they make a ruckus. Before it was said and done 4 foxes had sounded off and i had 3 of them in the field in front of me running around and playing. It was so cool.

RE: PA opener!!!!!
 

I was warm and dry, not a drop of rain fell in my bed :)

I wole up and started to get ready and decided that I would jsut bag it for the day