Mineral, Corn and a Fresh-Tuned Chainsaw: Knepp's Gears Vinton County Up for Deer Season

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MCARTHUR, Ohio: Deer season at Knepp’s Power Equipment starts long before anyone climbs into a stand. It starts at the counter on US 50, where owner Norman Knepp says October is when Vinton County comes in to feed deer, fix saws and get ready for the cold.

The feed business is brisk. Hunters and landowners are putting out Antler King Grainac Blocks, Antler King Lick Magic, Scioto Valley Deer Feed and plenty of corn. Knepp’s most repeated piece of advice this month is about timing. It is too late, he said, for mineral to grow antlers for this season, but that does not make it pointless. A buck that gets mineral year round stays in better overall condition and grows bigger antlers, and most people simply wait too late to start.

Photo courtesy of Knepp’s Power Equipment

Chainsaws are the other half of the fall rush. Most saw work this month is firewood, though Knepp is seeing more small battery-powered saws riding along in side-by-sides, handy for clearing branches off trails. Asked what hunters most often wish they had serviced before the season, he pointed to the chainsaw again, along with trimmers fitted with brush blade attachments. Meanwhile, the fall service line is already forming, with mowers coming in to be prepped for next year’s mowing season.

Knepp’s is family owned and operated, and deer season runs through the family too. The season involves running out to the farm to haul in corn, bagging corn and Scioto Valley Deer Feed at the shop, and filling feeders for hunters who are not from the area and want to keep their feeders full while they are away.

For anyone running an older saw or trimmer hard this fall, Knepp’s advice is plain: get a tune-up, run fresh gas, preferably 93 octane or ethanol free if you can get it, and use a good brand of mix oil. On the last run of the season, he recommends a pre-mixed non-ethanol fuel, which has a longer shelf life and will not gum up the way normal pump fuel does.

Knepp’s Power Equipment is at 62969 US Hwy 50 in McArthur and can be reached at (740) 978-6339.

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