News

December 2, 2008

Young hunters succeed opening day

Ten-year-old boy bags first buck Monday

By Edward Lewis elewis@timesleader.com
Staff Writer
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ROSS TWP. – Arthur Coolbaugh Jr. didn’t have to go far to down his first deer.

The 10-year-old from Franklin Township shot the four-point, 1 �-year-old buck near his home in Orange at about 8:30 a.m. Monday, the first day of the concurrent antlered and antlerless deer season that ends Dec. 13.

“I’m excited. I shot him 75 yards out,” Coolbaugh said.

Coolbaugh’s marksmanship with a .243-caliber rifle struck the buck’s rack before lodging in its neck and downing the white-tail, his father, Arthur Coolbaugh Sr., said.

“I’m happy for him, he did well,” Arthur Sr. said.

The first-year hunter was among an estimated 1 million hunters expected to hit the woods and state forests on opening day.

Coolbaugh brought his son’s first kill to a deer check station operated by the North Mountain Branch of the Quality Deer Management Association set up in the parking lot of the Suburban News on Main Road.

Coolbaugh’s buck weighed in at 110 pounds.

“That’s a nice-size buck for its age,” Chip Sorber of Quality Deer Management said of Coolbaugh’s deer.

Hunters didn’t mind the wet, cold morning on the first day of rifle deer season, although some wished for snow.

Sorber said the quality of deer has been improving over the years due to the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s deer management program. He said the increased number of doe licenses a few years ago has caused the deer population to lessen.

In turn, Sorber said there is more food available for the surviving deer.

“Going back five years since we’ve been here, the average weight of a deer has increased a pound,” Sorber said. “The deer are healthier.

“There is less deer per square mile and there is more food because of that,” he said.

Ryan Davis, 17, shot his second buck in as many years in Sweet Valley. Sorber estimated Davis’ buck was 1 �-years-old by inspecting its teeth with a jawbone extractor. It only took Sorber only a few seconds to estimate the age of each buck depending on the color, number and the wear of the teeth.

Davis’ eight-pointer weighed in at 110 pounds.

“That’s the biggest 1 �-year-old (eight points) buck we’ve ever had here,” Sorber said.

Dante DeAngelo, 13, of Dallas, downed his eight-point, 135-pound buck in Shavertown. It’s the second year in a row DeAngelo harvested a buck.

DeAngelo’s father, Bill, said they saw two doe before the buck showed up in their scopes.

“The two doe got spooked and ran off,” Bill DeAngelo said. “Then the buck walked slowly by and I told my son to take his time and get it in his scope.”

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