Autumn and Hunting Season

Whether you are a hunter with a gun or a camera Autumn is the best time of year to see so much.

Let me get this point out first. In Pennsylvania you hunt most game in the Fall. Hunting is illegal any other time of year except for Spring gobbler in May. You can only hunt the males at that time because it is also their breeding season and the hens have nests.

I love autumn when the weather is changing to cooler. The leaves are changing and God is giving us such a beautiful show. Fall is also when the deer are going into their rut; breeding season. The bucks are ready to fight for the does to breed with.

In my experience with hunting I have learned so much about the game. First you always scout out your hunting areas. You look for buck rubs on the trees.. This is where the buck will scrape the velvet off his antlers. The velvet covers the antlers through the spring and summer as they grow. In early fall they will come across a tree once in awhile and scrape their antlers against it. This is hard on the trees because it will rub the bark off. Those are the buck rubs and it gives you an idea of the paths the bucks travel.

Closer to hunting season, early October for archery, you look for their scrapes on the ground. The buck will find a low hanging branch on his path, scrape the ground below it with his hooves and urinate to leave a scent. Then he chews at the branch above and rubs it with its head to leave a scent. This is to show other bucks that he are there and to attract does. It's very interesting.

The bucks will actually run together at first. This is called bacheraloring. You know, a bunch of guys hanging around together . They later separate. They will run around making a low grunt to attract and dare other bucks. Then they will fight each other banging those antlers together. That alone is a sight to see. Their necks swell up and they are very proud and majestic. It's also a dominant thing as far as territory goes. The buck will try to breed with as many does as possible.

The hunters have a grunt call they can use if they do hear a deer call or they just may take a chance in case one is in the area. Hunters will also try rattling antlers together to attract bucks looking for a battle. There is also a rattle bag they use. Sticks in a bag that when rattled correctly sounds like the deer banging antlers together.

When hunting deer you can learn so much about them and other animals in the woods. I often enter the woods long before light. I like to get to my spot, get set up and relax a bit. At times, while in my tree stand I will hear walking below me but without light it's hard to know what is there. As daylight comes I've seen raccoons, porcupines, foxes, ruffed grouse, squirrels and turkey. It's always busy in the mornings. You need to sit very still and patiently. It's nice when you deer come in early but I am just not always so lucky.

Deer meat is very good and it is supposed to be much better that beef is or you. We freeze and can a lot of our meat. We're always pestered for jerky and I love the deer bologna.

As I said. Hunting can be fun and educational in many ways. Using a rifle or camera. I take my eight year old grandson hiking. He is very good at picking out signs and telling me what was there and about when. Another plus for hiking and knowing what's out there is, we often fun across signs of bears too. It's always good to know what's going on in your surroundings.