Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.

With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 570-724-2287  or email dtaylor@tiogapublishing.com .

As a current print subscriber, you receive 24/7 access to our website and online e-edition at no additional charge. All you have to do is activate your access. To activate digital access, you will need your account number. You can find your account number on any recent subscription notice or bill.

Sorry, no promotional deals were found matching that code.

Promotional Rates were found for your code.

Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Welcome! We hope that you enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in or create an account to continue reading.

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribe purchase a subscription to continue reading.

Thank you for signing in! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.

Checking back? Since you viewed this item previously you can read it again.

Sun and clouds mixed. High 62F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph..

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 37F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Rosemary (right) and Lynnette Kinter pose together during a recent cruise.

Rosemary (right) and Lynnette Kinter pose together during a recent cruise.

I am not a hunter, but I am the daughter of a hunter, the sister of three hunters, the wife of a hunter and the mother of two hunters.

My mother and I cut up venison and put it in jars or the freezer annually as I grew up in Potter County, and the routine continued in my married life.

In the 1980s, our young family was living in McKean County on a peaceful back road popular with “down-state” hunters.

On the first day of buck season, my husband and two sons headed out before dawn to drive to Potter County to hunt with my father. Soon after they left, there was a knock at our front door.

Folks from the neighboring hunting camp were there. They had hit a deer with their vehicle as they pulled out of their driveway, and broke its neck. They asked if I wanted it for the meat (they said they wanted to hunt for a deer) and told me to just call the Game Commission for permission. They obliged us by gutting the deer and leaving the animal at our garage door.

I called the Game Commission and they told me to save the hide and head and they would pick them up later that day and issue my permit.

So, I woke my teenage daughter and told her we had a job to do.

We dragged the deer into the garage and used a rope to hoist it up on the supports for the garage door opener so the deer was hanging. I remember that it took several attempts to get that big deer lifted upright because we would start giggling and drop it.

We skinned that deer, we cut up that deer, we ground meat, and we packaged the whole deer and had it in the freezer before dark.

The game warden came by mid-day and issued the permit to keep the meat and took the head and hide.

Later that evening when my hubby and sons came home (with no deer) my husband walked through the garage and into the house with eyes bulging. He had seen blood and light-colored hair on the garage floor and said “I thought you killed the dog.” (We had an apricot cock-a-poo).

My daughter is now 51 years old and a successful businesswoman. I don’t expect she will ever again butcher a deer, but she recently told me that that day is one of her favorite memories.

Rosemary Kinter and her daughter Lynnette enjoy telling this story and watching the listener’s eyes open wide as they hear it. Rosemary is the oldest of seven children who “ate as much venison as we did beef growing up,” as did her husband Earl and his family growing up in Potter County. After they married, the Kinters moved several times for Earl’s job — from Potter to Tioga, McKean, Lancaster, Lycoming counties before returning “back home” to retire in Middlebury Center. Earl and their two sons still hunt every year and process the game themselves, enjoying venison burgers and steaks.

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.

Sun and clouds mixed. High around 65F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph.

Clear to partly cloudy. Low 37F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Partly cloudy skies. High 62F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.

Error! There was an error processing your request.

Get the latest local and national news.