Drought over

Well it took longer this year than in any years in the past for me to get my first deer of the season. On Friday, Nov. 21, I was hunting a acorn draw in my Summit, and thee doe came in to feed. After a while of watching and hoping a buck would come in, I decided to take one, I made an excellent 13 yard shot on a decent doe. Looked and the other two were still on the hill side, so when another shot presented itself I took a second one. Two doe down. Saturday morning was also good. Except it was cold, I mean real cold for South Carolina, we woke up in the tent to a temperature of 23 degrees. I went to my favorite stand and Chad, a friend of mine went to another, it was a magical morning. He saw 20 deer that morning, 19 doe and one nice 8 pointer that he tried to shoot, and had a misfire from his gun. Funny thing was the bullet had a dent in the primer, but ti did not fire. I saw 7 deer, 6 doe and a spike. That afternoon, Chad returned to his stand and saw two doe and two bucks, he shot and grazed another 8, we looked for a while in the dark and found little sign, two small specks of blood. We waited until the next morning to take up the trail, found nothing else, and no deer. Hopefully, he just nicked the deer and it will live. All in all it was a great weekend of hunting. Finally the drought is over and we are seeing some activity.

Frustrating Year

It has been a frustrating year for deer season here in South Carolina. I cannot remember a year when I had not had an opportunity at a deer this late into the season.

I have been hunting this same land for years, and have identified transition areas, funnels, staging areas, etc, and yet, this year I have seen so few deer. My records indicate that I have seen only six (6) deer all season and last year I averaged almost that many each hunt! Granted the food sources is different this year. We have a bumper crop of acorns, as compared to previous years, so the deer do not need to travel as far in search for food, still the sightings are so far down it makes me wonder what in the world is going on!

My son has gotten a big doe, and a friend has gotten three doe, I have seen several small bucks, (spikes and one decent 6 point) but nothing else. THe trail cameras have shown some does and some small bucks, but nothing to brag about. I have moved into other areas, and seen some deer. But it is not like before. This is one of the most challenging years ever in my 20+ seasons.

I am not giving up, but it is frustrating that the sightings and harvest are so far down. Hopefully before our season ends on Jan. 1 I will at least gotten one, - the goal was four, but by now I am hoping for one.

Hunting with Daughters

I am very blessed to have 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys. Recently my middle child who is an 8 year old daughter has been asking me to take her hunting. She has been watching Lee and Tiffany Lakosky and she has seen how girls can and do hunt successfully. She loves that show, and loves Tiffany.

I am old fashioned I guess, I never thought of taking her before, I take my sons, but never thought of taking my daughters. I have discussed this with my wife, and we are planning a short trip to take her to see if she will like it, we will start by a squirrel hunting trip to a local GMA property and give it a try. I guess it makes sense, women are one of the fastest growing segments of hunters entering the sport. So now, I will add one to the fold, she will go with me and we will see. If nothing else, we will have a great day spending it together father and daughter. What else epitomizes Times Well Spent, than spending it sharing your passion with your children?