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Pa hunting trip

Swamp_bucks

By Swamp_bucks,
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Swamp_bucks Mentor

Swamp_bucks

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Well it looks like as of right now we will be going to pa for a 4 day bow hunt.  Right now we have 5 guys planning on going.  We will be hunting state game lands 175 and 35 which is located near Hallstead which is just over the border. Dates we are looking at are 6-10, 13-17th of October I would like to go later but most of us have kids birthdays at the end of the month and early november.  We wanted a cheap trip and there is a campsite nearby with camper parking,cabins and tent sites for cheap.  So I think we can do it for around $200-300, 100 being just for the tags.

Since it's only 1.5hrs away we plan on making a saturday or a couple saturdays to go put boots on the ground.  I have been doing some scouting using huntstand to find transition areas,saddles,water,ect.  

Nice thing is being so close it wont be the end of the world to go down another time for a day hunt or 2.  I'll be posting on this as we put plans, scouting or anything else for the trip together. 

This will be all of our first time hunting put of state.  To harvest a deer would be great but to go hang out with a bunch of close friends and relax and bs will be good enough.  

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Swamp_bucks Mentor

Swamp_bucks

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27 minutes ago, Bolt action said:

This sounds fantastic. I've been trying to coordinate a similar trip with friends for years now, but like always seems to get in the way. Good luck with the trip!

Yea we have been kicking around the idea for 2 years now.  So fingers crossed we can get it done.

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Robhuntandfish Grand Master

Robhuntandfish

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Used to do a fishing trip with 6 guys every year for like 20 years. And they were some great times. But like others said life got in the way.  Kids, sports, jobs, living in other states etc.  But they sure were fun.  The older we got the less booze we took with us. Lol.  But fish all day, shore lunches, big meal, some drinks and playing cards and BSing.  Good times.  Have fun. 

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BizCT Grand Master

BizCT

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I'm hoping we see some I know I need to look up some more info.  Crossbow use,reporting,tagging,if I take a wall hanger how do i get it back to ny for a mount,can i pack out the meat,ect.
So I still have a ton of research to do but looking forward to it.


Check PA regs so you know antler restrictions for your unit and dates etc


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Dinsdale Community Regular

Dinsdale

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1 hour ago, Robhuntandfish said:

Used to do a fishing trip with 6 guys every year for like 20 years. And they were some great times. But like others said life got in the way.  Kids, sports, jobs, living in other states etc.  But they sure were fun.  The older we got the less booze we took with us. Lol.  But fish all day, shore lunches, big meal, some drinks and playing cards and BSing.  Good times.  Have fun. 

I ran fishing trips into Canada for about the same time, not always the same group, but 4 people most years.

They all got married so I started traveling  and doing hunting trips solo.

It was fun having a good group get together. Hard to get anyone interested in hunting trips I'm doing.

 

 

 

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Pygmy Experienced

Pygmy

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20 minutes ago, Dinsdale said:

I ran fishing trips into Canada for about the same time, not always the same group, but 4 people most years.

They all got married so I started traveling  and doing hunting trips solo.

It was fun having a good group get together. Hard to get anyone interested in hunting trips I'm doing.

 

 

 

Some of us just got old and once  we retired and were  on  a fixed income, the money dried up...

Also, such hunts are MUCH more expensive than they were when I was doing them.....I did an Alaska DIY  float trip in 1989 ...  The hunt, which included  float plane flying from Anchorage to and back from The Mulchatna River ( west of the AK range)

renting rafts and equipment  was $1100  for one hunter...  You could do the whole trip door to door from NY for $3K per person, including airfare to and from AK,   if you didn't spend too much money at the The Great Alaska Bush Company.. Not that I ever went there...

 

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Dinsdale Community Regular

Dinsdale

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1 hour ago, Pygmy said:

Some of us just got old and once  we retired and were  on  a fixed income, the money dried up...

Also, such hunts are MUCH more expensive than they were when I was doing them.....I did an Alaska DIY  float trip in 1989 ...  The hunt, which included  float plane flying from Anchorage to and back from The Mulchatna River ( west of the AK range)

renting rafts and equipment  was $1100  for one hunter...  You could do the whole trip door to door from NY for $3K per person, including airfare to and from AK,   if you didn't spend too much money at the The Great Alaska Bush Company.. Not that I ever went there...

 

Age, finances, health all play a factor. I was sidelined for 2019 with health issues, never a thought for me before then. Lost interest in hunting with that deal for a spell.

But the biggest is time.

I'm back on it for a trip this fall where a second hunter could spend just the cost of airfare over your 3k to one of the premier hunting concessions anywhere; but its going to be 15 or 16 days away and no cell phones for 11. That's out of comfort zone for most to be away from home. And it's going to be stupid hot & long days well into the night afield, where I thrive and most wilt. Hard to get anyone to sign up for that.

 

The Pa trip is great, close enough to scout, cheap, and lots of fun. Do it while you can and make some memories.

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mlammerhirt Mentor

mlammerhirt

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Swap sounds like an awesome trip....keep us posted as details unfold.

My buddy and I are in the very early stages of planning for taking my son...turning 7 in May to hunt PA for a mentored hunt maybe the fall he turns 9. If they drop the age in NY to 12 for big game hunting we may start him a year early cause I believe you can hunt 3 years with a mentor license before needing to take the hunter education course.
Like I said very early stages.....but we got the wheels spinning and may put some boots to the ground this summer.

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Four Seasons Veteran

Four Seasons

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On 3/5/2021 at 5:45 PM, Swamp_bucks said:

I'm hoping we see some I know I need to look up some more info.  Crossbow use,reporting,tagging,if I take a wall hanger how do i get it back to ny for a mount,can i pack out the meat,ect.

So I still have a ton of research to do but looking forward to it.

 Pa is a CWD state so you will need to clean the skull and debone the meat before coming back into Ny. 

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Swamp_bucks Mentor

Swamp_bucks

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Well in about an hr 3 of us are meeting up and going for an all day scouting trip in PA to the area we are going to hunt.  I've been pouring over maps on Huntstand for 3 months and it's time to put my boots on the ground and hope my map reading skills and deer knowledge put me close.  The one piece is 7000 acres and I have 4 30 acre pieces that interest me. There is also a 700acre piece near by that has 3 30 acre chunks that have my attention. Didn't sleep much because I'm so pumped for my first out of state hunt.  I'll post some pictures later from today of what we find.  

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Robhuntandfish Grand Master

Robhuntandfish

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2 hours ago, Swamp_bucks said:

Well in about an hr 3 of us are meeting up and going for an all day scouting trip in PA to the area we are going to hunt.  I've been pouring over maps on Huntstand for 3 months and it's time to put my boots on the ground and hope my map reading skills and deer knowledge put me close.  The one piece is 7000 acres and I have 4 30 acre pieces that interest me. There is also a 700acre piece near by that has 3 30 acre chunks that have my attention. Didn't sleep much because I'm so pumped for my first out of state hunt.  I'll post some pictures later from today of what we find.  

some of the best parts of hunting are those days.  Love trying to figure out the puzzle and going with some buddies is gonna be even better.  Have fun, hope you find a couple good spots to start. 

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Swamp_bucks Mentor

Swamp_bucks

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Just got back to the house. I didn't take to many pictures but each spot I scouted online ended up being having sign some good some bad. Total miles walked 8

The best setup spot was stop number 2 and was 10x better in person then online. Its a corner of a field edge with a deep ravine off the back(didn't show on the topo) and the space between the ridge and the field was 20 yards with 6 trails all meeting and crossing at a massive white oak. So I have a camera in place and a tree picked out.

1st spot we went to was the farthest from camp but we found 20plus beds in a deep thicket with a pinch point leading to an ag field.  There had to be 200 plus rubs in this area and we also found a scrape from last year.

3 rd spot had the 2nd least amount of sign but looked to hold a good amount of deer and had a bunch of historical rubs.

4th spot is an exit coming from a swamp leading to agg fields. Trails are down to mud and I also found beds in the swamp.  We also hung a camera at this location.  Easy entrance in and out with a mountain pinching them down to a little ditch leading to the meadows. 

5th spot was also another swamp but didn't really have what I was looking for.  Very little current sign and very little historic sign. 

So we found a handful of solid spots that should produce and can sit multiple people on different winds.

Only pictures I have is of one bed and a porcupine.

Edited by Swamp_bucks
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