Oct 1, 2016 4 min read

With archery deer season now in full swing my thoughts have moved from groundhogs to large-antlered bucks.

There seems to be no shortage of them this year but bagging one can be a different story. I keep hoping for one more, big-antlered buck.

While my body might not exactly cooperate, I still have that passion for deer hunting.

A mature buck is usually one that has been around for four years or more and isn’t exactly stupid when it comes to survival.

That old buck will outfox a hunter every time if that hunter is alone on a hunt. That has been proven more than once when a hunter was turned loose with a single buck in a fenced cover of about 20 acres.

Not only didn’t the hunter get a shot, he never saw the animal. It’s the crowd of orange-clad people walking through the home of the deer that creates a successful hunt.

I’m sure the reverse would hold true if the deer were turned loose in downtown Pittsburgh. It’s the deer’s habitat we invade each fall and we are hunting it in its home turf.

Archers overcome much of the deer advantage by using the mental faculties of a human to figure out trails and scrapes.

It doesn’t hurt that we hunt the same time the buck is thinking of little else than breeding.

He leaves his mark on the ground in the form of scrapes and strengthens his neck muscles by pushing and fighting with trees. Pretty soon, he might have to fight for dominance and consequently the most girlfriends.

Doesn’t it remind one of some young men we have known?

Today’s archers will usually be found 15 to 20 feet up some tree overlooking a scrape or trail and this leads to the most dangerous part of hunting. It is not getting shot. It’s simply falling from a tree stand.

The stand might collapse. The hunter might fall asleep or just slip.

Then there is the chance he might just step off into the air when the buck of a lifetime appears. It is reason enough to be careful when up a tree.

If I happen to come along and sit under your tree stand, not knowing you are there try not to fall, spit or something worse. OK, just make a noise and I’ll move along.

• Last week, a local sportsmen’s club had a celebrity son show up during a trap shoot. When offered a high-grade over-and-under shotgun to use, the guest said he was weaned on a Remington 870 and preferred to use that comparatively inexpensive shotgun.

The shooter was Eric Trump, who surprisingly to some, showed signs of being someone who had done this before. He was shooting on an unfamiliar range with a gun he hadn’t used before and broke 23 birds.

Not bad for a perspective politician’s son and decidedly better than I can do. Of course, I am a rifleman and an old one at that.

• For the second time this summer, the Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s Club will have a special afternoon just for the ladies.

The growth of the number of women shooting firearms has been spectacular to say the least, and the upcoming ladies day will be held Oct. 30 starting at 1 p.m.

It’s an opportunity for the gals to shoot various firearms and learn about them in general.

Of course, the subject of safety is on the agenda and while others are shooting small groups can gather at the picnic tables to discuss shooting and the active shooters will attempt to answer any questions.

For information, call Chuck Augenstein at 724-941-9538 or Dave Willard at 724-941-6620.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.