Vintage County Airport Event Gives Deer Hunters Opportunity to Scout Hunting Grounds From Above

December 1, 2003
Chillicothe Gazette - Ohio

Vintage County Airport Event Gives Deer Hunters Opportunity to Scout Hunting
Grounds From Above

Nick Rupert's single-engine 1966 Beechcraft A23A Custom 3 Musketeer pivoted
around the turnabout at the end of the runway at the Vinton County airport,
then zipped down the runway at around 100 miles an hour. 

Inside, two deer hunters, Ralph Hays, Jr., and his 15-year old son, Ralph
III, sat strapped into the cabin. The two were ready to scout their hunting
grounds from the air, the fourth year in a fund-raising program hosted by
the Vinton County Pilots and Boosters Association. 

Ohio's gun season on whitetail deer began this morning. 

The younger Hays had never been in a plane before, and Rupert even let him
take the controls for a few minutes. 

"It was awesome," was all Ralph III could say as he stepped out of the
plane, but his father was more talkative. 

"I loved it. I got to take a look at our property and stuff -- I'd never
seen it from the air," Ralph Jr. said. "It was really something else. I was
glad to be there with my son for his first flight." 

With tickets costing only $15, dozens of hunters showed up for a chance to
view their hunting ground from the air and get a bowl of venison chili. 

If the pilots are any authority -- their airstrip sits very near Zaleski
State Forest's public hunting area -- this deer season will be a bountiful
one. 

"There are just oodles of deer out there," Rupert, who is the president of
the Pilots and Boosters Association, said. "There is one bodaciously large
buck running around here." 

And he's seen many around the airport itself. When he lands at night, Rupert
has to do what he calls a "deer pass," a flight down the runway about 15
feet off the ground to scare deer away before he can land. 

He counted 28 deer Wednesday night. 

>From the air late Sunday morning, one couldn't see any deer -- they were
bedded down for the day, Rupert said over the plane's intercom. And because
the snow had melted, trails were tough to see, too, said Don Baker, who was
scouting his property near Ash Cave. 

"I've been in jets and looked down," Baker said. "You don't see much
detail." 

But what was visible were the patches of thickets, areas where hunters could
expect to find more deer. Also, from the air, it's much easier to see the
shortest distance between two spots, a view that could make the trek to and
from the hunting area much shorter -- especially when lugging a buck. 

"It put everything into perspective. It's not nearly as big as we thought it
was," said John Lewey, a hunter hailing from Marshalville. "We had guys back
at camp that said no. For $15, that's nuts. It's definitely a big bang for
your buck." 

Vinton County airport is leased from the county by the Pilots and Boosters
Association, a private group of aviation enthusiasts who front all the money
for any improvements and all the maintenance needed for the facility and its
3,800-foot runway. 

"All of our events that we have, all of the profit we make goes back into
the airport," Rupert said. 

To their knowledge, it's the only airport in the state that doesn't receive
any county money. They apply for grants, most on the federal or state level,
for improvements, but the association fronts the matching funds. Their most
recent improvement is an enclosed pavilion that houses picnic tables and a
full-sized kitchen. 

"We have a lot of events here, then we have a lot of people who come out to
use the shelter house," Rupert said. "It's kind of like a community center.
... You don't have to be an aviation enthusiast to come out and use the
facilities." 

After their flight, passengers could eat some barbecue pork sandwiches or
venison chili. Because flights were offered in small planes which get
jostled around more than commercial jets, customers were encouraged to eat
after they landed. 

"If they don't get a deer, at least they can say they ate one," Rupert said.





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