A change to Pa.’s deer hunting tradition

• Ed Mahon
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  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Keith Srakocic / AP Photo

FILE PHOTO: A hunter walks through the woods on the first day of regular firearms deer hunting season in most of Pennsylvania, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, in Zelienople, Pa.

How a borrowed shovel saved me 11 years ago

Keith Srakocic / AP Photo

A hunter walks through the woods on the first day of regular firearms deer hunting season in most of Pennsylvania, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018, in Zelienople, Pa. The Pennsylvania firearms deer hunting season runs through Dec. 8 in most of the state. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

For the first time in decades, the first day of Pennsylvania’s deer rifle season started before the first Monday after Thanksgiving. But change can be hard, and the owner of a deer processing site told the York Daily Record he expects most people with stick with the Monday tradition.

The change feels odd to me, too.

On a Monday morning 11 years ago, I woke up a few hours before sunrise and went out for my first deer hunting experience.

I had just started a new job at the Centre Daily Times, about 200 miles from the Philly suburbs where I grew up. Mostly I covered K-12 education. But the schools closed for the first day of rifle deer season, so I volunteered for the hunting assignment.

The week before, I made phone calls and found some very friendly hunters who would let me tag along with them and — of equal importance — had extra orange clothes to lend me. The night before, I worked my usual Sunday nights cop shift at the paper, then headed home and set my alarm for what seemed like the middle of the night.

I gave myself lots of extra time in case I got lost on my way to the cabin in Moshannon State Forest. I did my best to follow the directions the very friendly hunters gave me. I drove down one unpaved road, then took a hill down to another.

Then doubt set in. I thought I made a wrong turn. So I tried to go back up the hill.

But it was early, the sun wasn’t out yet and ice covered the roads. My old Nissan Altima couldn’t make it up the hill.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, my car got stuck in snow.

I cursed more than once, and I thought failing to provide the required deer rifle feature might bring about a quick end to my days at the Centre Daily Times.

But then, an early-rising stranger saw me stuck in the snow. He lent me a shovel. I dug my way out, returned the shovel and got the car moving again.

Going up the hill wasn’t an option — and it wouldn’t be for a few hours, until the sun came out and melted the ice. So I figured I’d just keep driving the one way I could go. And, lo and behold, it turns out that was the right way.

I arrived at the cabin with the very friendly hunters before sun rise. I hung out with them for several hours in the cabin and out in the woods. They told me about their tradition of cutting off people’s shirttails if they fire a shot and miss — or the time several of them fell asleep in the woods. “We go out for the family thing, telling stories,” one of them told me.

I’ve written other hunting stories over the years, but the first one — and the feeling of gratitude for the very friendly hunters who shared their stories and the stranger who lent me a shovel — always sticks with me. — Ed Mahon

Some other hunting news:

• PennLive reports that the Pennsylvania Game Commission is investigating a viral video that appears to show a pair of boys beating and torturing a white-tailed buck.

• LNP’s Ad Crable looks at how climate change and chronic wasting disease will affect deer hunting.

• LNP’s Alex Geli reports that  hunting licenses statewide are up by 7,690 — or 1 percent.

• For more on the decision to move up hunting to Saturday and what hunters think of it, PennLive’s Marcus Schneck has you covered.

Best of the rest

Ed Mahon / PA Post

A Northampton County polling location is seen on Nov. 5, 2019. (Ed Mahon / PA Post)

• The New York Times looks at the voting machine problems in Northampton County as an example of “the fears, frustrations and mistrust over election security that many voters are feeling ahead of the 2020 presidential contest, given how faith in American elections has never been more fragile.” Some polling places had long lines, and the machines tabulated incorrect results on election night. Philadelphia used the same machines — and now lawyers for 2016 Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein say the state’s certification of the ExpressVote XL systems violates a settlement agreement, as PA Post’s Emily Previti reported last week.

• Joe Sestak, the former Pa. congressman and retired Navy officer, took to Twitter Sunday afternoon to announce that he’s dropping out of the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. Speaking of 2020, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says some Western Pa. Democrats are already expressing doubts about Pete Buttigieg’s chances to win the Keystone State next year against President Trump (should the surging South Bend, Indiana, mayor actually get the nomination). And the Reading Eagle says it’s time to advance the date of the Pa. presidential primary so that the state’s voters have a bigger say in picking major party nominees in 2024.

• Pennsylvania is one of 19 states that don’t require front and back license plants, reports The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Michaelle Bond. Both Uber and Lyft support legislation in Ohio to require both. “The combination of front and rear license plates gives the public, police, and surveillance and traffic cameras more opportunities to identify a vehicle used to commit crimes,” Bond writes.

• The Morning Call’s Paul Muschick thinks state lawmakers should spend more time in Harrisburg, you know, making laws. He reports that the House is scheduled to have 70 voting days this year, while the Senate is scheduled to have 52. Spotlight PA published a story earlier this fall about the legislature’s less-than-frenetic work pace.

• The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear a gun rights case today — and “the stakes going forward are potentially huge,” Joseph Blocher, a professor at Duke University School of Law and co-director of the Duke Center for Firearms Law, told USA Today. A New York City rule that set limits on transporting legally owned guns prompted the challenge. Even though the city repealed the rule, the country’s highest court could decide the issue is still relevant.