The group gathered around my kitchen table and steaming cups of coffee and tea were sipped as the plans for the day were discussed. It was much like a military planning strategy of how we would approach each stretch of woodlands and swamps.

The objective for the day was to place an elusive whitetail deer in the sight of a muzzleloader hunter or an archer. The group included friends and family with a total number of six upbeat hunters who felt that the day held promise for one or more of us harvesting a deer.

One of our hosts, Jim Bonetti, had recent success in archery with a nine-point buck along a creek bottom winding through his homestead. We too would give the area a try as we entered the formidable wetlands with pockets of thickets and swampy water-covered trails.

Two of us would walk along the thickets while the rest of our party placed themselves in strategic crossings that we have had success with in the past. We took our time because the deer generally sit tight and often let us walk right on by without ever knowing that they are so close.

Jimmy was carrying along a walking stick that he had carved a parrot head on as a decoration. The colorful parrot was a good luck charm as Jimmy kept bouncing out deer and they stood and stared at Jimmy and his parrot stick as if they knew he wasn’t a threat to them. On the other hand, the deer that I happened to see were always on the move. Jimmy joked that the deer had never seen a parrot and wanted a better look.

About the time I was starting to think the fellows in the strategic places along the creek bottom should start seeing a deer, I heard a shot.

One thing about a muzzleloader is that it is generally one and through. You either have been successful or you are nursing your wounded pride. My cousin John was in that area and he was using my .50 caliber for a chance at his first muzzleloader deer.

In fact, my cousin has been hunting for over 40 years off and on and has never harvested a Pennsylvania deer. I know that it is hard to believe but some guys just aren’t fortunate enough to have the opportunities or experiences many of us have had in our hunting careers. I assured him that the early season was one of the best times to be in the woods and also have a crack at a nice deer. I sold him on the idea and now it was a group effort to help him realize his hunting dream.

I saw a deer sneaking through the thickets and I waited for the perfect shot which never did present itself to me … I should have known this was sure to backfire on me.

I took a few steps to locate the deer when a timber doodle flushed out at my feet. Woodcock have a way of doing that and the surprise had my aspiration of sneaking up on a wary doe fly away with the bird. In the meantime, everyone else was having plenty of action as well.

Jimmy and his parrot walking stick had three deer posing for them, a buck and two doe deer.

My cousins John and Joe were in the midst of their own activity. Joe was looking for a Pennsylvania archery buck so he let doe walk on by him. John had a 40-year bad luck streak coming to an end but he didn’t know it yet.

Our efforts put a deer sneaking along the trail near him but John was waiting for the perfect shot. Sometimes the perfect shot isn’t available and you must make the best shot available.

John decided to hold off on a shot in a small clearing and wait for the deer to walk out in the open area. John was soon to find out that deer do not like clear areas and this deer was no exception. The doe hit the open area and began to run across the open stretch … it was now or never for John. John was ready and swung with the deer as it ran for another thicket, when the smoke cleared John saw the deer moving up the hill heading for the roadway.

Joe and John looked for sign that the deer was hit but did not find any, but to their credit they continued up the hill toward the roadway. About 40 yards more and Joe called out, “There’s your deer.” I joined the group and celebrated with John saying, “The drought’s over…let’s take care of your deer!”

It wasn’t a trophy buck or even unusual in any way, but this deer closed the loop on one man’s decades-long hunting saga that explains the love Pennsylvanians have for deer hunting traditions.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle