The Family That Hunts Together Stays Together

Bradford, Pa.:  Sunday was another exciting day at the two Deer Check Stations operated by the Kinzua Quality Deer Cooperative on SR 59 and 346 in McKean County.  The opening weekend gives families time to hunt together and one family from Mt. Jewett, Pa., made the most of that opportunity. 

Zane Carlson brought in a buck with the widest inside spread on the antlers, to date, at 19 inches.  The massive 7-point by 5-point buck weighed, dressed, at 151 pounds.  The pedicels of the mammoth buck measured 37 and 38 mm, and indicated the buck was likely 4 and ½ years old.  Check station workers were not able to exactly age the deer by its teeth because the jaw needed to stay intact for mounting.  Congratulations, Zane!

Kim Carlson, Zane’s mother, was all smiles as she brought in her first ever buck to the check station on SR 59.  Kim and Zane were hunting together on the Allegheny National Forest and shot almost simultaneously at two bucks that exited a regeneration stand of trees.  Kim’s 4-point by 4 -point buck was aged at 2 and ½ years old by its teeth, and it weighed 118 pounds.  Congratulations, Mom!

The check stations are open again on Monday, 12/2, and Saturday, 12/7, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. both days.  All deer will be weighed, measured, and aged for FREE for hunters.  Each hunter bringing in a deer for checking will also receive a ticket on a cash raffle.  Hunters bringing in antlerless deer will be eligible for a $500 raffle.   Hunters bringing in an antlered deer will be eligible for a $250 raffle.

Hunters will also receive an orange KQDC hat for bringing their deer to the check station. 

The KQDC is managed for Quality Deer and a Quality Forest Ecosystem to provide a Quality Hunting experience.  Other goals are to provide quality forests for landowners to manage for timber products, local employment, numerous outdoor recreation activities, and quality habitat for all wildlife.

The Kinzua Quality Deer Cooperative is an on-going demonstration, begun in 2000, of how hunting can be used to meet the goals of multiple publics for managing deer.  A partnership of forest landowners, forest managers, biologists, hunters, and local businesses developed the program which relies on hunters to manage deer density on a representative forested area.  The program is conducted on a 74,000-acre forested demonstration area in northwestern Pennsylvania.