PORTERSVILLE — Above the archway in the living room of his Portersville home, Roy Bauder has a 52½-inch muskie hanging on a mount.

He caught the fish July 19, 1973.

"That's the biggest one I've ever caught by length," Bauder says, smiling. "I'm the most proud of that one."

On the front wall of his living room, he has the heads of two deer mounted. Both racks are impressive.

"That one is better than the other," Bauder says, pointing to the one in the corner. "They didn't do a good job on the other mount."

Soon, Bauder will have another trophy to add to his living room décor.

Last week, the 90-year-old took down a 138-pound black bear while hunting in Dents Run.

According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Bauder is the oldest hunter to kill a bear this season.

It was on his first shot of the day and the first bear the avid hunter and fisherman has ever taken in his 74 years of hunting.

"Me and a fella I was hunting with were walking up this trail," Bauder said. "All I could see was a little bit of his neck and his head. I took a shot and hit it dead center in the neck."

The bear ran about 50 yards before it collapsed.

"There was so much blood, it looked like you poured it out of a tea kettle," Bauder said. "(The bullet) cut right through the neck, right through the jugular vein."

Bauder is having the bear made into a rug, which he plans to hang on his wall.

Ironically, Bauder never had a real interest in hunting black bears. He called it a waste of time.

But when he bagged this particular bear, "he was just elated," said his son Fred.

"They treated him like royalty at the check station," Fred added.

Roy Bauder has hunted bears infrequently, preferring to pursue deer, antelope and smaller game.

When he first started hunting, rabbits and ringneck birds were the big draws.

"I used to go hunting with a muzzle loader," Bauder said. "That's when you were allowed 10 rabbits a day."

Bauder also is an avid fisherman. He has competed in an annual muskie tournament for the past 10 years, and won it this year, reeling in a 39¾-inch catch.

"He's had a pretty good year," Fred Bauder said.

It's been a pretty good life of hunting for Roy Bauder, who has seen just about everything.

Bauder used to ride in the rumble seat of a Model A Ford in the cold weather to hunt. He and his hunting party would drive until the road ended, then they would hike two or more miles to the hunting spot.

They spent the night there in a tent before resuming their hunt the next day.

Things are a lot different now, Bauder said. But hunting is a still a big part of his life.

He started at the age of 16, when his father took him on a hunt. He was hooked.

Now, he has his whole family hooked.

When the Bauders hunt these days, there usually are four generations in the field.

"You develop a great bond," Fred Bauder said. "My one grandson (14-year-old Danny) got his first buck and I told him how lucky he was to be able to go hunting, not only with his grandfather, but his great-grandfather. A lot of kids don't get to go hunting with their grandfather."

Roy Bauder appreciates the time he gets to spend with his sons, Fred and Dick, and his grandsons and great-grandsons.

"When I'm hunting with them, I'd rather see them get a shot," Roy Bauder said. "If they have a shot, I let them take it. They like wild turkey hunting. They like to hear the turkeys gobble."

Bauder's spryness belies his age. He still climbs trees and hikes through mountains to hunt.

He's been to such places as Colorado, Wyoming and Montana.

Wyoming, he said, is his favorite.

"I've been real lucky," Bauder said. "I take a walk for a half hour every day. It's the first thing I do when I wake up every morning."

He doesn't plan to halt his hunting pursuits anytime soon.

"As long as I have my health," Bauder said. "I don't do as much of it as I used to, but I'll do it as long as I can."