I just got back from a few days at deer camp, along with most contractors in PA. I had the pleasure of taking my son-in-law and 10 year old grandson along for their first deer camp experience. The first night in a cabin full of men producing chain saw snoring and flatulence created a lasting impression for the DiCicco boys. Nothing in their previous lives prepared them for the cacophony of sounds and smells.

For me, the actual deer hunting will be a time I’ll remember. Though hunting really doesn’t work as a word to describe what we did. Deer scaring, perhaps, or Official Deer Alert System.

At one point, when we were at the top of the mountain, I said, “Let’s try to walk real quietly down to that next bench to get a better vantage point.” My son-in-law said, “Walk quietly? We might as well tie pots and pans to ourselves.” Which I thought was pretty funny. As I chuckled I heard my grandson stumble on the steep slope, fall and literally do a forward roll ending on his back with his feet facing down hill. As he lay there giggling, he said, “Well…that was embarrassing.”

If you shot a buck on Monday, you should probably thank us because we probably spooked him in your direction. I can’t imagine too many deer in Penn’s Woods didn’t hear us out there.

Here are the boys doing some pre-hunt scouting. It was an adventure.