Cancer Doesn\’t Stop 86-Year Old Hunter; Gun For Hire; NRA University

ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Lester Warner left the hospital in a weakened state last month, his frail body racked by late-stage cancer. At 86 years old, he and his family had decided to stop treatment. But that didn\’t mean he planned to stop hunting. Pennsylvania\’s highly anticipated two-week rifle deer season was fast approaching, and the lifelong hunter from Dover township, about 30 miles south of Harrisburg, wanted to take to the woods one last time. Brian and his brother Scott were skeptical. But when their father started to rally – gaining strength with the help of a physical therapist – they decided they had better accommodate him, said Brian, 51. So Brian lugged an old recliner up the side of Broad Top Mountain, near his Huntingdon County dairy farm, to the small hut the family had built for Les Warner years ago. His father would hunt in comfort.

It was 19 degrees as the sun rose on opening day last week, the valley floor white with frost. Warner eased his old man\’s frame into the recliner, sipped his coffee and waited, armed with the .243 Winchester that Brian had selected for its mild recoil.