Construction Of Camp

The previous post gave a brief look back at how my family came to hunt and spend our time in the Dents Run area of Elk County. After many years of staying in motels we found a place a little closer to our hunting grounds. These pictures are of houses that are owned by a Benezette resident and were converted into boarding houses so to speak. These houses are still being used today and were a brief stop for our hunting group on the way to having a permanent home base.





In 1991 we were blessed when we found the property where we would build our camp. When we first stepped foot out of the truck that day and saw that view, we were in love.Shortly after we began construction.








I have come to learn that a camp is never truly finished but here is our "finshed product."

Camp Nick: How Did We Get Here

My grandpap on my father's side of the family rode the train from Jacobs Creek ,PA north to the mountains of Elk County and more specifically Dents Run. He as with all the guys that used to do that, really had to love heading to the mountains for their annual deer hunt. In these early years once they reached thier destination local people would take hunters in to stay in their attics, spare rooms, etc. At this time (1930s and 40s) in the country most people were not financially in a good position.For these people to embark on this trip could only mean that it was something they held very near and dear to their heart and was maybe that one thing a year that these people looked forward to. Years later my father, his brother and his nephews all got their start hunting the mountains of north central PA. They had, by that time, started driving themselves to "deer camp" which now was the DuBois Manor Motel. The motel, which is still in operation, served as camp all the way up until 1989. Below are some of the earlist pictures I have of their trips.



Grandpap Nick on Right.

In the picture below all they guys are waiting at the vehicles to head home and grandpap is walking out of the woods. This ended up being his last trip to Elk County and Dents Run.


In the next post I'll show you the construction of Camp Nick, which we built in 1993 and have hunted out of till present day.

2011 PA Elk Hunt

One of the highlights of our hunting season every year (since 2002) is taking part in the annual PA elk hunt. Since we can't seem to draw a tag for ourselves and have spent so much time in the elk range we have guided for the hunt for the last ten years. This hunt has been such a joy to be involved in, thanks to all the people we have met and the hunts that we have gotten to take a part in. The following is a brief pictorial of some of the hunts we helped out with this year.
For those of you who enjoy the pics and short stories of the annual Pa elk hunt I apologize for taking so long to get these up but here they are. This is most of the hunts that we were invloved in, but I still haven't gotten pictures from some of the hunters to post a complete set.
This first two pictures are of the consevation tag holder and his bull.
Mike McGinnis 10 x 8 (380")


Bob Martin 7 x 7 (360")


Al Paradise 6 x 6 (300")

Paul Hofnagle 8 x 7 (410")

Paul's bulls 2010 sheds

Rick Weyandt 7 x 6 (360") Estimated age 14 years old


Ken Kastely 9 x 9 (410")


Jesse Heiple 8 x 7 (405")


Bill Zee 9 x 8 (450") Largest bull of hunt


David Duffy 6 x 6 (320")


Joe Pollack 7 x 4 (busted up) (300")


Helen Smyers (her husband got a bull in 2005, first husband and wife to get Pa elk)

Sorry I haven't gotten pictures of our other cow hunter Leo Henry but will post some soon. Also will post some in the field from Jesse Heiple.
Definitely one of the highlights of the hunt was Al Paradise's nephews, it was so important to Al that they be a part of the hunt and be right there over the shoulder. Fortunately it did work out that way and those boys were able to share that experience with their uncle. Here are a few random pics from the week.
Al's nephews with some bulls

Roughly 1190" of horn and 2000lbs of elk meat




And for those of you that like horn

So close

Just wanted to follow up the story of Reed Bamberbger's bull. The bull came in with an official Boone & Crockett score of 423 6/8" making it the second biggest bull taken in PA. That's five bulls now netting over 400" taken from PA and all of them coming during or after the 2005 hunting season. Just more concrete evidence that the herd and the bulls are getting bigger and healthier thanks to good management. At the heart of that managemnet plan, the PA elk hunting season.
So thank you PGC, your biologists, and especially hunters and their dollars for the great success story that is the PA elk herd. So whether you are about to pull the trigger or snap a photo please remember, you have hunters to thank for those impressive animals.
281 days and counting to the 2010 elk season. The next step in a healthier herd.

Reed Bamberger's 2009 bull elk.

On January 2nd, 2010 Reed Bamberger' s bull was officially scored for both Boone & Crockett and Safari Club International record books. The state record here in PA is 425 2/8" taken by John Shirk in 2006, Reed's bull came in with a net non-typical Boone & Crockett score of 423 6/8" just missimg the state record by 1 5/8". His bull scores 438 6/8" by the S.C.I. method.

The elk hunt: Creating a healthier herd and thus bigger bulls.

Opponents of the PA elk hunt have stated the adverse effects that the recent elk hunts have had on the herd and in paticular the number of "monster bulls" that are present for tourist's easy viewing pleasure. It has been stated that if the hunt is to go on unchanged we will hurt the herd and that not only will there be less but there will be no more mature bulls to view. This will then cause a halt to the tourist business in and around the Winslow Hill area. If this were true than a look at the bulls harvested from the first year of the hunt to the most recent hunt would show a decline in the size of the bulls taken. In fact if you have a animal that had not been hunted for seventy years, the first few years of the hunt there should have been bulls of grandiose proportions to go around to all hunters. Let's face it with no hunting the elk would have been dying off of old age and reaching the peak of their size.Over the next few posts I will comprise a grouping of bulls from the most recent years and heading back to the first year of the hunt. Even with stacking the odds in favor of the early years of the hunt (the no hunting for seventy-years), I doubt these people are right. If they are than we will see that the bulls taken in the early years of the hunt are larger on average than those taken now. This would be concrete proof that there are fewer large bulls now than there were in the past.

I already know the answer to this part of the debate, follow along and I will show you the real story of the PA elk hunt.

2009 Hunt (Here are twelve to start with, more to follow)

438"

320"

410"

350"

405"

350"

300"

375"

(Willard Hill photo, from PA Wildlife

Photographer Blog) 340"

350"

(Photo from Support

PA Elk Blog)

375"

300"

Thank You, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year

Jack