Another season in the books

Another deer season is complete and I came home without venison to put in the freezer.

Aside from that fact, I'd have to classify the season as a great success. I probably hunted more and harder than any other season in my life. I got out in the woods seven days out of the nine and I could have hunted the other two days too, but I went home for Thanksgiving. I normally split up my mornings and afternoons in different locations after the first weekend and hunted in more than a half dozen stands and at least that many spots in blinds or posting against trees.

Camp was fun, though I wish more hunters would have been there after the first weekend. We were a little light there at the end and especially in the middle of the week. The cabin, which was only built last year, has definitely proven to provide for a nice deer camp. Several improvements were made since last year and it was one of the most comfortable deer camps I've ever been a part of.

Dennis, one of the landowners, shot a doe on Thanksgiving day to take our only deer of the week. Hunters shot at three other deer but missed. I never fired my rifle. We all saw deer and activity actually increased a little later in the week compared to after the first weekend, but I was still a little let down by the deer activity. I expected to see more deer than last year with my new stand and I saw much fewer.

The inactivity allowed me a little more time later in the week to do some exploring/scouting. We're all still getting a little bit used to the land since this was only our second year hunting and I walked through some areas I had never really been through. I think I will move my stand a bit further northwest next year to take advantage of longer shooting lanes and what appears to be more deer activity. I expect a lot of stand building this year as all of us are getting a better idea of where the deer move (and where they don't) on the property. Hopefully we'll have more to hang on the buck pole next year.

I'll continue to recap some of the successes/failures of the season in the coming days and weeks.