A Tradition of Hunting More than filled tags

Mike Hart

For the past 16 years, the Hart family has been taking to the woods of Adams County in hopes of taking down a big buck or two during the hunting season.  Fortunately, this this year has been quite a success for our group.

During the peak of the rut in Archery season, Brother Tom scored on a beautiful 10 pointer on November 5th.  On the morning of November 9th during a very windy morning a nice 8 pointer came into my bow range and he too found a tag on his rack.  Both deer will be displayed proudly on our walls.

As for the gun opener, three more bucks were harvested with Tom's son Peyton taking his first buck ever.  This buck was a hunter's dream, an awesome 9 pointer that will score north of 130.  Our nephew Steve Kadrich also scored on a personal best buck taking an 8 pointer with 5 minutes left on opening day.  Steve's quote couldn't have said it any better, "I sat for 11 hours and saw one deer and in 30 seconds, I had a successful hunt.”

And finally, after 15 years without taking a buck, my dad, "Big Mike" at 77 years young, took his best buck ever, a nice 8 pointer that fell to the gun at 10 in the morning.  What makes this even more special is that one week previous to the opener this hunter was in a hospital and questions about him making the hunt were abundant.  This "trophy" will be displayed in a European mount on his shed wall which has been a goal of my dad's since we purchased this property.

We are so grateful for the time we get to spend together in the outdoors.  We thank our wives who support our obsession for hunting and the group of guys we go with(the Schmidt's, Thomes and Changs) who make our hunting seasons so much fun to be a part of.  My hope would be that someday all of you will enjoy the hunting season as much as we do.  Whether your tag gets filled or the meat pole is empty, you will have memories to share, stories to tell and most importantly connect with family and friends .  After all, it’s these times that leave lasting impression on the relationships we develop. 

Happy Holidays to you and your families and may your hunting season be safe and successful.