Larry A. Smail's Blog

Before the sun…frost!

A very spring-like morning was to be for Pennsylvania’s first day of the black bear season. The temperatures as I began my jaunt up the hill hovered around 25 degrees. A heavy frost covered all vegetation. However, as soon as the sun peeked out from the eastern horizon the temperatures warmed rather quickly. The red and orange colors permeated the trees as the sun’s rays touched each limb and leaf.

Golden glow

My Remington 760 in a 30:06 caliber had been hinting for a walk for a couple of weeks now. This would be the day ! The plan for this first morning was simple. I was going to Cherry Run to familiar haunts and sneak around searching for a bear. I did not do any pre-season scouting, but I wanted to visit certain sites. The reason for this is simple too. Some of the steep slopes had been heavily timbered allowing for great bear habitat, but the main reason was to hunt this site before it becomes mined.

Steep country

The hills and hollows of this area are every bit as steep as those found in Potter County. The only difference is the elevation above sea level. They are not as high.                                                                                                               

Bear do travel in this area at times. My cousin saw three last August crossing a right-of-way line.  The hunt today failed to yield any bear or bear sign, but I had hopes. A corn field on the top had been harvested. These facts didn’t matter to me for I just wanted to spend some quality woods time in areas I love. I would be searching for old memories too.  A bear sighting would have been a plus although I knew my odds were very low.

Fox Squirrel

I heard some turkey roost talk as I edged uphill. Later on my return through the area I would walk into a flock of 8-10 birds. I wondered if my step-father, Bob could climb these hills for the rest of the turkey season later next week.

My walking would spend approximately 5.5 hours on this hill and through the hollows. I saw many deer including one buck. I watched one grouse fly far ahead of me flying along the horizon line. Other critters were a number of fox squirrels and a few gray squirrels. I saw a few chipmunks out and about because of the nice weather.         

I found myself become rather warm and by 10:30 I removed a sweat shirt. The temperatures were climbing and the clear, cloudless skies allowed for the sun to dry out the woodland floor rapidly. However, whenever I would find myself on the hill where the sun wasn’t filtered in the temps would be noticeably cooler.

Deer seeds…just add water!

Eventually, I had cycled around back to the area where I had originally entered the woods. I elected to head to the car and drive about a half of a mile and walk up and over another steep hill to a site I hadn’t been to in many years.

Remnants of an old stone fence

I heard a number of shots all afternoon. I decided because of the amount of shooting and the spacings between each shot that most were hunters sighting in their rifles in preparation for the upcoming buck season.

Chipmunk

I set up and called at a couple of sites. I thought maybe a hungry bear might come to my calling. If nothing else, possibly a coyote might venture in. The plan included a trek around this hill’s top and to travel back towards the car. I would call the hunt off regardless of the time I arrived.                                                                                      

The time was around 3:00 when I reached the vehicle. I headed home remembering Laurie was creating home-made buns this day. YUMMY!

Berries from native Green Briar