With the close of season upon us, (not able to get out this weekend), it will mark for the first time since the 1995 season that I didn't kill at least 1 deer. Most years i've killed 3-5 with some exceptional years of double digits. I thought I would disappointed in how my season went, but overall was happy and got to watch deer die. This year, I was focused on getting my 13y/o son and dad both deer. I only hunted 3x by myself. 2 of 3 I didn't even see a deer cause I tried to hunt less favorable spots that wouldn't mess up my dad & son's future hunts.
I accomplished my goals with my son killing 3 deer (1 buck/2 does) and missing a good buck opening AM of ML. Dad was able to kill a nice 8 pt opening weekend of gun. Dad is almost 74 and found out he had liver cancer earlier in the year. They did some treatments at UVA in Aug and at end of Oct they told him he was cancer free. He was so worn out from the treatments, he didn't hunt any in bow and just a handful of times in Nov. Just glad he was able to make the best of time he was able to go.
Best of luck to everyone on the end of the season. I'm already making plans on habitat improvements for my place this year so that I can get a chance at one of the 5 mature bucks I had on camera. Remember to enjoy that time with the love ones and don't worry about the kill.
I accomplished my goals with my son killing 3 deer (1 buck/2 does) and missing a good buck opening AM of ML. Dad was able to kill a nice 8 pt opening weekend of gun. Dad is almost 74 and found out he had liver cancer earlier in the year. They did some treatments at UVA in Aug and at end of Oct they told him he was cancer free. He was so worn out from the treatments, he didn't hunt any in bow and just a handful of times in Nov. Just glad he was able to make the best of time he was able to go.
Best of luck to everyone on the end of the season. I'm already making plans on habitat improvements for my place this year so that I can get a chance at one of the 5 mature bucks I had on camera. Remember to enjoy that time with the love ones and don't worry about the kill.