I couldn't tell any difference in shooting or hunters with the new Sat. opener .....same as the regular Monday to me ...slow. ...and Monday was as dead as any other week day hunt....maybe worse !
Can't beat a cold pepperoni sandwich at mid day though ! 
 
Once again I passed on the only deer I seen all day ...a decent buck ...that was legal only after I got a glimpse of it's one antler after it just about disappeared in the thickets.  Thanks to the great antler restrictions of 3 up in our area I had to really make sure of my target even though I knew it probably was a legal buck and had a kill shot ....I had to be 100% sure ....it wasn't 3 on the side like the whole state or it's illegal  ! .....and off he disappeared....what a great law the PGC has in our area to help raise big bucks.
 
Why is it those bucks won't stand still or out in the open woods in rifle season so we can count points ?
Must be all that fluorescent agent orange !
 
I even wear Tink's 69 after shave lotion !  
 
I got to start hunting private posted land, covered in food plots, out of heated tree houses like the great hunters do ....I'm tired of carrying a gun around and freezing and not being able to shoot !
 
I don't understand why the future generations don't want to have all this fun and buck HUNT ....it's a blast ! 
 
I'll say one thing the PGC is doing a great job on squirrels ...there's one behind every tree just like those trophy bucks they promised years ago.
 
Hats off to the guy that invented those packaged hand warmers  !!!!! 
 
Can't wait to get back out and pass on more bucks in the freezing cold  ......all made possible by the PGC  !  
 
 
 
  

Saturday was pretty quiet where my 9 year old and I hunted for a couple hours in the AM.  Close to home in Butler County 2D, I think I counted 10 shots.  Didn't see nearly the normal number of vehicles parked along roads where I'd expect to see them on the gun opener.  My wife was home all day and said she didn't hear nearly as many shots as she's used to hearing.  
 
I hunted solo yesterday evening for 2 hours, again in Butler County 2D, but a different spot from Saturday.  I heard 1 shot, and it was very distant!  
 
The last couple of years since 2D went to the split buck/doe seasons, what I'm finding is that there will be a lot more pressure and a lot more guys moving and doing drives this Saturday.  If I get out Saturday morning, I expect that I'll hear a lot more shooting in either of the places I was Saturday or Monday.  
 
I'm with ya Captain, I hate AR.  Not 'cause I can't count the points quick enough (only cost me once in archery season a few years ago on a 7 point) but 'cause I don't really care if I shoot a spike or 10 point.  I ain't spending money to get it mounted anyway, and the venison all tastes the same to me.  
 
 

Hard to say ...I'm sure there will be more shooting no doubt , but I'm not expecting a banner day like the years both buck and doe came in the same day. The great PGC screwed that up too.... now really stopping the rifle hunters from shooting and making the deer more nocturnal .
 
I know with most meat processers charging about a hundred bucks a deer a lot of older guys won't shoot a small doe .....but I did see a lot of "really small ones" last year at our processor so who knows. If it's real cold or wet it will be a half day hunt for most ....good luck ...this doe hunting is about a one day deal too ...then the woods are empty all season...then the cars and trucks can have them !.....road pizza ......lol  

Hook, I always thought that trying to count a brow tine in the other part of the state would be harder than seeing three up in our part when trying to see if a forky is really a 5,6 point.

Are you saying you would prefer having to count the brow on those questionable bucks?

I would think that would add difficulty, I am glad they did away with counting the brow in our area.

Yea I would prefer all Pa. hunting rules to be the same state wide not sectioned by areas ....we all pay the same for our license . I think it's easier to see brow tines and a Y or fork on the end rather than 3 up ....easy to confuse that brow tine as the first tine to me on side views..... especially in the 3 up area were in. I hunt on the ground so I'm just saying from a level view it's much harder to me. 
 
Funny that 3/4 of the state is 3 on the side why not all ? I remember our area was 4 on the side for awhile ...totally ridiculous. If they want less bucks killed or bigger bucks then just shorten the season , don't make it harder to pull that trigger....or have illegal bucks killed or wounded by hunters shooting and looking later.  ...and I've found a few over the years left dead that weren't legally 3 up.

Great stories fellas, makes me happy happy I didn't waste time applying for my hunting license this year. In fact, I feel good, saving the PGC money by not having to have another license printed.

Of course, not only was it hearing your report but also hearing from a very good friend of mine with whom I've hunted with, for many years.

Same story as younz guys.


Capt. all I can say is... I BTDT and I feel your pain but nobody cares. Sell your guns, buy a cheap crossbow and go swing your feet in a tree. At least you won't freeze annnnd last but not least, garlic baloney and cheese sanmidges is much better than pepperoni.

rsquared
Saturday was pretty quiet where my 9 year old and I hunted for a couple hours in the AM.  Close to home in Butler County 2D, I think I counted 10 shots.  Didn't see nearly the normal number of vehicles parked along roads where I'd expect to see them on the gun opener.  My wife was home all day and said she didn't hear nearly as many shots as she's used to hearing.  
 
I hunted solo yesterday evening for 2 hours, again in Butler County 2D, but a different spot from Saturday.  I heard 1 shot, and it was very distant!  
 
The last couple of years since 2D went to the split buck/doe seasons, what I'm finding is that there will be a lot more pressure and a lot more guys moving and doing drives this Saturday.  If I get out Saturday morning, I expect that I'll hear a lot more shooting in either of the places I was Saturday or Monday.  
 
I'm with ya Captain, I hate AR.  Not 'cause I can't count the points quick enough (only cost me once in archery season a few years ago on a 7 point) but 'cause I don't really care if I shoot a spike or 10 point.  I ain't spending money to get it mounted anyway, and the venison all tastes the same to me.  
 
 

+1

I hear ya ...BTDT ......I'm just an old man that was use to the old hunting ways ...seemed much simpler and less complicated and more fun but so was life .....lol

captain hook, +1

Cap. I'm right there with ya neighbor. Here we are, after years and years of supporting the sport of hunting in PA. and we're expected to shoot only doe.

Many a time, I need let a buck pass by, only to see the deer hanging from the barn of an Amish neighbor, less than a half mile up the road. Now the only difference with that dead deer, it could/should have been hanging from my garage.

I don't want to keep any hunter at any age from taking a deer, I only want equal opportunity for us old dudes.