Vern Ross Story

January 30, 2025

Vernon (Vern) Roy Ross was born at home in New Kensington (New Ken), PA on January 8, 1941. He graduated from New Ken High School in the general curriculum in May 1959. He enjoyed attending high school and as a “morning person” never had a problem getting to class. He jokes that he may have enjoyed the girls more than the academics and may have been a class clown.  He played baseball and football and excelled at baseball until a football injury in the 9th grade ended his sports future. At that early age, he was recruited by scouts from the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Athletics and offered $500 to sign with them. He credits gaining his baseball skills by playing “town-team” baseball with the older guys. His older brother taught him to pitch. His brother, Frank (nicknamed, Dick) was a catcher.

From 1957 through 1959, Vern worked two jobs in New Ken. He worked at the Red and White Grocery Store stocking shelves for 40 cents/hour and at the Pennzoil Gas Station pumping gas, cleaning windshields, and checking oil for 35 cents/hour. Gas was 17 cents/gallon.

After high school, he enlisted and served in the U.S. Army as a combat photographer. He served for one year as a photographer at the Army War College in Carlisle, PA, and for fourteen months at NATO Headquarters in Paris, France. He commented that he didn’t like the Carlisle War College so much that he put in for transfer every week.  It was because “he was from New Ken and didn’t join the Army to just go 160 miles down the PA Turnpike”. During his NATO assignment, he served in Algeria, Africa supporting the French Foreign Legion and the French Army. The Algerians were fighting France for their independence.  He received medals for good conduct and service in the European Theatre. He achieved the rank of Specialist 4 and was discharged from the Army at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Vern’s first civilian job after the service was as a stock clerk for Giant Food Market in Carlisle, PA in 1963. He had a wife, and two kids and made $55/week. In 1970 he became the Giant Food Market manager for the Mechanicsburg and Carlisle stores. Eventually, he worked for Giant Foods as Regional Manager for four (4) years. During his tenure at Giant Foods, he attended the Carnation Foods Management School three nights/week for eight weeks and a marketing program at St. Joes University in Philadelphia. He was particularly fond of what he learned from Dr. Shawn Pelnick at St. Joes. He credits the schools for teaching him to consider that: 1) One must recognize and understand different societal norms. People are very different, and some can be very difficult. In order to win them over, you must listen to them and respond to their needs and concerns; and 2) If you are going to successfully do something, you must give it 100%.

In 1975, Vern bought the Super Thrift Grocery Store in Dillsburg, PA.  He owned and operated the store as an IGA Food Market for nine years. He increased the market’s weekly sales from $20,000 to $36,000 in that time. As for community service during those nine years, he actively supported: Little League and Teener League Baseball, Dillsburg Police drug dog purchase and training; the American Legion; the Dillsburg Lions Club; the Dillsburg Jaycees, and the Mechanicsburg Club.   In 1984, he closed and sold the IGA Market due to competition from the new Giant Food Market and Myers Food Rite and decreasing sales.

From 1984 to 1989, Vern served as the marketing division chief for the PA Department of Agriculture. In that capacity, he oversaw the development and implementation of nutritional marketing plans for PA products such as eggs, dairy products, and apples. In order to encourage first-, second-, and third-grade kids to eat eggs for breakfast, he led the creation and successful promotion of the “Big Bird Club.”

From 1989 to 1995, Vern served as the Assistant Director of the Eastern U. S. Fair Trade Alliance, which facilitated the sale and distribution of Eastern U. S. agricultural products to foreign countries. For example, he promoted the distribution of lobsters to France, blueberries to Ireland, Christmas trees to Mexico, canned vegetables to Saudi Arabia, and sauces to Spain. This required vendors to adapt their product packaging to the customs of foreign countries. As an example of this adaptation, maple syrup containers had to be packaged in wooden boxes. He wasn’t fond of this job as it disrupted his sleep patterns constantly dealing with communications with foreign countries across multiple time zones.

In 1994, Vern advised and assisted Tom Ridge in gaining the support of the PA sportsmen during his election campaign for governor of PA. Early on, he and his close Dillsburg friend, Lou Hoffman, publisher of the PA Sportsman, New York Sportsman, and Michigan Sportsman hunting and fishing magazines, suggested that a Governor’s Sportsman Advisory Council be established. At that time, there were over one million licensed hunters and 3/4 million licensed fishermen in PA. Tom Ridge was elected twice for governor of PA and served from 1995 to 2001. He was the first PA governor to buy a PA hunting and fishing license and use them.

From 1995 to 1999 Vern served as the Executive Director of the PA Governor’s Sportsman Advisory Council. During his tenure, he and the Council advised the Governor on Sportsman issues on a routine basis. Vern considers the highlight of his tenure on the Advisory Council as the successful organization of the Governor’s Symposium on North American Hunting Heritage in 1998. Over 2200 people participated in the national meeting at the Hershey Motor Lodge. Over 3000 people participated in the symposium banquet. Governor Ridge was a keynote speaker at the symposium. A special guest and speaker was Rocky Bleirer, a halfback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, who was a Vietnam War veteran and a player on four (4) Superbowl Teams as a Steeler. Vern was very happy that Governor Ridge actually engaged him and the Council in his decision-making affecting sportsmen and participated in many sportsman-sponsored events around the Commonwealth, including wild turkey hunting in Cameron County. He has great respect for Tom Ridge, his management team, and his exemplary service:  in the U. S. Army in Viet Nam; in the U.S. Congress; as Governor; as the first Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; as U.S. Homeland Security Advisor; and last, but not least, as a PA hunter and friend. On one occasion, Vern had the pleasure of Tom Ridge staying at Little Bumper Hunting Camp in Cameron County and guiding him on a turkey hunt.

From 1999 to 2006 Vern served as Executive Director of the PA Game Commission established in 1895 and funded by the sale of licenses, 1.5 million acres of State Game Land natural resource revenue, and a federal excise tax on guns and ammunition. PA is the only state in the U. S. with a wildlife management agency under the auspices of a commission not under the governor’s jurisdiction.

Vern took over the reins of the Game Commission with many challenges ahead. He knew very well that he had to win over the Commission, the employees, and the sportsmen in order to improve the agency and to leave the agency in good stead. Vern made improving the morale of the agency a top priority. He welcomed and encouraged employee input as he considered employees at all levels his customers. He conducted listening sessions throughout the organization and focused his attention on responding to issues and concerns. He believed that he had to go out in the field, get to know the Game Lands, and listen and respond to the employees’ suggestions for improvement. As examples: he visited and assisted at bear check stations, shook the hands of successful bear hunters, thanked the check station workers, including the volunteers and check station hosts; and rode with the game wardens on their patrols as a deputy game warden. He graduated from the Ross Leffler School of Conservation which enabled him to proudly wear the game warden badge and uniform and carry a sidearm. During his visits and conversations, he encouraged the employees to be frank and promised them no repercussions for their honest input. One example of a critical employee concern was the age and quality of equipment to maintain the Game Lands. Another example of a concern was the lack of adequate computer and communication equipment. In addressing these concerns, he made sure the future budgets included funds for major equipment and facility updates in all Game Commission regions. This included funds for: modern firearms for Game Wardens; modern radios and towers; computers in home offices; office security measures; and regional office building improvements.

Vern recognized that he had to improve the Commission’s relationship with state legislators and significantly widened and improved communications and relationships with them. His open-door policy, visits, and ongoing liaison with them were key.

Leaning on his decades of hunting and fishing experiences, observations, and conversations with hunters and the work of 700 Game Commission employees and hundreds of volunteers, Vern introduced and/or promoted several innovative game management practices such as:

  • Establishing antler restrictions to grow older bucks, and much bigger racks. Before the antler restrictions, hunters were shooting 82% of 1 ½-year-old bucks. When listening to hunter observations and comments about the positive effects of these restrictions today and seeing all the photos of big racks, it is obvious that they are working very well.
  • Creating more habitat on game lands with new equipment replacing 1950s tractors with up-to-date equipment.
  • Granting employee promotions on a merit basis, not on longevity.
  • Creating youth hunts for turkey, deer, and pheasants to bring first-time hunters into the sport.
  • Creating youth mentoring hunting to engage experienced hunters, including brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles, and family friends in exposing youth to the joys of the outdoors and hunting in a supervised environment. In its first year, over 60,000 youths were mentored, resulting in a National Wild Turkey Federation Award.
  • Establishing the first elk hunting season and creating elk hunting opportunities through the increase of elk habitat and installing elk fencing to protect farmlands.
  • Creating bobcat hunting and trapping seasons with the justification that over 400 bobcats/year were being killed on highways. This greatly enhanced recreational opportunities for sportsmen and reduced the work involved in properly disposing of road-killed bobcats.
  • Replacing outmoded handguns, body armor, and long field coats and supplying snag-resistant brush pants.

While Vern did not have a formal wildlife management background, he brought his hunting, hard work ethic, people, and marketing experiences, and his great love for the outdoors and hunting to the job. With his constant focus on improving morale and pride in the PA Game Commission, he has had an enduring, positive impact on the agency. His central focus of “seeing and focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel” turned the agency’s concentration toward achieving the mission and goals. He said, “The Game Commission Executive Director job was the greatest job he ever had. “

Among the many accolades and recognition Vern received service to family, community, and Commonwealth and beyond were: Award for Outstanding Service to the PA Department of Agriculture; PA Commodity Board Dairy Promotion Program Dedicated Service Award; PA Egg Marketing Association Service Award; PA Game Commissioner’s Award for His Career of Outstanding Service to the PA Game Commission; PA Game Commission Chief Game Commission Officer Certificate; Conservation Officers of PA Service Award; Pinchot Chapter of the Izaac Walton League Dedicated Service Award; Special Olympics Recognition Award; Ross Leffler School of Conservation Deputy Wildlife Conservation Officer Graduation Certificate; Governor Tom Ridge’s Gift of Two Federal Duck Stamp Prints; Three (3)  PA Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Awards; Governor Ridge’s Twenty Awards Banquet Plaque; PA Ruffed Grouse Society Appreciation Award; York County Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs Conservation Camp Honorary Alumni Award; York County Federation of Sportsmen Service Award; Dillsburg Jaycees Outstanding Service Award; and National Wild Turkey Federation Full Voting Member Certificate.

In 2006, he moved on to serve as a valued member on the governing board of the National Wild Turkey Federation for twelve years. He served as vice president, president, and chairman of the board, each three (3) year terms. During his tenure, the Federation grew and thrived.

Since 2006, Vern has focused on enjoying his family, friends, and hunting. During his long and rewarding turkey hunting career, he has harvested 77 gobblers in 26 states. He is especially proud of achieving the “Grand Slam” of turkey hunting by harvesting four subspecies of wild turkeys-Oceola, Merriam, Rio Grande, and Eastern. He credits his privileges to hunt turkeys all over the country through his National Wild Turkey Federation relationships He never harvested a hen turkey anywhere as he stands on the principle that every hen harvested eliminates 13 poults.  He harvested 5 black bears in Cameron County. He has harvested 37 bucks and never harvested a doe anywhere. He hunted with shotguns and rifles, including 22, 7 mm, 270, 30-06, 308, 300 magnum, and 243 calibers. He refers to his 243 as his pea shooter.

Vern was introduced to hunting and fishing in the mountains of Cameron County by accompanying his father, Bumper Ross, at the age of 5 or 6. He learned to fish for trout, hunt the big woods for squirrels, black bears, and deer, and spot-light deer in the Clear Creek and Jenks Run areas of Elk State Forest in Cameron County, PA. He hunted pheasants and rabbits with beagles in South Central PA farm country. Over time, Vern built a hunting camp named after his father’s nickname, “Little Bumper”, near the confluence of Clear Creek and Jenks Run.  For many decades, numerous men and boys would frequent Little Bumper in the fishing and hunting seasons as the area was an excellent wildlife habitat. It is common to host twelve (12) hunters in the black bear and rifle buck hunts at Little Bumper.  He believes that mentoring provided for the sons by the fathers from an early age and throughout the hunting seasons forges their lifelong love and respect for the outdoors and wildlife and develops their hunting skills and ethics. Also, it exposed them to the benefits of camp comradery and teamwork. Everybody at camp is listed in the chore (setting and clearing the dinner table, washing dinnerware, vacuuming the carpets, and taking out the trash) chart posted on the refrigerator. At every dinner time, Vern offers a blessing and thanks to those who make the meals and camp experiences possible, particularly those active and inactive in the military in PA and abroad.

Vern is particularly fond of a poem by an unknown author about fishing which reads:

“I pray that I may live to fish until my dying day. And when it comes to my last cast, then most humbly pray. When in the Lord’s great landing net and peacefully asleep that in his memory I be judged big enough to keep”.

After extensive, clear-cut logging in much of the mountainous area of PA in the late 19th and early 20th century, the forests grew back with thick or “pucker” brush. Vern recalls how the briars would grab your legs and make your butt pucker. At Vern’s camp, you often hear him recount his struggles through the pucker brush. Clear-cut logging and the hunting regulations of the times resulted in an over-population of deer. It was common to spotlight over 400 deer in the evening in the fields along area roads. There was a large population of bucks with small antlers and very few trophy racks for much of the 20th century.

In his early 80’s after hunting for over 70 years, Vern continues to spend all the time he can at Camp Little Bumper through most of the year, except for the dead of winter. He stocks Clear Creek next to the camp with trout and enjoys watching family and friends catch them or try to catch them. He stocks a corn feeder and plants food plots and mows his two acres to attract black bears, deer, and songbirds. He reads books and magazines and watches satellite TV, particularly in bad weather (heavy rain, wind, and very cold).

In bear and deer seasons, Camp Little Bumper continues year after year, to be a haven for hunter friends and relatives to get away from their normal routines. Quite often, a dozen hunters will convene on the eve of each season to begin the hunting strategy conversations and debates. Eventually, after catching up on the year’s trials, tribulations, and libations, each hunter identifies where his hunting spot will be in the morning. He also reads the task and meal charts posted on the camp refrigerator to see what work is in store. Usually, before four (4) a.m., Vern and his helpers will have the coffee ready and cook up a high-calorie, high-cholesterol breakfast. Once the eating is over, the table is cleared, dishes rinsed and placed in the dishwasher, lunches packed, hunters dressed, and the trek to the hunting spots ensues. The goal is to be at your spot, usually somewhere in Jenks Run Hollow or on the plateaus and be ready to shoot before daylight. The hunters will usually stay in their spots until they shoot at a black bear or deer or until the last daylight fades or drive is underway. A headlamp is usually needed to safely return to Little Bumper.

Once the hunters are back at Little Bumper, the accounts and stories, and lies unfold as dinner is prepared and served. Before dinner, Vern offers a blessing to thank the Lord for: the wildlife and the woods; the sacrifices of those serving in the military around the world to protect our freedom and us; sending down his healing angels to care for our soldiers who have been wounded in combat; and the food that nourishes our bodies that we can better serve you. With over 70 years of hunting experience, Vern generously offers “Vernisms” at dinner and at other opportune times, such as: “When you don’t see any birds, you won’t see any deer: If you are going to do something, do it right; admit when you make a mistake, but don’t make the same mistake twice; always focus on the light at the end of the tunnel; give him all the information and sound information when he is making decisions; always explain what you are trying to accomplish at the beginning, particularly with staff and legislators; what do you see; hunting takes patience and a belief that you will see the game you are hunting; you can’t shoot small bucks if you want big racks; if there is no food, there is no game; and if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen; camp is where you recharge your batteries; you must always respect the land and private property.

After dinner, the conversations often continue and everyone cares for their hunting gear and rests up for another day in the big woods.

Vern’s knowledge of wildlife and its habitat in the Jenks Run watershed is unmatched. He will either walk you through or talk you up the valley hollows and onto the plateaus traditionally named, beginning at the confluence of Jenks Run and Clear Creek: Johnson’s; Witches Tree( Left, Middle, or Right Branches);  Huckleberry; Big Butt; Gas Well; Green Timber; Rocky; Hemlock Alley; Tea Kettle; Big Basin; Sady’s; Dry Gulch; and Brown’s Mountain. He describes the terrain and the ground cover in the hollows and on the ridges with ease. When he meets a hunter who looks lost, he pulls out a copy of a photocopy of a topographical map, asks him where he wants to go, points him in the right direction, and gives him the map. New hunters at camp always get a briefing by Vern on the camp rules and get a topographic map, which includes the names of the above-mentioned hollows and ridges.   He recounts where many of the black bears and bucks were shot or shot at like it was yesterday.

Vern and his wife, Carolyn Ross have been married for over sixty-five (65) years and have three (3) children-Brian, Suzanne, and Jennifer. Suzanne has two children-Tyler and Dusty and Brian has three (3) children-Stephen, Collin, and Maggie. Vern credits his wife, children, and grandchildren with an “unbelievable” family life. In 1988, his family gave Vern the “Dad of the Year” Award for his exceptional performance in the fields of: taxi service; career counseling; easy credit; home repair; and pizza supply while on 24-hour call. He recognizes that two (2) very different people have “become one”. Vern and Carolyn have given Camp Little Bumper to their children to enjoy for years to come.

Vern has traveled to almost every state in the U.S., except for the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington. Carolyn and Vern traveled to Scotland after he retired from the PA Game Commission to visit where his grandparents came from. Vern traveled to France, Germany, Spain, and Algeria while in the military.

Knowing Vern Ross is an honor and privilege. He has done his level best to protect and enhance hunting traditions in PA and beyond for current and future generations, while a devoted husband, father, grandfather, friend, uncle, and neighbor. He has undoubtedly made his mark on wildlife conservation and hunting in the Commonwealth.

By Wayne W. Kober from Delightful Conversations with Vern Ross at Little Bumper Bear Camp during the Rainy Days of the 2024 Bear Season and in his home in Mechanicsburg on January 13, 14, 15, and 29, 2025.