PA opener , how was it???
 

Well i hit the woods hard , saw 2 doe in he field walking to my stand in the early AM

Saw 4 doe at about 915 , then got down at about 10 for lunch and hockey practice!

Returned at like 3 and saws a fawn on my way in , after taht it rained off and on , with some howling wind , didnt see a thing!

How did all you guys fair?

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

On my way into my stand this morning around 4:45 I saw one in the field walking in, and then kicked 2 or 3 out near my stand. I sat in my stand til around 10 and saw nothing but a few turkeys. I didn't even go out this afternoon. It was definitly a nice day to be in the woods this morning though. I hope someone had better luck then I did.

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

Everone around here said it was terrible,most did not even see a deer

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

I kicked out small group around 1:30PM on my way from my morning stand to the evening stand. Other than that, I saw and heard nothing. Beautiful day in the woods, but they were just not mving. I think the recent full moon, as usual, had them moving at night. I was in the stand from 5:15AM to 1:15PM, then again from 2:00PM to 6:15PM...........not a single deer...[:o]

Maybe it'll be better in two weeks.........

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

Only saw one deer and that was in the PM and it was in a distant field like 300yds. Other than that i saw no activity. I think the weather had them screwed up. O well we still got 6 weeks!!! Best of luck 2 everyone!

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

Typical opening day. Kicked some deer out walking in before light, saw nothing the rest of the day. I truly would like to see the season start a week later at least. It is still summer in the woods. The frost that is coming this week will get things moving. I never expect much on opening day of bow season. Didn't get much rain, just some very brief little showers. Made the woods smell real pretty but didn't get me wet.

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

Rain and pea soup fog on top of the mountain. We even had thunder and lightning in the late afternoon. I saw a mess of doe and shot a big 6-point. About 190lb live weight and a 17 inch spread. Heavy horns, tall tines and forward sweeping main beams. I never saw such a big 6-point. I think he could have been an 8-point or more but genetics played a part. This was my first buck with the bow so it was a special one for me.

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

Good deal Barnes, congratulations. Are you hunting anywhere near World's End SP? I have DMAP's for there and was wondering what my chances will be.
PS> I saw deer while heading in, but nothing rest of morning. Skeeters were brutal.[:'(]

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

MikeE - I was hunting near Ricketts Glen State Park on Red Rock Mountain. World's End is about 30-40 minutes NW of us. We actually came up from Jim Thorpe on our way up Friday night. Rt. 115 was closed at Blakeslee so we had to get on 80 West.

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

I hunted in Westmoreland county (Southwestern PA) and had a great day. While I did not connect on a deer, my friend who traveled in from WV did shoot a nice doe on Saturday Morning around 10:30. If I can figure out how to get the file size small enough, I will later post a picture.

Myself, I only went about 20 minutes at a time without seeing a deer. In the morning, I saw 1 buck and 6 doe. The only deer that made it within range where 2 fawns from this year and too small to shoot. The adult doe that I saw stayed just below my stand and came thru at about 40 yards in some heavy brush. The buck in my eyes was not a shooter. It later made it past my dad who said it was a 7 point but he couldn't get the bow up in time to get a shot. In my opinion, if I can't tell by looking at him as he walked past, then it really isn't a shooter. (My feeling behind the 4 point restriction is to let the younger deer live. If I took him just because he had 4 points on one side, I've defeated the whole purpose of the restrictions. This was a very healthy 1 1/2 year old buck who will make a nice trophy one day.) My dad saw 1 buck and 5 doe. My friend saw 1 buck (4 point) and 1 doe in the morning.

The afternoon hunt was just as exciting if not more. as we drove in to park we saw a doe and her 2 fawns. Because of the weather changing and the front coming, we were back on stand at 3pm. As I walked to my stand a buck and a doe were both feeding in the orchard. After they moved off, I climbed my stand and the action began. I had a small yearling (I think my 7 year lab was bigger) walk in and stop and 20 yard before crossing the creek into the orchard. She fed there pretty much until it got dark. Shortly after, I had a small buck (spike) walk into the orchard and feed before walking down the hollow. After he left, I had another buck, this time a very wide and tall six point work his way up the creek and to 25 yards. Again this buck will someday make a very nice trophy. I later got busted by a doe that had walked to within 7 steps of my stand before I saw her. She snuck in from behind on the same trail I earlier walked and when I turned around to check my back, she was staring at me from just a few feet away. I later had 2 more doe cross behind my stand on the way to the orchard.

I saw 3 buck and 5 doe (plus the 3 while in the car). My dad saw 7 doe and my friend saw 1 buck and 9 doe.

All in all , a nice way to start the pa season.

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

HUNTED DEL COUNTY RIDLEY CREEK STATE PARK SEEN NICE BUCK ABOUT 60 YARDS FROM EM AND HE WAS SPOOKED WHEN A CAR DROVE BY. THEN WHEN GETTING IN TREE STAND HAD 2 BIG DOE RUN RIGHT UNDER ME. WAITED UNTILL ABOUT 11 AND DECIDED TO PUSH SOME DEER AROUND WITH MY UNCLE AND A NOTHER GUY WE MET IN THE WOODS. PUSHED UP ABOUT 10 DEER ONE SPIKE AND ONE 4 POINT WERE IN THE HEARD. WENT DOWN BY THE STREAM BOTTOM AND PUSHED UP THE BIGGEST DEER I EVER SEEN ON PUBLIC LAND DIDN'T GET A COUNT ON POINTS BUT WAS A BIG DEER HE RAN RIGHT OVER THE STREAM THEN INTO MY DREAMS LOL HOPE HAT NO ONE GOT HIM GOIN BACK TO THE SAME AREA SOMETIME THIS WEEK.... A GUY GOT A REAL NICE 8 POINT VERY WIDE RACK

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

Not a single deer while in stand. Walking out I was just ready to draw on a feeding doe that I had just walked up on, when she turned around and the gig was up. The evening after getting soaked heading into my stand, turned out to be a perfect nice night, except that no deer came by.

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

Bumps a couple of deer on the way into my stand around 5:30. Setup and settled in at 6am. Saw a small bear at 6:50am. He fed about 35 yards away for about 25 minutes then moved off. From 7:30 to 8am I had two doe and a fawn feeding towards me and a legal buck(6 or 8...not positive) feeding about 60 yards in the opposite direction of the does. Does came within 35 yards, but it was windy and I opted not to shoot. This is normally in my comfort range, but not in high wind gusts as we were having at the time. At right around 8am all 4 deer picked up their heads and started trotting into the wind....I have no idea why. The buck and does couldn't see each other and there was nobody else in the area and they were all upwind of me....just picked up and trotted off at once. About 9am I had a flock of about 24 turkeys feed through all around me. Just for the fun of it I tried to stand up and get turned around....I succeeded, so that made me happy! :) They fed around me until 9:45am. At about 10:15 I climbed down and headed to the truck.

In the afternoon I bumped two doe going into my stand location. Didn't see anything from the stand, and then bumped 5 doe on the way out of the woods. I'll get 'em tonight!

Sunday took a drive around the ANF and saw a couple of does and a coyote. Did a little scouting and found some good looking rubs and trails, but it's going to be tough to hunt....I'll let you all know how it turns out!

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

Opening day was OK. In the morning I seen a small forky and three does. I had a button buck come within 5 yards (I'm on the ground). I could have shot him but I let him walk. He knew something was up as he finally turned round and scampered back the way he came. All the action happened before 9 am. On my way back in I decided to check my trail cam and I busted Limpy Leg. Some of you may remember him from the pics I posted last winter. He is now what looks like a 5 point with one antler being a little twisted.
Went back out after the thundershowers and sat til dark and didn't see a darned thing.
Today I seen one unidentified deer, three does and Limpy Leg. Again didn't see a thing for the afternoon/evening hunt. I did find some rubs which appear to be from a few days to a week or two old.

RE: PA opener , how was it???
 

I saw limited action on opening day. Couple small bucks (nothing legal) and a bunch of does. Just felt good to be back in the stand. ;)