Construction Of Camp

The previous post gave a brief look back at how my family came to hunt and spend our time in the Dents Run area of Elk County. After many years of staying in motels we found a place a little closer to our hunting grounds. These pictures are of houses that are owned by a Benezette resident and were converted into boarding houses so to speak. These houses are still being used today and were a brief stop for our hunting group on the way to having a permanent home base.





In 1991 we were blessed when we found the property where we would build our camp. When we first stepped foot out of the truck that day and saw that view, we were in love.Shortly after we began construction.








I have come to learn that a camp is never truly finished but here is our "finshed product."

Camp Nick: How Did We Get Here

My grandpap on my father's side of the family rode the train from Jacobs Creek ,PA north to the mountains of Elk County and more specifically Dents Run. He as with all the guys that used to do that, really had to love heading to the mountains for their annual deer hunt. In these early years once they reached thier destination local people would take hunters in to stay in their attics, spare rooms, etc. At this time (1930s and 40s) in the country most people were not financially in a good position.For these people to embark on this trip could only mean that it was something they held very near and dear to their heart and was maybe that one thing a year that these people looked forward to. Years later my father, his brother and his nephews all got their start hunting the mountains of north central PA. They had, by that time, started driving themselves to "deer camp" which now was the DuBois Manor Motel. The motel, which is still in operation, served as camp all the way up until 1989. Below are some of the earlist pictures I have of their trips.



Grandpap Nick on Right.

In the picture below all they guys are waiting at the vehicles to head home and grandpap is walking out of the woods. This ended up being his last trip to Elk County and Dents Run.


In the next post I'll show you the construction of Camp Nick, which we built in 1993 and have hunted out of till present day.

2011 PENNSYLVANIA ELK HUNT

One of the highlights of our hunting season every year (since 2002) is taking part in the annual PA elk hunt. Since we can't seem to draw a tag for ourselves and have spent so much time in the elk range we have guided for the hunt for the last ten years. This hunt has been such a joy to be involved in, thanks to all the people we have met and the hunts that we have gotten to take a part in. The following is a brief pictorial of some of the hunts we helped out with this year.
For those of you who enjoy the pics and short stories of the annual Pa elk hunt I apologize for taking so long to get these up but here they are. This is most of the hunts that we were invloved in, but I still haven't gotten pictures from some of the hunters to post a complete set.
This first two pictures are of the consevation tag holder and his bull.
Mike McGinnis 10 x 8 (380")


Bob Martin 7 x 7 (360")


Al Paradise 6 x 6 (300")

Paul Hofnagle 8 x 7 (410")

Paul's bulls 2010 sheds

Rick Weyandt 7 x 6 (360") Estimated age 14 years old


Ken Kastely 9 x 9 (410")


Jesse Heiple 8 x 7 (405")


Bill Zee 9 x 8 (450") Largest bull of hunt


David Duffy 6 x 6 (320")


Joe Pollack 7 x 4 (busted up) (300")


Helen Smyers (her husband got a bull in 2005, first husband and wife to get Pa elk)

Sorry I haven't gotten pictures of our other cow hunter Leo Henry but will post some soon. Also will post some in the field from Jesse Heiple.
Definitely one of the highlights of the hunt was Al Paradise's nephews, it was so important to Al that they be a part of the hunt and be right there over the shoulder. Fortunately it did work out that way and those boys were able to share that experience with their uncle. Here are a few random pics from the week.
Al's nephews with some bulls

Roughly 1190" of horn and 2000lbs of elk meat




And for those of you that like horn

First Blog

Camp Nick, our family hunting camp, is located in the "big woods" of northcentral Pennsylvania in the small town of Caledonia, Elk County. We are situated roughly twenty miles east of DuBois, south of St. Marys, and north of Clearfield. Not necessarily the middle of nowhere but still centered in some of the largest tracts of unbroken land that we have left in Pennsylvania. Growing up hunting the areas around Benezette and Dents Run had you feeling like Jim Shockey in the Yukon. Even though as I got bigger and these places seem to have gotten smaller they never lost their magic and I hope they never will.

With life moving faster and priorities constantly ripping at our most precious commodity... time, I hope to steal a few moments daily or at least weekly to jot a few thoughts down or share a memory.