PA Long Range Season

[Joel Russo]

Ernie~
We have quite a few areas that hold groundhogs like that...
Frank no longer hunts hogs up north, he's had some health issues lately. He was just over for a visit about two weeks ago, and wasn't the same Frank that I've known for the past 30 years. He was the one that turned me on to LR groundhogs, and I miss the days that we spent up north putting the smackdown on them. I'll never forget the day I was at his house, and he laid out 25 or more full blown groundhog rifles out on the floor and said pick the one you want.. it was all down hill from here. He and Sam Morrow showed me the ropes.
Another testament to the old guys.

 

[yobuck]

Gentlemen, I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this post so thank you! I've recently inherited a camp in sinnemahoning from a man who was not only my father in law, but also one of my best friends,and a hell of a reloader,
/shooter. Due to a young family and lack of knowledge I can't take the time foe buck season, but I do sling yhe ultra mag over my shoulder and climb the power lines for bear. This year I saw probably yhe biggest typical 10 point I've ever seen up there on the first day of bear. I'm talking like dwarfes my best deer which are in the 140s and 150s PY. I also saw 2 other big bucks in yhe quehannA area. All mountain to mountain. Thanks for sharing.

Someday you should park near the power line on Wykoff run, climb to the top, then carefully sneak your way back toward town along the ridgeline and be alert and looking down over the side as you go.
I'm talking about the east side toward Jerry run. Be looking thru hand glasses more than you walk. Lots of guys drive out 3 runs rd then park and walk the old Sinnemahoning rd. But you wont find many if any doing what ive mentioned and they would actually be helping you. In the 60s/70s you wouldn't find a spot to park in bear season at any of those hollows in Wykoff run. The east side is too thick with dark pines and laurel for guys on the opposite side to glass and the sun is also a problem. Probably not a better place to be for bear and large bucks if you don't mind the hike.

 

[drags]

Ernie~
We have quite a few areas that hold groundhogs like that...
Frank no longer hunts hogs up north, he's had some health issues lately. He was just over for a visit about two weeks ago, and wasn't the same Frank that I've known for the past 30 years. He was the one that turned me on to LR groundhogs, and I miss the days that we spent up north putting the smackdown on them. I'll never forget the day I was at his house, and he laid out 25 or more full blown groundhog rifles out on the floor and said pick the one you want.. it was all down hill from here. He and Sam Morrow showed me the ropes.
Another testament to the old guys.

Hi Joel do you remember what the calibers of some of the groundhog rifles that your friend Frank had?
Drags

 

[yobuck]

Ernie~
We have quite a few areas that hold groundhogs like that...
Frank no longer hunts hogs up north, he's had some health issues lately. He was just over for a visit about two weeks ago, and wasn't the same Frank that I've known for the past 30 years. He was the one that turned me on to LR groundhogs, and I miss the days that we spent up north putting the smackdown on them. I'll never forget the day I was at his house, and he laid out 25 or more full blown groundhog rifles out on the floor and said pick the one you want.. it was all down hill from here. He and Sam Morrow showed me the ropes.
Another testament to the old guys.

Lowell gave me a picture a couple years back of a large group of Williamsport shooters taken at a match on the 2nd or 3rd year they shot there. He asked that I show it to Frank Weber and see if he could add names to the picture. Of coarse Weber was in it as were both Kepp brothers and also Frank Popp, and as I recall his son also.
I never met Sam Morrow, but I know the area his place was.
At one time it was crawling with both turkeys and groundhogs.
I hunted turkey there a few times from a camp on a farm owned by the Toroc family.

 

[gunsmith1012]

Those men that where named in the posts are the real legends of our sport and i hope the true history of long range hunting and the foundation of the original 1000 yard club is never forgotten. Im glad to say i meet a few of them and only wish i could go back and see it in the early days. Most people on the internet, this site as well, do not even know how it all began. I thank you Mr. Yobuck for bringing back the stories. And for all the grund bologna makers, they may not taste the best but make a nice rear bag when stacked.

 

[Joel Russo]

Hi Joel do you remember what the calibers of some of the groundhog rifles that your friend Frank had?
Drags

.220 Swift, .240 Wby, 6-257 Wby, .308 Baer, 6-06, 6-284, .22-.243, 7RUM, 7-300 Wby, 22-6.5 Rem mag... I bought numerous rifles from him over the years.

 

[yobuck]

Those men that where named in the posts are the real legends of our sport and i hope the true history of long range hunting and the foundation of the original 1000 yard club is never forgotten. Im glad to say i meet a few of them and only wish i could go back and see it in the early days. Most people on the internet, this site as well, do not even know how it all began. I thank you Mr. Yobuck for bringing back the stories. And for all the grund bologna makers, they may not taste the best but make a nice rear bag when stacked.View attachment 85849

Well I was for sure not one of those that started the whole thing.
Fact is there aren't any left that were. Even the old ones that are left
like Frank Weber for example, are about the 3rd generation down as for the hunters. Most of us were totally ignorant as to what was going on a few miles away. Virtually all of the l/r hunters in the Sinnemahoning/Driftwood area decended from the influence of the Kepp brothers, Frank Weber, and a couple others in that group who came to the area due to so many l/r hunters in the Pine creek area.
There might be a few claiming otherwise, but fact is they like me came later as well. The period from the mid 70s to the mid 80s saw
the biggest growth of l/r hunters in that area. But it had been going on over along Pine creek for several decades prior to that.
It has lost a certain amount of popularity recently as the deer numbers have been reduced. But that can be said of hunting in general also.
Now, what caused all that to happen? Certainly the hills and the deer had been there so why weren't guys successfully killing them across those valleys?
And the answer to that is very simple, they couldn't find them.
At least in the type of numbers that made it worth hunting those type locations. You could eventually figure out how to get a bullet there. But you wont kill what you haven found.
Take another look at post #31 for a picture of the key that opened the long range lockbox.

 

[drags]

Well I was for sure not one of those that started the whole thing.
Fact is there aren't any left that were. Even the old ones that are left
like Frank Weber for example, are about the 3rd generation down as for the hunters. Most of us were totally ignorant as to what was going on a few miles away. Virtually all of the l/r hunters in the Sinnemahoning/Driftwood area decended from the influence of the Kepp brothers, Frank Weber, and a couple others in that group who came to the area due to so many l/r hunters in the Pine creek area.
There might be a few claiming otherwise, but fact is they like me came later as well. The period from the mid 70s to the mid 80s saw
the biggest growth of l/r hunters in that area. But it had been going on over along Pine creek for several decades prior to that.
It has lost a certain amount of popularity recently as the deer numbers have been reduced. But that can be said of hunting in general also.
Now, what caused all that to happen? Certainly the hills and the deer had been there so why weren't guys successfully killing them across those valleys?
And the answer to that is very simple, they couldn't find them.
At least in the type of numbers that made it worth hunting those type locations. You could eventually figure out how to get a bullet there. But you wont kill what you haven found.
Take another look at post #31 for a picture of the key that opened the long range lockbox.

Ernie when did Howard Wolfe come in the picture.
Drags

 

[yobuck]

Ernie when did Howard Wolfe come in the picture.
Drags

I don't have the answer to that Joe. For sure he came on the scene pretty early. Alex Hoyer did also, and of coarse there was some rivalry between them.
I believe Hoyer was probably more responsible for the early hunter growth numbers than Howard was, but that's only an opinion. Neither of them had anything to do with starting the 1000 yd club, but both were involved early on. Hoyer died in 1970, and Howard died about 4 years ago.
I never met Hoyer, but I wish I had based on what ive heard about him. Not that it might have affected my regard and opinion of Howard, but he was obviously a very unique individual.
Some of the guys I got to know who were close to him, were you might say very unique also. Harry Kieser for example. lol

 

[longrangebo]

I don't have the answer to that Joe. For sure he came on the scene pretty early. Alex Hoyer did also, and of coarse there was some rivalry between them.
I believe Hoyer was probably more responsible for the early hunter growth numbers than Howard was, but that's only an opinion. Neither of them had anything to do with starting the 1000 yd club, but both were involved early on. Hoyer died in 1970, and Howard died about 4 years ago.
I never met Hoyer, but I wish I had based on what ive heard about him. Not that it might have affected my regard and opinion of Howard, but he was obviously a very unique individual.
Some of the guys I got to know who were close to him, were you might say very unique also. Harry Kieser for example. lol

Ole Harry was a piece of work for sure, He did the work on all my binos . And sold a lot of the split image range finders. I still have one ha ha I went up one time to pick up a pair of binos and we went to breakfest! He swore so much at the table I was hiding my face! But that was Harry still in the Navy He had a good pic on his wall of a bunch of old timers up at the early 1000 yd. shoots Hoyer, Howard, Joe Ritze, they looked like they were just sitting out in Gene Plants field! I didnt start shooting till Larry talked me into building a gun around 1975 lowell was the rangemaster good times for sure.

 

[Powderhound]

Someday you should park near the power line on Wykoff run, climb to the top, then carefully sneak your way back toward town along the ridgeline and be alert and looking down over the side as you go.
I'm talking about the east side toward Jerry run. Be looking thru hand glasses more than you walk. Lots of guys drive out 3 runs rd then park and walk the old Sinnemahoning rd. But you wont find many if any doing what ive mentioned and they would actually be helping you. In the 60s/70s you wouldn't find a spot to park in bear season at any of those hollows in Wykoff run. The east side is too thick with dark pines and laurel for guys on the opposite side to glass and the sun is also a problem. Probably not a better place to be for bear and large bucks if you don't mind the hike.

Thanks yobuck, I'll definitely give it mu best!

 

[Ken 30 378]

You guys are actually in the cat bird seat Kevin. That because your young, in good shape, and have the knowledge and ability.
But the world is constantly changing, and that includes our world and the way we have gone about what we do. The days of groups of guys setting up with big glasses and heavy guns on big lookouts isn't working well anymore.
And it makes no difference how far you lug that stuff before you set up.
You know as well as I that theres no guarantee of seeing more deer
when you travel to the more remote areas. We like to think there is, and that's what keeps us going back. Especially when its not working at the closer to camp spots.
I really believe that the future is to go backwards to how it was years ago. There aren't enough hunters in the woods to make it happen and that's not about to change. So young guys like you will have to
make it happen on their own with scaled down equiptment and move around from place to place thruout the day.
Larry Smith is now about 90, and of coarse finished as for hunting. He has sold his guns and his camp below Driftwood is for sale.
He never progressed beyond a factory 7 mag and he never dialed his scope. He did have a multible dot reticle however, and he had a set of Spacemasters which he carried over his shoulder on a rifle sling tripod and all. Larry usually hunted alone because he figured he would find the deer at some point and that way it would be his and not his buddys. I doubt he ever shot one of the over 50 bucks he killed beyond about 5/600 yds, and he didn't mind if they were 50 yds. He wasent fussy about trophys, if it was legal he shot it.
If Larry was 35 you can bet he would still be doing it, and the bucks would be better than ever. And so would Bob Sebring who used to walk back to the Miller run area from the cemetery, which is no doubt faster than driving there.

Hey yobuck, I think we may know each other, we met one year long ago on nanny run lookout I was shooting at a buck in very windy conditions. It was only 675 yrds. I did manage to get the buck it was one of my first lr bucks. I am Larry Smiths cousin, you may remember. I kind of stumbled on this forum and started reading about the old timers, well n

Well Larry wasent what we would today refer to as a long range hunter Joe. At least not in this area of the country.
None the less he used long range tactics to find deer at the distances
he was comfortable with.
He didn't change because it wasent necessary for him to change in order to be successful. He did the same thing the same way with the same equiptment every year.
He sat on his butt on the ground and glassed every day mostly looking across short range hollows.
There were a few others who either stayed with him or in other camps close by and they all did the same thing.
One of those guys had the first set of spotting scopes in a bracket I ever saw in probably in the late 60s, and before I met Larry.
He was a machinist and had made the bracket himself. He was even more of a loner and not nearly as sociable as Larry. They were all from the York area.

That would be Larry Smith and Jon Smeigh . Jon shot at the 1000yrd club. Neither of them can hunt anymore. I was writing you a longer message but all the sudden it disappeared and I couldn't find it.

 

[yobuck]

Well hi Ken, I actually do remember you, or maybe it was your dad? I know about Larry and John, and frankly im about there myself. John was the first guy I ever saw using twin spotters in a bracket. Probably 1973, he was standing on the road glassing on Nanny run. I stopped and talked with him about them.
At that time they both hunted out of the camp on top of Grove hill. As I recall we met last on Boyer run, (Masons Hill) and Larry was with you?

 

[drags]

Well hi Ken, I actually do remember you, or maybe it was your dad? I know about Larry and John, and frankly im about there myself. John was the first guy I ever saw using twin spotters in a bracket. Probably 1973, he was standing on the road glassing on Nanny run. I stopped and talked with him about them.
At that time they both hunted out of the camp on top of Grove hill. As I recall we met last on Boyer run, (Masons Hill) and Larry was with you?

Hi Yobuck, you seem to be one of the few people that are the original long range hunters from Pa. and any stories you have would be appreciated.
Joe