Misconceptions
by Josh Fuller - Camp Stories Pro Staff
There are a couple of popular misconceptions that I feel the need to clear up. The first is that
teachers get to spend their summers sitting by the pool sipping frozen drinks with little straws.
Personally, I am not quite sure when school ended this year, between my job of managing a
local resort, working on my school administration internship, and renovating my house, I
haven’t seen a pool…or a frozen drink. Honestly though, I don’t really find much relaxation in
hanging out on a lounge chair, so when I got to the point where I could finally finagle a free day
into my summer schedule I decided to spend it in my favorite place… the woods.
Being a member of the Camp Stories Pro Staff I turned to my good buddy Tommy
Iannarelli and talked him into joining me on a hunting trip. Actually there was no arm twisting
necessary, he was all for it. This brings me to the second misconception that it is July in
Pennsylvania, and the only hunting is woodchucks or crows, I called up the Tioga Boar
Preserve. It is located in Tioga County, out in the middle of the state. They said they offered
hunts for boar, rams, elk and deer. I know that to many people, hunting a game preserve is
akin to hunting a zoo; I would come to realize that this couldn’t be further from the truth. I had
never hunted a game preserve before, so heading out we really didn’t know what to expect. I
was in for a very pleasant surprise. I met Tommy Sunday afternoon and we headed to Tioga
County. We rolled into camp about 9:30, unpacked our gear, and hit the hay. I would be lying if
I said I slept well. For me trying to sleep the night before a hunt is like a little kid trying to sleep
on Christmas Eve. They keep getting up looking for Santa; I keep getting up looking for a
guide. I was fully awake by 5:30 and was out taking a few practice shots with my new Alpine
Silverado Saber by 6:00. Finally, we were headed to the woods with our first stop being a small
creek bottom.
Last summer I had the incredible experience of hunting
in South Africa with the Camp Stories team. I ended up
shooting two warthogs, along with a laundry list of other
animals, and absolutely fell in love with hunting pigs. So our
first quarry on this hunt was a boar. We spent about three
hours in this creek bottom and saw about twenty hogs.
Unfortunately, even with full Mossy Oak camo, they wouldn’t
come within fifty yards of us. We switched up strategies and
climbed a hill to a stand of Poplar trees. We figured that the
hogs must have been catching us moving. Misconception
number three… hogs can’t see; in actuality they have pretty
good eye sight. Knowing this, we climbed a tree to get out of
their sight range. After an hour of sitting in a tree our guide
came to get us and told us it was time for lunch. On the way
back to the lodge we caught a pig wallowing in a shallow
pond. After a quick conference we decided to put on a stalk.
We circled around through the woods for about twenty minutes and came up on the pond at
an angle where we could get close enough for a shot. I crawled up to about twenty-five yards,
pulled back my new Alpine, and let my arrow fly. The Rocky Mountain broadhead smashed
through the boars shoulder and into its lungs. About thirty seconds and ten yards later I had a
200 pound, wild and I emphasize wild, boar. These things are straight out of the swamps and
they are ornery. I haven’t been that excited in a long while. To harvest a trophy like that after
miles upon miles of walking, and even climbing a tree, was absolutely incredible.
After a few pictures we headed back to the lodge for a huge lunch. Meatloaf, green beans,
chocolate cake, it was all I could do to head back out into the woods. We had heard that there
were also some big rams in the area, although we hadn’t seen any that morning. With a boar
already down I figured anything else would just be a bonus. After a few more miles of walking
we sat down on a hillside for a quick rest. I couldn’t believe my eyes when a huge ram started
up the hill towards us. It stopped about thirty yards out, gave me a shot and I had another
trophy, an absolutely incredible trophy. When we recovered that ram I knew that it was
something special. I don’t know how many people can say that they have shot a ram with a
curl and a half, in July, in Tioga County Pennsylvania, but it can’t be many.
By the time we got the ram back to the lodge
both Tommy and I were utterly worn out. We had
put about 12 miles on our Danner boots, not to
mention my Blacks Creek pack was fully loaded
with about 30 pounds of "stuff" the entire day.
There were no tree stands; no ATV’s pushing
animals... this was hunting, pure and true. Even
as I sit here typing this I still can’t believe what an
absolutely awesome experience I had. Looking
back on it though, taking these two trophies isn’t
what made this hunt so special, it was being able
to take these two trophies with a great friend. Sure
we could have just met up for dinner Monday and
hung out… but time spent together in the woods brings about bonds unlike anywhere else. It
is this camaraderie that lead to the creation of Three Creeks Productions, and ultimately to an
absolutely incredible hunt that I will never forget!
| Ordinary Guys Making Extraordinary Memories |
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Josh and Tommy celebrating!