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Breakfast with Santa at St. Jude’s

<p>By 11 a.m. Monday, Dale Whitner was standing next to his maroon pickup truck with a five-point buck in its bed.</p><p>Waking up at 4:30 a.m. and leaving from his house in Fern Glen, while it was still dark out, didn&#8217;t matter any more. Once he heard the rustling of leaves and branches in the distance, all of the hustle and bustle to get out to his tree stand in Nescopeck State Park didn&#8217;t matter.</p><p>Deer season opening day was a success for Whitner.</p><p>&#8220;About 10 of 8, I heard some noise and I saw this deer sneaking through,&#8221; said the 69-year-old hunter. &#8220;At first, I couldn&#8217;t tell if it was a buck or a doe. As it got a little closer where there wasn&#8217;t so much brush, I could see it was a buck.</p><p>&#8220;Just getting out there and enjoying it, and anticipating, &#8216;Maybe I&#8217;ll hear something. Maybe I&#8217;ll see something.&#8217; It&#8217;s exciting.&#8221;</p><p>Just before Whitner took his shot, he thought the deer was a six-point buck, but later realized it was only five points. When he first heard the rustling of the brush, Whitner wasn&#8217;t sure if the deer would come within range. The anticipation was killing him.</p><p>When the buck came close enough, he made sure that he made the most of his lone-deer sighting.</p><p>&#8220;When you hear something, that starts getting your blood pumping,&#8221; Whitner said. &#8220;&#8216;Is it a deer? And is it coming my way? Is it going to stay out there too far away?&#8217; It&#8217;s exciting. Then when you get a glimpse of him. &#8216;Is he going to get where I can get a glimpse of him?&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>However, others weren&#8217;t as lucky as Whitner.</p><p>Justin Nesbitt went out with his wife, Amy, and two sons, Devin and Donovon, and after their first round in the woods, which ended just before 10:45 a.m., the family, along with friend Michael McMahon, of Conyngham, had come up empty. But even without taking home a deer or two before their second wind, Nesbitt got to spend some quality family time with his wife and two of his four children.</p><p>&#8220;Unlucky,&#8221; Justin Nesbitt said of the morning. &#8220;It&#8217;s an absolute great feeling to be able to go through that, what I did with my dad, and to be able to share it with my kids. That feeling is beyond belief. I have a 9-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter, and both of them really wanted to go, but both of them are a little too young yet. Once I get both of them out in the woods, and everybody out in the woods, it will be a family tradition-type thing.&#8221;</p><p>With plenty of signs in the early morning, the Hazleton family and McMahon were optimistic heading back into the woods. The elder members of the group planned to look to push the deer toward Devin and Donovon Nesbitt.</p><p>&#8220;Everybody sits in the morning,&#8221; McMahon said. &#8220;Nobody moves, the deer don&#8217;t move, they sit down bedded in all the thickets and stuff. The only way they&#8217;re going to move is if you walk up right on top of them.&#8221;</p><p>Like the Nesbitt family and McMahon, local hunters Pete Zelonis, Roger Grimes and Kirk Strong also hadn&#8217;t made any progress as opening day ticked toward noon.</p><p>But they could take away something from the experience up to that point. By the end of the morning, Grimes and Strong had developed a bond with Zelonis.</p><p>&#8220;Just getting out and the camaraderie,&#8221; Zelonis said about what he enjoys most about opening day.</p><p>&#8220;Like, we didn&#8217;t know this gentleman here,&#8221; Grimes added, standing next to Zelonis. &#8220;We were talking to him and everything. It&#8217;s all good. He&#8217;s obviously a face we haven&#8217;t seen before.&#8221;</p><p>One theory Strong believes could have led to the group&#8217;s shortage in deer sightings is the gypsy moths that harm all of the oak trees in the woods.</p><p>&#8220;That could be. I never even thought about that,&#8221; Zelonis added.</p><p>But while hunters like the Nesbitt family, McMahon, Zelonis, Grimes and Strong came up empty heading into the afternoon, the Country Butcher in Drums had a good turnout by 1 p.m. Assistant butcher Robert Trently said they had already had a couple of 12- and 13-point bucks come in.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been pretty steady early, a little more than normal this early, but it&#8217;s warm,&#8221; Trently said of the traffic at the processor. &#8220;I have a feeling it&#8217;s going to be a busy year.&#8221;</p><p>According to Mark Rutkowski, law-enforcement supervisor for the Game Commission&#8217;s Northeast Region, there were an estimated 550,000 to 600,000 hunters out Monday.</p><p>Along with bucks being harvested, some check stations saw some bears brought in. The bear season opened again in parts of Luzerne County Monday.</p><p>&#8220;Several of the officers have seen nice deer taken already,&#8221; Rutkowski said. &#8220;Activity is fairly steady. Our radio room is extremely busy right now. It sounds like with the good weather, we&#8217;ve had a good turnout this morning and this afternoon.&#8221;</p><p>Deer season runs through Dec. 10. However, there&#8217;s no hunting on Sundays.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Andy Kimock, of Zion Grove, poses with an eight-point buck he shot in Zion Grove, Schuylkill County. Kimock brought his deer to the Country Butcher Shop in Butler Township for processing. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_deerseason01-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Andy Kimock, of Zion Grove, poses with an eight-point buck he shot in Zion Grove, Schuylkill County. Kimock brought his deer to the Country Butcher Shop in Butler Township for processing. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_deerseason02-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">David Dodd, 14, of Hazleton, unloads his rifle after a morning of deer hunting at State Game Lands No. 187. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_deerseason02-3.jpg</photo1><caption1>David Dodd, 14, of Hazleton, unloads his rifle after a morning of deer hunting at State Game Lands No. 187. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_deerseason03-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">David Demshock, of Nuremberg, with an eight-point buck he bagged Monday. Demshock was dropping off his deer at the Country Butcher Shop to be processed. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_deerseason03-3.jpg</photo2><caption2>David Demshock, of Nuremberg, with an eight-point buck he bagged Monday. Demshock was dropping off his deer at the Country Butcher Shop to be processed. </caption2><photoCredit2>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_deerseason04-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tim Budgeon, of Hazle Township, with a nine-point buck he shot near Bloomsburg on Monday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_deerseason04-3.jpg</photo3><caption3>Tim Budgeon, of Hazle Township, with a nine-point buck he shot near Bloomsburg on Monday. </caption3><photoCredit3>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_deerseason05-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jason Parkins, of Philadelphia, emerges from the woods at State Game Lands No. 187 in Dennison Township on Monday, the first day of antlered deer season in Pennsylvania. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_deerseason05-3.jpg</photo4><caption4>Jason Parkins, of Philadelphia, emerges from the woods at State Game Lands No. 187 in Dennison Township on Monday, the first day of antlered deer season in Pennsylvania. </caption4><photoCredit4>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_deerseason05CMYK-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jason Parkins of Philadelphia emerges from the woods at State Game Lands No. 187 in Dennison Township on Monday the first day of antlered deer season in Pennsylvania. (Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/web1_deerseason05CMYK-2.jpg</photo5><caption5>Jason Parkins of Philadelphia emerges from the woods at State Game Lands No. 187 in Dennison Township on Monday the first day of antlered deer season in Pennsylvania. (Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader)</caption5><photoCredit5>Pete G. Wilcox | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Monday was opening day ofantlered deer season in Pa.</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle.</p></shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><p><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> 7XUswpMWWI8</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XUswpMWWI8</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> &lt;iframe width=&#8221;560&#8221; height=&#8221;315&#8221; src=&#8221;https://www.youtube.com/embed/7XUswpMWWI8&#8221; frameborder=&#8221;0&#8221; allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> Pat Kernan</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table></p><p style="margin-top:10px;font-size:70%;color:#555;">(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</p></videoMeta></div>

Opening of deer season important for family, friends and strangers alike