Buck season is back again. Buck and doe harvests have been a traditional sport in Clearfield County for well over a century.
Even when still a royal colony in 1771, the Pennsylvania Provincial Gov., William Keith, mandated the outlawing of hunting deer between Jan. 1 and July 1, in order to allow replenishment by breeding. This was at a time when hunting was often a food necessity.
Regulations came and went over the years. By the first few decades of the 20th century, clear cutting of forests and over killing of deer severely diminished the natural population to the point where bucks had to be imported from Michigan and stocked in the Pennsylvania woods.
Buck season was temporarily suspended in 1928 in order to better manage the population. Deer and wildlife management became an institution in Pennsylvania.
The 1926 photo shows the Shaw hunting camp in Goshen Township. The camp building itself looks primitive in comparison to some today that have a good deal of modern conveniences.
The 19 hunters posed in front of the six sizeable and well-antlered buck kills of the day. Some of the rifles look to be Winchesters of the time. The men are wearing the old-fashioned heavy woolen hunting clothes and jackets.
The photo is done in black and white, but still it is doubtful if the men wore the now mandated orange clothing. The one older gentleman looks to be the toughest, as he is reclining on the snow-covered ground.
The seventh man from the left, kneeling in the front row, was a debonair-looking guy who included a necktie with his hunting outfit!
