Eats and Drinks

With fall in Pennsylvania, the migration from home to cabin begins. For the 24 members of the Wallis Run Rod and Gun Club, each return to the lodge for hunting season is a time to reconnect, laugh and, of course, hunt.

“This cabin represents brotherhood and we love doing traditional drives with our members and friends, ” says Anthony Segraves, a lodge member who has been going to the cabin since he was 10 years old with his uncle, Bernie Horton.

Located in Trout Run, the over 3,000-square foot lodge is nestled near the Tiadaghton State Forest along Wallis Run.

Built in 1989, the rustic lodge has the quintessential elements of a hunter’s cabin, plus much more. There is a stone fireplace in the living room, wood paneling, bedrooms with bunk beds, and trophies lining the walls, one of them an albino deer captured sometime in the 1960s.

There is also original art throughout.

The open concept kitchen has a six burner stove and sizable island able to handle prep for a big group of hungry hunters. Nearby in the sunroom, there is a commercial refrigerator underneath shelves holding empty bottles of the lodge’s signature drink, Jack Quinn’s Ginger Brandy.

In the lodge’s lower level, the bar area is warmed by a wood burning stove, rumored to have been forged from a discarded piece of the Alaskan pipeline. This is where many lodge members have returned for decades from the hunt to banter about hikes, game and life in general.

While a good amount of time is spent indoors, it is in the outdoors where members spend the majority of their time.

“We hunt everything including deer, bear, turkey and birds, where we bring dogs in and one member hunts snakes, ” says Segraves.

The property holds a large deck, trap shooting, a pond and a 200-yard shooting range. There are food plots with clover, buckwheat and alfalfa in the spring, while turnip and radishes are grown in the fall. Over Wallis Run is the sole bridge to the property, which has been rebuilt three times because of high water. Nearby the bridge, a gazebo is perched over the flowing water offering a place to relax or snack.

Each year the Wallis Run Rod and Gun Club shares their lodge with the community for an annual squirrel hunt to benefits PA Wounded Warriors. This year the group raised $6,000 when over 100 squirrel hunters took part.

For lodge members, sharing their bounty with the community is just one more way to enjoy their love of the land.

LORENABENIQUEZ/West Branch Life

TheWallisRunRodandGunClubinTroutRunhasalltheammenitiesfor cabin life including a trap shooting range, plenty of outdoor grills and lots of space.