Hildebrand gets hunting trifecta
SLIPPERY ROCK — A three-sport athlete at Slippery Rock High School, Mason Hildebrand doesn't have much time for hunting.
But he spends a little time in the woods.
Enough time to complete Pennsylvania's triple crown at age 16.
Hunting's triple crown is bagging a deer, turkey and bear in the same license year. Hildebrand made that feat look easy as a high school sophomore.
“I appreciate the magnitude of this,” he said. “And I'd love to do it again.”
It took Hildebrand fewer than six hours total to complete his triple. He got the toughest one first, shooting a 178-pound black bear on the first day of bear season Nov. 19 in Tionesta.
He was on the hunt for less than 45 minutes.
“I got up in the tree-stand and saw six deer running past me,” Hildebrand said. “Then I turned the other way and saw that three bears were chasing them. I got one of them.
“It happened just like that.”
Nine days later, Hildebrand harvested a buck in Brady Township. That was on the first day of deer season before 7:30 a.m.
“I was in the woods before daylight,” he said. “The buck just popped out of some brush.”
Hildebrand had never hunted bear before last fall. He's been hunting deer for seven years now — starting out in the mentoring program — and had only gotten one other buck. That was a 9-point in 2013 that his family had mounted.
He completed the triple crown April2 2 of this year when he shot a turkey in Donegal Township. That was on the first day of turkey season and Hildebrand was in the woods for close to three hours.
“There was nothing in the first spot we went to,” he said. “We tried a second spot, did the turkey call and a bunch of them came flying out.”
Hildebrand usually hunts with his father, Larry Hildebrand.
“I've been hunting since I was a kid and have never gotten a triple crown,” his father said, though he has gotten three bears in 20 years. “It's pretty amazing how quickly Mason was able to do it.“Playing three sports, he doesn't spend a whole lot of time in the woods. But I've been at this for a while and I know a few good spots.”Hildebrand was a running back and special teams player for the Slippery Rock High football team last fall. He started on special teams.He played guard on the Rockets' junior varsity basketball team. He pitches and plays middle infield for the JV baseball team.“I give these kids credit who play three sports,” Mr. Hildebrand said. “Mason usually doesn't get home until 6 p.m. pretty much every day.”But he finds time to hunt.“I get out there when I can,” he said of the woods. “I'd love to do it more. Bit football, basketball, baseball ... I don't see myself giving up any of those so I can hunt more.“I'm able to do everything. I just happened to be in the right place (for the triple crown).”
