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Testimonials
Hunting
Opportunities
Abound
in
The Black Hills of
Clearfield County, PA
MY FIRST TIME
 I
had been invited to hunt black bear with a dedicated group
of bear hunters in Clearfield County. My friend said there
were plenty of bear, but I should be prepared to hunt the
toughest cover on the mountain. I was surprised to see how
well everyone cooperated and how smoothly everything went,
with the crew getting 5 to 6 drives in each day.
Gas well roads were everywhere, making it easy to get
in, set up and execute drives. Some roads were gated, but no
one complained about the extra walking, which gave good
access into solitary forests. We killed 3 bears that year !
I have been back to camp to hunt bear every year,
except the years that I was ill. We always see plenty of
bear, and usually kill more than one. In 2000, I went home
with a nice male black bear. In 2005 the camp killed a total
of 8 black bear !!
LOOK UP FOR BLACK BEARS !
There are plenty of bears on
the Black Hills Properties. Some might say there is
one behind every tree, or - up a tree . We are always
finding bears up in trees when we are hunting, and sometimes
when we’re not. One time my buddy and I were on our way back
to camp, about 1:30 AM, and decided to take a short-cut on
an old gas well road. Our 3rd passenger was a Lab. named
Abby. When the truck cab filled with a foul odor, we
suspected Abby must have helped herself to some pickled eggs
at camp, and now she needed to make a pit-stop, quickly. My
buddy slammed on the brakes. Over our legs and out the door
went Abby. PWhewww......praise the Lord for fresh air !
Well, we also decided it was a good time to relieve
ourselves too ! I was on one side of the truck, my buddy on
the other side, and Abby was off - out in the forest doing
her thing. The truck headlights were shinning on a huge
beech tree, about 30 feet away, at a bend in the road.
SWISH...WWISSH.....suddenly the top of the
beech tree was creaking & swaying. Snow, branches, and grape
vines began to fall....as a large black bear, rushed
down that tree f u ll s p e e d ! ! ! Abby was
going f u l l s p e e d too ------ right for
the beech tree. She smelled the bear and her actions
triggered it to come out of hiding !!
Now, my buddy and I were also going~~~~~~f u l l s p e
e d, but nature had to run its course !! The dog
would surely be killed if the bear grabbed her! Even if we
got free from our ‘chore’ in time - how were we going to
handle a dog-and-bear-fight in the dark ?
Just as the dog reached the tree and frantically tried to
climb up, the bear made a long leap (musta swung out on a
grape vine ?) and jumped about 30 feet over the dog for a
head start down the hollow. My buddy woke up the whole
forest calling Abby back, and to our surprise -- she came
right back. She did, however, ‘talk back’ to us, yip, yip,
yipping, the whole way to camp.
After that episode, we always have to keep a close
eye on Abby when at camp - especially at night, when a bear
might be in the neighborhood. Abby thinks she ‘won’ the war
with that bear, and now she wants to fight every bear she
smells.
DIVERSIFIED HABITAT --- WATCH YOUR STEP
The Black Hills Properties have the diversified
habitat that all wildlife thrive on. The camp
that I belong to, along with the National Wild Turkey
Federation have provided both tree and shrub plantings and
seeds for wildlife food plots to property owners for many
years. There are huge plantings of autumn olive, and black
locust trees throughout the Black Hills Properties.
The grasses growing on the reclaimed strip mines
are good nesting sites for wild turkeys, and provide insects
for poults and grouse chicks. These huge fields are utilized
by all wildlife more than one realizes.
There are also plenty of mast producing trees; and
everywhere you look there is ‘edge habitat’
growing new browse, and next generation nut trees.
I have killed numerous whitetail deer, many of them
buck, in isolated locations in the hills, over the years. If
a hunter is map savvy and can read terrain, there are plenty
of opportunities to get off the beaten path, ‘loose’
yourself, and locate those trophy, people-shy bucks in
isolated hollows, cuts, draws, and ravines, in the wilds of
the Black Hills; or a cautious hunter can walk the
many gated gas well roads and still have a quality hunt,
seldom seeing another hunter.
I was still hunting whitetail buck through a thick, new
growth forest, of a cutoff section. While trying to crawl
over a snow laden brush pile, I slipped and fell....crashing
through a huge hollow area. At that moment..... from almost
beneath me.....burst an awkward running black bear !
I don’t know which one of us recovered from the shock
first, but the abruptly awakened bear started emptying its
bladder - spraying ~~~~~everything as it departed
!
Yet, the Lord was with me, and I came out of it ‘smellen
like a rose,’ & without a scratch --- honest !
THER’S
BLACK GOLD IN DEM THAR HILLS
I could not end this without
telling you about my most favorite game animal, the wild
turkey. The Black Hills Properties are over run with
‘troops’ of wild turkeys everywhere you might
venture. Just because there is a good supply of birds
doesn't mean they are going to be easy to kill. Read on for
some good hints.
Sometimes turkeys do stupid things and become easy
prey for the hunter or predator. Many times though, the wild
turkey is paranoid, cunning, and crafty, because he is a
survivalist. You get the 'luck of the draw' when it comes to
hunting turkeys.
When there is no mast crop, you will see many more
turkeys as they will be feeding on the farm crops; and along
forest edges. But when there is a good mast crop, the turkey
flocks will be well distributed, throughout the mountains of
the Black Hills Properties.
The best advise I can give you about fall turkey
hunting is: when you see a flock of turkeys - run right into
them as fast as you can and try to get them to fly in all
directions. Shoot all 3 of your shotgun shells into the air
to split them up. If most of them fly off in one
direction, you do not have them split
up. Run after them. They may still be sitting in the
trees. You might be able to shoot one. Try to get them
split up again and again, until you have them flying in
all directions. Once you have a flock split, flying in
all directions, you finally have them all broke up.
Now they will be less difficult to call in, because their
nature is to be together in a flock. Go back and find a
place with some cover where most of the birds were when you
broke them up. This is the place to start your calling. If
you hear them trying to regroup at another place - get over
there and break them up, then wait for things to quiet down
and start calling from that place . If the turkeys
are too scared to call and try to regroup, the woods may be
too open, and, or, there may be too many hunters stirring
around. The turkeys are hiding in the thick stuff and that’s
where you need to be. Your best bet is to sneak into the
briars or other thick cover, and softly cluck & purr. Stay
there until quitting time.
Be sure of your target when you shoot, and you should
display orange so you can be identified as a hunter.
When the woods are quiet, (not much chatter with
squirrels, crows, songbirds; etc.) keep your calling toned
down; use more calling locations in a smaller section of the
hunting area. When a turkey answers your calls -
answer the bird back with the exact same call it called to
you.
I do not have enough space to get into spring or fall
gobbler hunting here, but I can suggest this:
self-discipline, patience and practiced
woodsmanship will kill more longbeard gobblers than
the best calling in the world. Everything must be right when
trying to kill a mature tom with hooked needlepoint spurs.
The quality time, that I spend on the pristine
Black Hills Properties, communing with my Lord and
enjoying the beauty of the majestic views he provides for
me, fuels new energy into my cells, renewing what life’s
hardships strips from me. I have been an Outdoor Writer for
19 years, and get invited to hunt all over Pennsylvania, and
many other states; including many private hunting clubs.
Very few places even come close to what we have here at the
Black Hills Properties, and none have the diverse
habitat that we have.
I pray that God will bless & protect each
one of you, & your every adventure
with his presence,
Doug Stetler
Bear Cub Photo
PA Game Commission
Sow/Cub Processing with
Outdoor Writer, Doug Stetler
10 Reasons YOU
should belong to the Black Hills LLC
1. Who has over 3,000+ acres of hunting land to hunt
all game? Black Hills.
2. Who has 5 trout streams on the property, 2 stocked
streams and 3 wild
trout streams? Black Hills.
3. Where can a handicapped hunter get into areas to
hunt or fish where the
game or fish are located? Black Hills.
4. Where can you hunt or fish and not be over run
with hunters and fishermen?
Black Hills.
5. Where can a family go for a peaceful and private
getaway? Black Hills
6. Where can you go deer hunting for Archery or Rifle
and have a chance at a
Record Book buck? Black Hills.
7. Where can you have over 30 grouse flushes in one
day? Black Hills.
8. Where can you see 10 long beard gobblers together
in Spring Gobbler season?
Black Hills.
9. Where is the hunting pressure lightest because
some hunters hunt just grouse or
rabbits or archery deer or turkey or bear or rifle deer or
muzzleloader deer?
Black Hills.
10. Where can you meet hunters and fishermen on your
scale, game law violators and slobs
are not tolerated and trespassers are prosecuted. Black
Hills.
With over 13,000 acres to hunt on the Black Hills, hunting
pressure is light most of the time.
My wife and I like to trout fish and we fish on the trout
streams on the lease and have caught our dinner on many a
day.
The Black Hills lease has many gas wells on it, these gas
well roads help me get into areas of the lease I could never
think to hunt because I am a handicapped hunter. Certain
roads have gates, others are posted, but many are open.
Many a day, we have been hunting or fishing and never saw
another person while there.
My wife is new to hunting, but she has out fished me many a
day. On the first day of deer rifle season a couple of years
ago I told her to stand on the back side of a laurel patch
not to big in size. Since I don't walk well, I put on a slow
one man drive toward her. About half way through the drive,
one shot rang out. When I got to her, she was breathing
quite hard and looking down in the snow. I asked her what
happened and she said 'Not one but two huge racked bucks
walked down toward here looking back toward to where I was
coming from'. She said 'The scope kept wavering around and she
took the best shot she could'. We looked in the snow and
I finally spotted the bullet imprint on a tree along the trail.
She had missed and said 'She maybe had a little Buck fever'.
I can't hunt grouse like I use to but by yourself or with a
good dog, grouse hunting is the best!
Since I do little walking, I turkey hunt with my dog in the
fall and sit and don't move a lot during the spring season.
This was my best season ever with 2 - 3 year old gobblers
taken this spring.
In the fall, you can see some hunters archery hunting, some
rabbit hunting and some grouse hunting. But not over run with hoards
of hunters like on open public ground.
I have met some of our hunters on the lease. They are what I
consider on my scale. Social able, easy to talk with and
some even share their secret spots with others.
The Black Hill LLC is patrolled, game or fish law violations
are not permitted, if caught the Pennsylvania Game or Fish
Commission is called in and immediate expulsion occurs.
Trespassers' are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law.
In short, We moved closer to the Black Hills because we love
to be up on the lease, great fishing and hunting times are a
head!
Howard E. Meyers
Member since the lease began.
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