Connellsville bowhunter bags awesome buck
Local bowhunters had a really great year, harvesting many outstanding bucks and a fair number of does. One awesome buck was among the local harvest figures.
It was 16-point monster with a 22-inch spread, which was taken on Bellview Hill in the northern end of Fayette County by Rob Schroyer of Connellsville.
He bagged his trophy at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14, just two days before the season closed.
Due to work commitments, it was only the second time he was able to get out all season.
“I work mostly afternoon and midnight shift,” Schroyer said. “I was only able to hunt about 2 1/2 hours all season.”
I asked Schroyer if he knew the buck was in the area prior to the hunt, and he said, “No. I didn’t do any scouting or anything. I pretty much hunt the same area all the time.
“That day I was in the woods about one-half hour after I picked a tree and set up my stand, and that was the spot.”
Schroyer said that, after he got set up, he started to use his grunt call.
“I grunted him in. He came in alone.”
Thinking “buck fever” might settle in with a buck like this just a few feet away, Schroyer said, “I knew it was a buck, and he was legal, so I figured I’d better shoot him.
“I knew he had some horn on him, but I didn’t really realize how big he was until I got to him. Right then I knew he was a trophy, and I was definitely going to get him mounted.”
How did he score Pope and Young?
“I haven’t had him scored yet,” Schroyer said. “I’m going to wait 60 days for the rack to cure before I get it scored.”
Schroyer used a PSE Thunderflight bow (29-inch draw, 75-pound pull) and 2114 Superlight arrows tipped with 85-grain Thunderhead broadheads to arrow his buck through both lungs – a lethal shot, which only allowed the deer to travel a very short distance.
The deer, which Schroyer didn’t weigh officially, “weighed at least 200 pounds. He was almost 6-feet long. He filled the bed of an S-10 pickup from one end to another.”
Schroyer said he enlisted the aid of his cousin, John Schroyer, to haul the deer from the woods on his four-wheeler.
Bow hunting is Schroyer’s only passion. He has taken several whitetails with a bow with an 8-pointer being his next largest trophy.
“I only hunt deer with a bow,” Schroyer said. “I do some small game hunting, especially for rabbits, and some day I would like to hunt elk with a bow and arrow.”
When we ended our talk, Schroyer said he was on his way to talk with a couple of taxidermists about mounting his trophy, which should find a place in the Pennsylvania record book.
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From my observations, many bowhunters had outstanding seasons with more junior and female hunters scoring than ever before.
That was also the sentiment passed on by Kevin Polish at Kevin’s Archery in Carmichaels.
In answer to my query about the final two weeks of the archery season, Polish said, “It went really good. We had a lot of deer brought in and a change in the leadership of our annual buck pool.
“There were a lot of monster deer brought in, but it seems sightings tapered off the last couple of weeks. I attribute that to the fact that bucks were still chasing does. The rut is really hard to hunt at times.”
Polish said that he attributes the increase in larger bucks to the new game laws regarding deer hunting.
“I believe the changes in the law will produce more bigger bucks,” he said.
Not every hunter had the opportunity to shoot a real trophy buck, so I asked him what the reaction was to those who saw bucks but none that met the three-point requirement.
“A lot of guys went without taking a buck, and many were frustrated, especially the guys who have been hunting for years and are used to killing a buck.
“There a lot of spikes, three-and four-point bucks on the western end of Greene County, so the feelings were mixed among hunters who like to hunt there. Some liked it, mostly those hunters who had more time to be selective. Those hunters who work every day and only had Saturday’s to hunt were not 100 percent for the three-point rule.
Basically, I think we had a great season. There were more trophy deer brought in than ever before. I attribute that to a better buck/doe ratio. Is the new law going to work? We’re going to have to wait and see.”
Even with the good local harvest, Polish feels that many deer were saved because of the rainy weather at the end of the season, which kept many hunters out of the wood.
Danny Batis of Masontown was the winner of this year’s free buck pool at Kevin’s Archery.
He captured honors by bagging a 9-point buck with a 23-inch spread.
A large albino buck was taken by Jeff Givson of Fairchance. It was a 6-pointer with a 16-inch spread.
Many nice bucks were either entered in the pool or checked at Kevin’s.
A list of some of those trophy whitetails follows:
Roy Beck of Masontown, 8-point, 15 1/2-inch spread; John Dibiase of Carmichaels, 10-point, 11 1/2-inch spread; John Henry of Carmichaels, 8-point 18 1/2-inch spread; Monty Hunnell of Waynesburg, 8-point, 18-inch spread; Earl Cook of Carmichaels, 7-point, 18-inch spread; Joe Piper of Carmichaels, 8-point, 20-inch spread.
Mike Kraft of Jefferson, 13-point, 20-inch spread; Jefferson; Don McDonald, of Brownsville, 7-point, 16-inch spread; Chuck Spangenberg of Dilliner, 8-point, 16-inch spread; Chris Polish of Carmichaels, 7-point, 14-inch spread and Eddie Bergman of Adah, 8-point, 18-inch spread.
Two Ohio hunters who deal at Kevin’s had two nice deer to show off. Howie Bella bagged a 9-pointer with an 18 1/2-inch spread, and Brian Bogden killed an 11-pointer with a 16 1/2-inch spread.
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Kevin and Chris Polish’s son, K.J., who is becoming one of the top archers on the professional tournament circuit, was in Alabama recently to film a Bushnell Secrets of the Hunt video with Dave Watson.
K.J., who shoots from a wheelchair, bagged a nine-point buck with a 19-inch spread, two does and a wild boar on video. The program will be aired this winter on TNN.
Next week, K.J. hits the road again to film a Muzzy Bad to the Bone promotional video.
Herald-Standard outdoor writer Rod Schoener can be reached on line at rschoener@heraldstandard.com.