Nov 7, 2004 By Rod Schoener 8 min read

Southern Fayette County Wildlife Conservation Officer Steve Leiendecker says that poaching activity has been pretty quiet lately. “Poaching activity is definitely down from prior years,” Leiendecker said. “I attribute that to the price of gasoline.

“Even legal spotlighting is down. Some nights I don’t see a single spotlighter. Some popular places where we used to see 10 or 11 legal spotlighters a night, we don’t see any now.”

While Leiendecker said he is not seeing a lot of deer on patrol, he can assess from the ones he is seeing that the rut is not far off.

“I have seen deer chasing does,” he said. I would have to say the rut is almost under way. I personally saw several bucks chasing does, and I even saw some bucks sparring on night.”

Are there many big bucks around?

While he admits he has not seen any monster bucks, Leiendecker has spoken with sportsmen who have seen some pretty formidable deer.

“One guy who has killed some a few trophy bucks in his lifetime told me he saw one buck that was well over two feet wide on the outside spread.

“I haven’t told anybody about it, and yesterday (last Tuesday) another person told me about the same story. It backed up the first report, as both saw the deer in the same spot. I told him I believed him because I had another identical sighting report.

“Both were certain that the spread had to be over two feet.”

Leiendecker said that some guys claim for a deer to get that big they have to go nocturnal, only coming out at night and resting deep in the woods all day.

“One of the guys who saw the big buck saw it in a field at 11 a.m.,” Leiendecker pointed out. “That kind of ruins the nocturnal survival theory.

“When deer are fawns, they rely on the hider instinct. They can’t outrun predators, so they just lie still. They don’t give off any scent, and their spots give them a natural camouflage.

“I maintain that some deer never lose that instinct,” Leiendecker said. “That is how they survive so long. They do not panic when threatened, and lie still and allow hunters to just walk past them unnoticed.”

I mentioned that many archery hunters are not seeing deer, to which Leiendecker replied, “That is because there is so much natural food available. Deer don’t have to move much to find foot, but once the rut arrives, all bets are off.”

Leiendecker said that he hasn’t been seeing many turkeys, but he did check a small hen that a hunter killed on Game Land 138.

With an abundance of food in some areas, turkeys haven’t shown themselves in the fields much this fall. I have noticed smaller flocks than usual around my home, but I too only spot them occasionally, indicating they are still around but staying low key.

While he may not be seeing many turkeys, Leiendecker said, “I’m seeing lots of coyotes and seeing coyote droppings everywhere, especially on the back roads, where they frequently make their deposits in the middle of the road.”

Leiendecker noted that nighttime shooting activity is down, noting “We had some success with our robo-deer during the early muzzleloader season.

“A juvenile who was operating a quad illegally, jumped off, leaned against the quad and shot at the deer during the day. He was a West Virginia resident, and he did not have a license.

“We were running the deer decoy on a farm where we had complaints of illegal quad riding.”

After I wrote of not seeing many deer on the Game Lands in Greene County, a concerned sportsman called me and said, “Do you know why you didn’t see any deer? I’ll tell you why. It’s because they run quads all over the game lands and scare them away.” That makes sense in a way. I’ve had friends who hunt in the South, where everyone uses a quad, relate to me how they’ve had deer under their stand more than once only to have them run off by someone on a quad.

“Quad usage is a problem,” Leiendecker said. “It is even worse on private land than on game lands. I know that there have been a lot of quad problems on Game Lands 138 and 238. We make some arrests, but they are hard to catch.

“The fine for running a quad illegally can range from $75 to $200. The game land fine does not fit the crime. We need stiffer penalties, like confiscation of the quad.”

Pheasant stockings have been under way, and to date, 3,600 cock birds were stocked in the county between one preseason and one inseason stocking.

The final pheasant release for this year is scheduled to take place late this week.

Participation was said to be very good during this year’s youth pheasant hunt on Game Land 228 near Masontown.

On a final note, Leiendecker related information on a recent “good” deer case.

He said that someone called and reported a guy shooting out of a truck window near Markleysburg.

“I wasn’t close when the report came in, and it took me a while to get to the area,” Leiendecker said. “After arriving at the scene, I was trying to locate the deer he had shot. While I was looking for the deer a vehicle came along that matched the description of the shooter’s truck.

“I stepped out of the brush and stopped him. He did not have a spotlight or gun in the truck. I said to him ‘we both know why we’re here,’ and he denied any knowledge of the incident.

“At that point I noticed a drop of blood on the knee of his pants. Then I asked him to step out of the vehicle. When he did, I noticed even more drops of blood on his pants. Then he finally admitted that he had shot the deer out of the window with a .22 magnum rifle.

“The deer dropped when he shot it but suddenly sprung to life, kicking him in the arm. I found the deer the next morning.

The shooter had a juvenile with him at the time he shot.

“He paid the fine for illegally shooting at the deer and most likely will lose his hunting license for three years.”

ARCHERY UPDATE: “I think the rut is here,” Kevin Polish said Thursday evening after describing all the recent excitement around Kevin’s Archery at Carmichaels.

“Everyone is starting to become excited and coming in to buy scent, especially doe in heat scent.

“Just about everyone has a different story to tell, but most are excited about the rut. Opinions are mixed on whether or not the rut has really begun, but all agree that deer activity seems to be picking up.”

Polish said that many hunters began to see more deer last Monday and Tuesday, but said they disappeared by Thursday with the approaching rain.

Dominic Barbetta checked in an 8-pointer with an 18-inch spread, and another customer bagged a big buck up north.

“I think we’re going to close out the season with a bang,” Polish said. “I think the rut is here. A lot of hunters reported seeing five or six bucks this week, and that is a positive sign.

“Opinions are still split on antler restriction. One guy said he saw four spike bucks – more than he has seen in the past 10 years.”

Polish, who spent several hours Thursday in his tree stand without seeing a deer, said, “I am surprised to see how many leaves are still on the trees. Many hunters mentioned how unusually thick foliage for this late in the season, saying it has at times kept them from identifying deer.”

Polish noted that deer are still coming in really late, as we get out from under the full moon.

He said, “Bowhunters need to get in the woods right now. Everything is right for them to have lots of fun in the next 10 days. More bowhunters need to plan their vacation rather than early in the season. I always say the peak of the rut is Nov. 15.”

He noted that the biggest complaint is that hunters can’t find natural feed to hunt over.

I say find a woodlot with some acorns or a standing cornfield and set your stand up nearby and hope to catch them coming from the feeding area at down or to the feeding area at dusk.

Good hunting!

Rod Schoener is the Herald-Standard outdoors editor.