Mike Bleech Outdoors Columnist

We have been through quite a few deer seasons together, maybe not quite 130, but probably 38 of them, or so. If what I have heard so far is any indication, the first few days of this deer season have been unremarkable.

Even the very recent bear season which held such promise was without great distinction. Warren County rose from 59 bears last year to 67 bears this year. Forest County took a big dip from 55 bears to 27 bears. In McKean County, hunters increased the harvest from 47 bears to 68 bears. The heaviest taken this year in Pennsylvania weighed 813 pounds, with the extended season remaining. None of the 10 largest were taken in Warren County or adjoining counties. At last check, the local bear check station had seen only modest size bears. The final tally will not be available until next February.

I was in the valley of Tionesta Creek on the opening day of bear season and heard just one group of about five shots at about 4:00 p.m. It sounded like it could have been a sow with a couple of cubs judging from the sounds of the shots. Later I spoke with a pair of bear hunters who said a sow with one cub had been seen in that area.

I was impressed by the number of bear hunters seen along Route 337 and Hearts Content Road. There may have been more vehicles along that road than there were on the first day of the deer firearms season.

Deer hunters in the area from Pleasant Township to Tionesta Creek were not seeing many deer on opening day. Shooting was sparse. None of the gang at The Tent got a deer. One did see a nice buck but could not get a shot. None of the guys who stopped by the evening of opening day had deer in their camps.

Only a few shots were heard by a hunter in the Mathews Run area, not many for an opening day.

The first Monday was quiet at SixMile Run and at Pleasant Township. Tuesday conversations with a few hunters gave mixed results from no shooting at all to a fair number of shots, whatever that might be.

However, hunters were not nearly so disconsolate nor so angry as they sounded after poor opening days in years past. It has been good to hear an upbeat attitude after a slow start to deer season in most of the local habitats. It appears that hunters have been adapting to fewer deer, but deer of better quality.

Also, more hunters have been passing legal bucks waiting for bigger bucks. This did not often happen in years past. Up to the very end of the 20th Century, if you wanted venison you shot the first legal deer you saw.

One thing for sure, a lot of deer are left out there. In one of the areas I have driven during rifle season, we saw more than 100 deer during an evening of spotting. Just a few years ago we rarely saw more than 50 during an evening of spotting. The Allegheny National Forest has become like the Northcentral Region where deer are plentiful once you get away from the roads.

Do not expect bucks to move far this week unless a doe comes into estrous. Even though the peak of the rut has passed, bucks are more than ready should any does become ready. And some will be ready during the rifle season. Using rut-related hunting tactics can be very effective now. This includes doe in estrous scent and deer calls.

One method that has worked well for me, including calling in the biggest buck I have seen during any hunting season, in, of all places, Allegany State Park.

This call uses two calls, a bleat, and a grunt. Simply make one bleat lasting no more than 2 seconds. Then make two grunts each lasting about one second separated by a pause of about one second.

Bucks tend to react to this call rather quickly, so be ready to shoot.

Make the call from a position that breaks up your human outline. Give it at least a half-hour before moving. Then either try the call sequence again or move a couple of hundred yards.

Doe hunters should increase the number of shots heard during the second week of the deer hunting season.