Ep. 494: What 6 Years of PA Public Land Hunting Taught Me About Mature Bucks w/ Ryan Leary
East Meets West HuntShow Notes
Beau Martonik sits down with Ryan Leary, a PA hunter who has been grinding big woods public land for six years and put together back-to-back mature buck kills including a 7.5 year old eight point in 2025.
Ryan breaks down both hunts — the 2025 buck he killed at 10 yards after trusting his gut on fresh sign mid-morning, and the 2024 deer he killed the same evening he bumped on foot while hunting with a broken shoulder he probably shouldn't have been in the woods on. They also get into how he reads finger ridges and micro terrain, why getting into the nasty stuff changed his success rate, how the gypsy moth acorn wipeout forced him to rethink his whole approach, and what he's learned about mature bucks in the Pennsylvania mountains.
Topics:
00:00:00 – Intro
00:04:34 – Background and How Ryan Got Into Big Woods Hunting
00:14:29 – The 2025 Buck — Setup, Sign, and the Kill
00:23:41 – Breaking Down the Terrain and Why the Tree Made the Difference
00:29:48 – Trusting Your Gut in the Big Woods
00:39:13 – Reading Mature Buck Bodies vs. Antlers
00:49:52 – The 2024 Season — Broken Shoulder, Big Encounters, and the Kill
01:00:22 – How Late October 2024 Was Unlike Any Season Recently
01:02:33 – Time in the Woods — Why It Changes Everything
01:13:40 – Micro Points, Buck Beds, and Reading Terrain
01:23:54 – Advice for Guys Getting Into Big Woods Public Land Hunting
01:28:50 – Closing
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