'Ideal conditions' bring trophies to hunters

Dec 02, 2008 (The Meadville Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- DIDCF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Howard Simmerman did something he'd never done before -- get a buck on the opening day of Pennsylvania's rifle deer season.

"It was a herd of monsters," Simmerman said describing the four bucks he spied around 9:30 a.m. Monday near Penn Line in western Craw-ford County.

Simmerman, 31, of Linesville, has been deer hunting since he was 12. He raised his rifle, fired -- and missed the nine-point buck with his first shot.

"He was about 110 yards away and then ran toward me (after the shot)," said Simmer-man. "He stopped and turned broadside at 60 yards."

Simmerman then was able to drop him with a second shot.

"It was still and quiet -- that's when I realized I got a nice one," Simmerman said. "I was shock-ed. To have one run toward me, that was unusual."

Getting a buck on the opening day also is unusual -- the earliest Simmerman has ever gotten a deer is the third day of the season.

He's hoping the nine-point may win him a prize in one of the local buck contests during the two-week rifle deer season that runs through Dec. 13.

Simmerman was one of more than a dozen hunters who showed up the first hour of the contest at Community Chevrolet in Vernon Township.

First day totals weren't too shabby in area deer bagging contests. Bob's Taxidermy, which is handling the buck contest for Meadville's Safari Bar, reported 34 deer tagged on opening day, while John Burger of Street Track 'N Trail said they had 42 deer entries, only one buck down from Mark Hockenberry at Ridge Road Taxidermy who stated his group had weighed in 43.

"We were down just a few from last year," Hockenberry said, but overall said the numbers were "pretty normal."

Jordan Weed, 14, of Saegertown, was able to fell an eight-point at Saegertown near SMC Corp. Monday morning.

It's the biggest deer he's bagged in his three years of deer hunting.

"I could think of nothing except pull the trigger," Weed said with a smile who had been hunting with his father, Randy. The elder Weed was shut out on Monday.

"I saw one when I was helping him with his deer and I couldn't get my rifle up in time," Randy Weed said.

Hunters like Simmerman and the Weeds were part of more than 900,000 who took to the woods on the first day of the season across the state, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission The game commission says deer license sales are up this year. About 323,000 deer were harvested by licensed hunters in 2007, down from nearly 362,000 in 2006.

In Crawford County, there was a total of 18,041 deer hunting licenses, including doe licenses, sold for this season.

Regis Senko, information/education supervisor at the Pennsylvania Game Commis-sion office in Franklin, said hunting conditions in northwest Pennsylvania were exceptional Monday.

"You had ideal conditions Monday in that you have some light snow," said Senko. "It increased visibility of hunters and deer. It also made deer easier to track."

A number of hunters agreed with Senko's assessment of opening day.

"It was a lot easier this year with the snow," said Al Wareham of Sandy Lake who got a nine-point. Wareham was hunting with his son-in-law, Eric Uber, of Stoneboro who shot an eight-point.

"It was nice this morning," said Uber. "It made it easy."

"The visibility was excellent," Simmerman said. "If there hadn't been snow, I wouldn't have seen those four deer."

Pennsylvania Game Commission said it had few incidents across the state on Monday.

In Crawford County, one hunter did fall out of a tree stand on Miller Hill Road at 6:55 a.m. The hunter was taken to Hamot Medical Center in Erie for treatment by Cambridge Area Volunteer Ambulance Service. No information on the hunter's condition was released by the hospital.

In Berks County, a hunter had to be rescued in a remote wooded area in Spring Township, near the Lancaster County line, after falling 30 feet off a tree stand before dawn.

Scott E. Schweitzer, 56, of Adamstown called family members on his cell phone shortly before 6 a.m. and said he had fallen and hurt his back, police and fire officials told The Reading Eagle. Family members called 9-1-1, and emergency crews found Schweitzer about an hour later.

There was no immediate word on the extent of Schweitzer's injuries.

In York Township, York County, an 85-year-old man was taken to York Hospital after falling while hunting deer.

The man was found by his daughter after he failed to arrive home for lunch as planned, York Area Regional Police Sgt. Rod Varner told the York Daily Record.

The unidentified man was found just after noon on a wooded section of his farm in York Township, police said. Officials said it wasn't clear if he fell from a tree stand or tripped. His loaded shotgun was found in the tree stand.

Police said the man was being treated for an injury to his head. His condition was not immediately known, police told the newspaper.

There also was a firearms incident in Lancaster County Monday morning. Game officials say nobody was hurt when a shotgun slug broke a bedroom window in West Cocalico Township, Lancaster County, about 7:30 a.m.

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