Winchester Mountain

Saturday, 11-12-11, my dad and I went hunting, dad took his bow while I carried a shotgun for turkey. Due to school and work, I don't get out much, so I was really excited about this trip. I got up a bit after 4 a.m. and went to my dad's house. After we fueled up for the day with some venison sausage and fried potatoes, we were on our way. We arrived to State Game Lands 44 around 5:30 a.m. and started our climb up the "Winchester Trail." This is an old logging trail, from when the ghost town of Blue Rock was still around. We reached the top of the hill around 6:45, and by 7 I had my bird. A gobbler with an 8" beard and 3/4" and 7/8" spurs, my biggest gobbler yet!

                                                 dad and me, Winchester hill in the background

It was so early and the last day of the archery season in PA, I didn't want to spoil my dad's hunt. So I dropped my gear, and took my bird back to the truck, grabbed my camera bag, and made my way back up Winchester. On the way up, I ran into a flock of dark-eyed juncos and black-capped chickadees

 Black-capped chickadee

           everything was still covered in frost on my way back up

                  "the tunnel" an overhang of eastern hemlocks on the "Winchester Trail"

        this is about the halfway mark on the mountain

                 This memorial to a friend can be found at the spring at the top of Winchester

There are three beech trees at the spring with initials on them, this being the most scarred. In the middle of the carved graffitti you can see EJ '64, my great grandfather. The oldest date on the tree.


It took me about an hour and a half to get to the truck and back, which my I found surprising. Me and dad wondered through the woods on Winchester all morning,

Dad leading the way. I love how the snow gets thicker the higher you climb. It was a beautiful day on the mountain!!!

We ran into a few NICE buck rubs. This was one of the less impressive rubs we saw that day, notice the size of tree this monster gouged!?

It was around 11 a.m. by the time we decided to sit and have lunch. We found a good spot on a point where we could see a good distance, and keep watch for any deer. Being this close to a good rub line, I had my camera ready, and dad was on gaurd with his "Fox" recurve. We sat on the point for quite some time, the same location that I harvested my first turkey when I was 12. While there we observed quite a few species of birds. White-breasted nuthatches, blue jays, hairy woodpeckers, black-capped chickadees, a red-tailed hawk, and red-bellied woodpeckers all made an appearance.

                                                             Hairy woodpecker

                                                                 Hairy woodpecker
(note the black line separating the red patch on the head, which the similar downy woodpecker lacks)

                                                                     Hairy woodpecker

                                                          Red-bellied woodpecker

                                                                              Blue jay

Last Saturday was absolutely a success, I got a nice bird, a few pictures that didn't turn out half bad, and spent some time hanging out with dad, the way we enjoy it.