Larry A. Smail's Blog

  I received a shot to the knee last Thursday. Saturday was the first day of the 2013 Pennsylvania bear season. I wasn’t feeling all that bad in regards to leg pains so I elected with a plan to hunt bear.  The plan was simple. Walk little and set a lot. The place was around Cherry Run.                  

I should have known the day was not going to go well when I walked across an open area and a fourth of the way up a hill only to see my dome lights were on in the car. I trekked back and pushed the door tight and proceeded back up the hill.

I set for over an hour and decided to go further up the hill to check on the local corn field status. I was disappointed the corn had been harvested for I knew a local bear was feeding on corn at times. I had seen one here in October, but due to my leg issues I couldn’t get out for scouting prior to the season. The fact of not scouting was  not an issue for I was out in the woods enjoying the day! Seeing any bear would be  a plus.                                                                                   

I returned to set  for a time but the urge to travel couldn’t be suppressed and off I went! The walk aggravated the leg and I knew I shouldn’t press the walking much for fear of a much worse situation.

I walked down slope and began to see a helicopter moving around. This guy must have been an anti-hunter for he seemed to just hover around me picking up debris from the seismic devices scattered everywhere. He chose to stay around me. At one point I could have hit the chopper with a stone if I had a good enough arm to do so. I became aggravated and decided to head home.                                                                                

I had seen a number of deer and some squirrels. I heard no shots or saw any hunters.

  Monday morning found me in northern Armstrong County. A total of 4-5 inches of snow was present on the ground. I elected to walk in search of bear tracks. The temperature was cold and I realized setting was not a good option. the leg was doing very well as I walked about in search of tracks.

I saw plenty od deer along with their tracks and coyote and fox tracks. I saw some grouse too but no bear. I felt good and still elected to hunt for half a day. The healing is happening and why push  walking although I, probably, did cover around five miles or so. I heard two distant shots that morning.