Hunting for Bucks with my Crossbow is my favorite hunt of all. The weather is great, not too cold, and the fall leaves are so pretty. We had some real excitement this year with Bucks. I’ll show you one encounter that I had with a nice 8 point. Then I’ll fill you in on how I got my Buck last year. Also, we’ll show some trail-cam pictures and some successful Crossbow Hunters. My friends love to hunt, too!
Check out my Video Link below! Thanks for watching!
Niagara Falls is an awesome sight. There’s a lot to see and do at this wonder of nature. The “Maid of the Mist” is a thrilling boat ride and you must experience the “Cave of the Winds”, too. Do both and you can say that (You) felt the power of the mighty Niagara River.
The fishing here is also fantastic. Many different species thrive in the waters above and below Niagara Falls. I fished with Guide Randy Lingenfelter, he calls it, “1st. Choice Fishing Charters”. 
Click the link below to see my Video:
Ruby traveled to Allenport, PA to take her Pennsylvania Hunter Education Test. She was successful and tells you how she did it. Ruby also offers some advice to help you study and prepare for the class and announces a New Feature, “Ruby’s eCourse Video’s”.
My friend and classmate, Hunter Hartnett, really likes to go fishing with her Dad, Pat. On the First Day of Trout Season she was fishing by the Shaffer Bridge on Bens Creek. The Tribune Democrat Photographer took her picture as she was casting out her line. That photo was on the Front Page of the Sunday newspaper. I was really happy she got published and that she was wearing one of my ROR Camo Hats. It’s hard to see my logo cap on this picture.
A few weeks later Hunter went fishing with her Dad in the Stonycreek near Hollsopple. She caught a few really nice Trout. (See the Collage below) Hunter was wearing my ROR camo hat again and Pat took these nice photos of her. I think my ROR hat is bringing her good luck. It’s been a fun Fishing Season for my friends and I so far this year. In April, my cousin Danny caught about 30 Trout in Bens Creek on the Youth Day.
Danny was fishing with his Dad, Mike Fesko. Danny caught a lot of fish even though it was cold, snowing and very windy. On that same day I went to the Fly Tying event at Gander Mountain, where it was warm inside. But, I caught no fish! My sister, Vayda, went to Ferndale Sportsman’s Dam last week and caught a Brook Trout on a millworm. She also caught about a dozen Sunfish, so Vayda is a happy angler. We can’t wait till Bass Season starts. I’ll try the poppers I tied last winter. I have my Fly Rod ready to go!
I’ve been checking out all our Turkey hunting spots during the past few weeks to get ready for the special Youth Day for Spring Gobbler on Saturday April 23. We found a good spot near some grape vines where we could set up our decoys and also see a clear view all around us.
I really wanted to get a Gobbler with my new 20 Gauge Mossberg 505 Shotgun. I took my first practice shot with it last week and I’m pretty sure I can get a turkey if we call one in. We had a really exciting morning hunt because we heard about 5 different big birds that were gobbling over and over and saw two long beards and a couple of hens, too. Check out our video below!
My cousin, Jared Csordas, lives in Maryland and on April 26, 2016, he shot this nice Gobbler. He used a slate call and the Gobbler weighed 20 pounds and had a 9.5 inch beard.
Jared was really excited about his hunt and I will be too, when I get my gobbler. Jared used a 12 gauge Mossberg 535 to shoot the bird at about 30 yards. Good shooting Jared!
The morning after I shot my Buck with my Parker Challenger Crossbow, my Pupup said he was going to take my buck to Pudliners Butcher Shop. As he was taking me to school that morning I told him that I really wanted to get my Buck mounted. Lucky I said that, cause he was going to just saw the antlers off. I would have been so MAD!
A few days later on Oct. 24th 2015, we went to the Taxidermy Shop with my Buck Head, Cape and Antlers. Matt Gornick has a real nice Taxidermy Studio near Seward. He has a lot of interesting mounts of all kinds. He will do Bucks, Bull Elk, Buffalo, Mule Deer, Turkeys, Pheasants and African Game animals. He had Kudu, Gazelle and other Antelope species on his walls.
I had to pick out a form for my Buck. The form is a plastic sculpture of what your deer is shaped like. Then Matt puts the skin back on, just like fitting a leather glove on your hand. Matt showed me how he puts extra detail work to make the nose and the eyes look real.
Some hunters told me that it takes a year or more to get your deer finished by a Taxidermist. But, when I asked Matt how long I’ll have to wait he said, “Oh, I’ll have your Buck ready by Trout Season!” I said, “Sounds good, that’s really fast!”
Well Matt was right on with his promise. On March 28, 2016, Matt called us to say my Buck was ready to be picked up. Wow, that only took about 5 months. A few of my friends shot their bucks TWO Seasons ago and they don’t have their bucks back on their wall yet.
I was so excited to drive to Gornick’s Taxidermy Shop to see my buck. When we got inside, there were so many mounts that I didn’t even see my Buck at first. And, It was hanging right in front of us. Vayda and I stood by a Big Buffalo head. Vayda was as tall as the Buffalo’s head. Matt took my Buck off the wall and said I could carry it. It was so light, I thought it was going to be so heavy.
The next day we got a ladder and we picked out a spot on our TV-Room wall. This is our outdoor display, My Grand Dad, Chuck, caught this big 20 inch Smallmouth Bass years ago in the Juniata River, my Dad caught this 29 inch Brown Trout in the Niagara River.
But, my Buck has the best spot in the room, high up near the ceiling. Now, I still have room for when I get an Antelope and a Bull Elk or even a Bear. My Buck looks so nice on the wall, I think about my best Hunting Day ever…every time I look up at my First Ever Buck.
Even though it’s snowing, blowing and cold outside, Spring Turkey Season is coming in a few weeks. So, this year I wanted to get my own shotgun for Turkey Hunting. We went to Sporting Goods Discounters in Richland and looked at different kinds of shotguns. The Mossberg 505 Youth Pump in 20 Gauge was the one I liked best. 
This shotgun has a nice wood stock, it’s smaller to fit kids and it is very well made. My Grandpa has a full size Mossberg 12 Gauge Pump in 3-1/2 inch Magnum. He shot lots of Turkeys with his and says these are real good for Turkey Hunting. My shotgun is almost the same but it shoots regular 2-3/4 and 3 inch 20 gauge shells.
For the past few years I’ve used my Mom’s old 20 gauge H&R single shot. It was really a long barrel and I never got a chance to shoot at a gobbler. Hope my new Mossberg brings me better luck! And I hope it stops snowing.
Stay tuned for a video when I go to the range to shoot my 20 Gauge Mossberg at Turkey Targets!
A few of my readers at “RORUSA” have told us that they have seen Eagles recently soaring around Johnstown. When I was at the Trout Unlimited Fly Tying event, a guy told us while deer hunting he saw an Eagle. The bird was eating the entrails of a buck his friend shot. He said the Eagle ate so much that it could hardly fly.
Another friend saw an Eagle flying above the Conemaugh River in the West End of town going towards the Conemaugh Gap. Others have seen the Big Birds around the Stoneycreek. At Hawk Mountain in Eastern PA, they have a club that watches and counts all kinds of Hawks and Eagles. Their website says 6 Bald Eagles have been seen there recently. There are Eagles at Raystown Lake, too.
Lots of people still think we did not seeing an Eagle. Some say we are seeing Buzzards, Osprey or Hawks. Of all the hawks and buzzards, the Bald Eagle is the easiest of the big birds to identify, especially with its big White Head.
Some people wanted to know what happened to the eagle that we saw that day, ( see my Eagle Has Landed! Story).
We will always remember that day we saw the Eagle because we got our pet cat, Leo that day. My Dad was taking us to the pet store to pick up our kitten when he saw the Eagle near Greenhouse Park. We watched it sitting on a limb of a Sycamore Tree. Then it flew downstream. Vayda and I ran along the road to watch it.
It glided downstream and landed in a different tree. Well, as we were running, Vayda fell. When we got near the Eagle, Vayda was still crying. We tried to get a picture of the bird across the valley and us at the same time. Look really close, (in the Yellow Circle) and behind us you can see the Eagle across the river. My grandfather used his big telephoto lens to make it bigger in the other photos.
When the Eagle flew out of this tree it glided right over our Church. St. Andrews Church and School are near the Benscreek and Stoneycreek River. I went to school there from pre-school to Third Grade. Also, we thought it was really cool that the name of the Sport Teams at our church is the “EAGLES!” That’s our carved Eagle in front of the school.
A few of my friends didn’t believe we saw an Eagle until the B&W photo that my Grandfather took was published in the Tribune Democrat. So, Eagles do fly along our rivers and creeks to feed on fish. Eagles are around here you just have to keep looking for them.
My Parker Crossbow is really fun to shoot. I’ve been using my Grand Father’s Crossbow for a few years. But, it’s an adult sized bow and that makes it hard for me to aim it quickly. Last Year I went to “The Archery Zone” in Richland and Bill showed me this bow. I shot it there and I liked it a lot! Bill had one that was Pink, but I like Green Camo Better.
My Parker “Challenger” is lighter in weight, smaller and has a shorter stock. This helps me to pick it up, reach for the trigger, line up the scope and get the stock just right on my shoulder. You can’t waste time when a nice Buck is walking by your tree-stand.
See my video below and how nice it is to shoot!
Most people don’t think about Fly Fishing when it’s 3 Degrees Below Zero…But, on February 13, 2016, I was invited to Gander Mountain where the Trout Unlimited Club “TU” was having a Fly Tying Pizza Party. It was really cold running across the parking lot, but the Gander Mountain Meeting Room was nice and warm. And, I knew hot Pizza was coming.
This event was the ending of the TU classes on how to tie a variety of good fishing flies for PA Streams. A lot of people signed up for the 8 week classes. At this party anyone else could learn how to start to tie a fly. Next year I want to take the whole class.
The TU Guys I interviewed on video at the Allegheny X-Fest last fall invited me to this event. They are Andy Fresch and Dave Wright. At Gander Mountain they showed me how to tie a Caddis, and do a whip finish knot. I have to practice the whip finish tool. They also tied a Foam Popper, a Hair Popper, a Foam Frog and a Hellgrammite. The Crawfish was the best.
Everyone was welcome to this fly tying demonstration for free, even kids. There were signs on the Bulletin Board at Gander Mountain for a few weeks. It’s nice that the TU members do this to help get kids and adults get more interested in fishing.
Now it’s a good time to tie flies when it’s snowing and cold outside. Then you can think about spring coming when you can be out in the warm weather fishing. With some luck you will catch a nice trout with the flies you made yourself last winter.
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