Bowhunters bag big does … and some really big bucks
In most sports a success rate of 10 or 12 percent would not be acceptable. It has become the norm for bowhunters registered in the annual big doe contests sponsored by Kevin’s Archery’s on opening day of the archery deer season each fall.
This year archers had the option of entering in any of three geographic divisions – Greene County, Fayette County and all other counties.
The contest “went really well,” shop owner Kevin Polish said. “We had a lot of participation this year. We had over 200 entries and nine winners, including a tie in the Greene County contest.
“We had what we get every year … about 250 entries.
“There were 24 deer weighed in. It seems that every year we hit that 10 to 12 percent figure.
“It kind of throws the theory that it is easy to get a doe with a bow out the window when you have 250 good hunters out there trying to take an antlerless deer and only 10 to 12 percent manage to do so.”
Polish noted that the weight of the doe in the pool was up this year. “We had four deer come in over the 100-pound mark, and 11 or 12 weighed over 90 pounds. In my first six to eight years of running the contest the average weight of the does turned in was 78 to 80 pounds. This year the average weight was bumped to 86 or 88 pounds.
“The hunters did really well. It a nice little thing I started, and it’s become an annual ritual. Everybody kind of loves that doe contest. It gets everybody fired up and wanting to get out there and hunt. At first there was some opposition to it, and a lot of people opposed it, but now, if the fee was reduced, I would get 400 participants.”
Winner in the all other county category was Wally Stotka, who bagged a doe weighing 108 pounds.
The heaviest doe weighed in came from Fayette County. It was a 110-pounder bagged by Mike Ross of Connellsville. Gene Yatchysn of Brownsville was second in the Fayette County category with a 97-pounder, and Monroe Cottrell of Point Marion bagged a 95-pounder.
There was a tie in the Greene County division, where Mark Smitley of Connellsville checked in a 105-pounder, and John Yenny of Waynesburg a 105-pounder. Three 90-pounders rounded out the Greene County leaders. They were bagged by Dan Orrahood of Waynesburg, Jerry Fisher of Waynesburg and Andrew Payton of Uniontown.
At first many hunters were opposed to shooting does, but now the state wants more does killed, so the concept is becoming more readily accepted by many hunters.
“Polish said, “I’ve had more big bucks brought into my store this year than ever before. I was always a firm believer that if you kill the does you’re going to have more and nicer bucks. With the new law, I was totally against it, but just three weeks into the season I’m saying ‘boy the Game Commission isn’t doing that bad of a job.’ You may hear me say a year from not that these guys are trying and they are going to produce some bigger deer.”
Each year the shop sponsors a free big buck contest.
This year’s entries attest to what Polish said about big bucks.
The leader after three weeks of archery season is John Redshaw of Uniontown, who bagged a 17-point Fayette County buck with a 15-inch spread.
Fayette County hunters also turned in two other great bucks. Jay Metts of Uniontown bagged a 9-pointer with a 16 3/4-inch spread, and Joe Lovis of Ralph checked in a 9-pointer with a 19 3/8-inch spread.
Tom Fowler of Jefferson bagged a hefty 8-pointer with a 15 3/4-inch spread, Rodney Fox of Carmichaels took an 8-pointer with an 18 1/2-inch spread, and Belmont Forsythe of Alicia took a 9-pointer with a 16 1/4-inch spread to carry the Greene County banner.
Another very impressive 8-pointer was bagged in Westmoreland County by John Bartram of Brownsville.
After encountering problems last week, being unable to see much over 30 yards through the dense foliage in Greene County while muzzleloader hunting, I ask Polish if he was hearing similar complaints from bowhunters.
“Usually people are able to see a lot better out of their tree stands during the second week, but we’re well into the third, and for as cold as it has been, there is still a lot of foliage out there,” he said. “It is hard to believe. We’ve had a couple of cold spells. It has been cold but we haven’t really had a good frost. A lot of the acorns are still hanging in the trees. If we get a little cold weather and some wind it will really bring the acorns down.”
The woods are definitely changing. Last Tuesday there were few leaves on the ground. By Wednesday the ground was very lightly blanketed in autumn hues with leaves dropping with regularity but not extreme urgency.
While there were enough acorns on the ground to keep the squirrels scurrying about all day and provide a hefty meal for a hungry whitetail, there were still many in the trees, which plopped to the ground throughout the day.
Polish said, “Tomorrow (Oct. 25) is my day. “It’s like July 4 spurs the bowhunter on, but I believe that Oct. 25 is the best time for the bowhunter. The leaves will start falling now, and within the next seven days, you will see 90 percent of the foliage gone. Guys are going to get in their treestands next Wednesday or Thursday and say ‘wow, I can see 60 yards.’
“This is the strangest year I have ever had as far as listening to people and ciphering out what they are telling me. One guy comes in and says he can’t see any bucks, and the next guy comes in saying he’s seeing bucks.
“There were bucks chasing does the first week of the season. What do you attribute that to? Do you attribute it because there are less does, or do you attribute it to the cold weather?
“We have bowhunters going out there the first two weeks of the season and seeing 15 deer, six of which are bucks. I remember when we hunted 15 years ago that when you saw 15 deer, you were lucky to see two bucks.
“I attribute the full moon as the reason hunters haven’t seen seeing deer the last five or six days. We had a full moon; now we’re losing sight of it. Now is when things are really going to get good. Usually most bowhunters plan their vacations for the fifth week of the season. I think the fourth and fifth weeks are the best time to get out there and take a deer.”
Hunting hasn’t been good for all hunters. Polish noted that one hunter told him he has hunted eight days and has not seen a deer.
He said that a lot of people report seeing bucks this year. “I’ve had nicer bucks turned in for the buck pool for the first half of the season than I’ve ever had.
“I would say that in the 17 years that I have been in business there have only been 20 to 25 Pope and Young deer brought in. We have two or three deer over here right now that are potential Pope and Young deer. That is amazing. I think that in the future we may even see more.”
In wrapping up our analysis of the early archery season, Polish said, “It’s Christmas right now for the bowhunters. I think everybody is going to have a lot more excitement in the last part of the season. Like it always is, we’re at mid-point right now.
“I think they’re going to see a lot of activity – pre-rut stuff. There is going to be a lot of scraping and a lot of new rubs. Everybody has found rubs already and is all excited about them. We don’t want to worry about those rubs.
“Those are good, but all the rubs from now on are the ones you want to key on. There are more territorial rubs. I think there are going to be more scrapes opening up. There were a lot of scrapes early but they weren’t re-hit. If you find a scrape now, when you leave your stand, kick leaves in it, and tomorrow it will probably be open again.
“I think that is what the bowhunters are going to experience the next couple of weeks. I think there is going to be a lot of activity such as rutting activity and bucks chasing does.
“The deer will start grunting. Grunt calls should be really effective. Doe calls have been really great the first few weeks of the season.
“I think every hunter who goes into the woods next (this) week should take a set of rattling horns with him, if they’ve never experienced it. Now is the time to rattle one in for the next two weeks during the pre-rut.
“It think hunters should give rattling a shot for it has always been a real effective way to get deer to come to your stand, and now is the time to start using doe-in-heat scents.
“I think with moon phase changing and cooler than normal temperatures, it is really going to kick off Saturday (yesterday) with all the hunters in the woods. I think that starting next Monday (tomorrow) the bowhunters are going to be a little more apt to hunt. I’ve noticed just a slight decline this week in just the number of people coming into the store in camo. The first two weeks, everybody coming in after shooting hours ended was in camo.
“I think this cold spell is going to pull a lot more deer hunters back to the tree stands if the deer get active, and they should get active starting Monday or Tuesday.”
The wind and rain of the past couple days should improve visibility for all, not only making deer and squirrel more visible, but greatly improving everyone’s safety afield.
Rod Schoener is the Herald-Standard outdoors writer.