I spent a number of days in the woods during this years gun season. Some of them I spent in Loch Raven bow hunting and a few I was luck enough to be invited to go on private land gun hunting. Sadly, I cannot write in here to tell you I was successful at either. Out of probably 4 or 5 full days of hunting and the odd ball couple hours in the morning or evening I spent a lot of time watching deer while bow hunting but never getting them close enough and gun hunting the deer seem to know what was going on and were no where to be found during day light.
Lets start with the bow hunting. I saw a ton of deer, I saw several young bucks and I even saw a pretty darn big 9 point buck and a ton of does. However, I spent much of this time either watching deer that were way out of range for a bow or watching a buck and not shooting a doe like I should have for meet in the freezer. When I finally gave up on the buck and said he next doe I see in range I am harvesting, well we all know how that goes. I finally had a mature doe at 22 yards one morning about 2 weeks ago, and she had a yearling with her and they were both feeding along. Well the yearling was about 40 yards away while the big doe was 22 yards away, she walked behind a tree and I had stopped looking at the yearling and was watching the big doe and as I drew my bow the yearling saw my shadow on the ground I guess and she took off which by the time I settled in at full draw the big doe was running away as well. That is about how this season has gone for me. That was the first time I have had the chance to draw my bow and nothing came of it. Oh well, you know what it was not meant to be. I also spent a several hunts in the Loch Raven, not seeing anything at all. Just been a super odd season for me and I am hoping late season will improve.
Gun Hunting,
This year for the first time in a while I was luck enough to get several invites to do some gun hunting. I almost always take my muzzleloader as I think it is my favorite and it will reach out to 150 yards no problem at all. I spent 1 hunt hunting with a family member to which I never saw a deer with about 5 total hours on said from late morning until dark. I also spent 3 evenings and a morning at another private property by myself. The first evening I saw 2 big does and a fawn, but it was so late I could barely make out the deer in my scope and they were in the thicket so no shots. The one morning I hunted was this past Saturday for opening day of Muzzleloader season, where I was hunting had gotten a dusting of snow and man was it pretty (pictured below). However, no such luck, all I saw was a fox right after daylight and nothing else was moving.
So here I am quickly coming up on the holidays and the end of the year, with just one week left and I have not even taken a shot at a deer. How sad of season, but I have enjoyed my time in the woods greatly, learned some new things, and spent some great time in the woods with good friends and family. I wouldn't trade the season for anything.
How did everyone else's gun season and beginning of Muzzleloader season go? Any trophy's taken? Love to hear some stories about harvests!
