Center Feature:  

The Horn Hunters
Backwoods Legends of the Adirondacks

By Dan Ladd

In mid-November of 1983, the December issue of Outdoor Life Magazine hit the newsstands with an article about a successful group of deer trackers in the Adirondacks known as the “Horn Hunters.” The article, written by Jim Zumbo, showed a group of bearded hunters proudly standing around a meat-pole loaded with whitetail bucks. Although the bucks varied in size, a few would be considered trophies to any hunter.

To the Horn Hunters all of the bucks, no matter how big or small, are considered trophies and today, 24 years after that article, they still do things pretty much the same old way. They endure the hardships of hunting the backcountry, which requires preparation throughout the entire year. They do it for the love of the hunt and for life in a traditional Adirondack backwoods tent camp.

Introducing the Horn Hunters

Now in his 70s, Tony Bruno Sr. is the elder member of the group and continues to venture into the backcountry camp each season, a tradition that he began with his brother Pete many years ago. The Bruno’s passed on that heritage to their sons Pete Jr. and Tony Jr. who soon began hunting with their dads, setting the stage for what would eventually become the Horn Hunters.

Fast forward to the 1970s. Pete Jr. was in his twenties and with deer hunting in his blood helped form a group of guys that were dedicated to hunting in a remote location late in the season for weeks at a time. Along with the Bruno’s, the group now includes Pete’s brother David Bruno, Pat Cronin, Jay Dickinson, Frank Greene, Jerry Choppy and Rick Lemery.

Of special interest is the story of how the Horn Hunters got their name. This came courtesy of Peter Hornbeck, the builder of lightweight boats that are so common these days on backcountry waters. “Me and a buddy of mine bought the original canoes that he (Hornbeck) had made, the very first ones,” says Pete Jr. “On the way home from hunting we’d stop at his house with a truckload of bucks and he got the biggest kick out of it. We’d take one off and cut a hindquarter off for him. He is quite an artist and one day he sent us a picture. He called it the ‘Horn Hunters.’ It stuck, and that’s where the name came from.”

Way Back In

The Horn Hunters’ simply want be where they have no distractions and where they can be one on one with the bucks that they hunt. The group has continuously hunted vast tracts of state land in the Central Adirondacks. Over the years they’ve hunted various places and have changed locations from time to time and sometimes return after a few years.

They scout for deer in the spring, especially when looking at a new area, when the snow is just about gone and the previous autumn’s deer sign, especially buck activity, is still prevalent in the woods. Summer finds them hauling in supplies and cutting wood for the hunt. Setting up an efficient temporary hunting camp is no easy chore.

“It takes ten guys two days to cut all the wood we need for the hunt,” says Tony Sr. “At the same time we bring in, on a cart, three big iron barrels with lock tops, which we use to bring the tent in along with anything else. Then, when we go in to set-up we bring some wood that we need to build tables or whatever.”

The group once hunted an area that allowed them to use railroad wheels on the cart and these days they still have a pretty good system. “We push in all our gear, our tent and everything,” says Pete Jr. Included in that gear is food and supplies for three solid weeks of hunting which usually takes place in the last part of New York’s Northern Zone season. This year Tony’s six-year-old grandson even helped push in the cart.

The Hunt

When late November comes to the Adirondacks the Horn Hunters are ready to go hunting. Once in camp they take what Mother Nature gives them. If there’s one ingredient they desire more than anything else it is snow. “When we get snow, we shine,” says Tony Bruno Sr. “That’s when we can track. Until then we just slip around and still-hunt.”

When asked what constitutes a perfect hunting day Pete Bruno Jr. replies, “Six inches of wettish snow, not too wet not too dry,” he says.  “It quiets everything down and you can see a track good. I also like it overcast, the sun is the worst. No snow on the trees and a little wind isn’t bad either. If you get a windy day when you are tracking it blows your scent around and the deer can’t get a bead on where you are.”

Tracking and still-hunting requires excellent woodsmanship and the ability to find your way around in the woods. This is especially true at the end of the day when returning to camp, often in the dark.” I carry a map and three compasses with me,” says Tony Sr. “I used to carry two and I broke one once. I never want to do that again.”

Sometimes the gang will team up on a buck. “We do a lot of hunting together,” says Tony Bruno Jr. “One guy may go ahead to cut the deer off. Also, when you have one wounded you’ve got one guy tracking and one looking or one guy moving ahead. That comes from knowing the woods and knowing where that deer is going to go.”

The group uses another trick to outwit a buck. “If there’s no snow we’ll try a ‘Verge’ hunt,” says Pete Jr. “We’ll look at our maps and everybody will just hit an area from a different direction.  Kind of like a drive but an uncontrolled drive. We end up moving deer to each other and we get a lot deer that way.”

Over the years the group has killed many bucks and a few are in the New York State Big Buck Club record book. In 1984 Tony Sr. shot a buck that had 16 points and weighed 264 pounds and made the record book at 144. “I’ll take a rack like that anytime but I don’t care if makes the book,” says Tony. Adds Pete Jr., “We work hard to do what we do and it’s not easy even getting a spikehorn in the Adirondacks.”

Tent Camp Life

“Time is good at camp,” says Tony Sr. “We come in late, talk about the day’s hunt, play a little pitch and have a few beers.” Such is life in a backwoods deer camp. But this is no ordinary camp. “Our tent is 36 feet long by 16 feet wide. It’s actually two tents put together. The back 16 x 16 tent is strictly for sleeping. The front tent has our wood stove, our heating quarters and a table. We bring in a stove every year, it’s a 6-burner gas (propane) unit that sits on a table that we built.”

The group will hunt for three or four days and if they get a few bucks will then set aside a “down” day for bringing them back to their camp. When a hunter shoots a buck, he hangs it in a tree until one of these down days when the group will dress light and do some deer dragging.

The Horn Hunters are very organized in terms of cooking and making sure they have the right food to eat in as little time needed as possible. With a good nights sleep and food in their stomachs the gang knows they can get on with deer hunting. This is what some of them sacrifice their entire vacation time for each year. Therefore they don’t burn too much daylight unless they’re in the woods.

Their only secret is to hunt hard and often, which is what they advise other hunters to do. “Put the time in, do your scouting and know your area,” says Tony Sr. “You get on a track and if you get a little skittish, you’re not going to follow through.” When asked what he likes most about deer hunting today Tony Bruno Sr. answered, “We enjoy the camaraderie and all the guys getting together and getting away. You go all day and never see anyone else or hear anything. When you forget what day of the week it is, (pause) that’s great.”

This season will be a little different for the Horn Hunters as earlier this year they lost one of their own when Art Cronin, brother of Pat, passed away after a long illness. Art joined the group at the New York Whitetail Classic banquet held in March of this year and it was the last time that many who knew Art and the Horn Hunters, saw him. This season Art is in the deep woods of the Adirondacks in spirit.