Thursday, November 3, 2011

I Have The Mid-Season Blues

It happens every year sometime around the beginning of November. I get discouraged with hunting. October/November is a tough time for me as a hunter. It is one of the best times of year for almost all of the game animals I hunt, but I do not have access to much land. The land I do have access to is not very productive, a fair drive away, or overcrowded.

At this point I have not seen a game animal in over three weeks. I get up early, usually around 3 AM, drive an hour or two, and don't see anything. I'm sure a better hunter would be more productive, but the fact is the areas I have to hunt are not very productive. A Management Officer told me that only two deer have been killed all season on one of the properties I had access to. This is both encouraging and discouraging. I am encouraged that it is not just me that is having problems, but am discouraged because the chances of me killing anything there is very low.

While I enjoy the outdoors, just staring at this for three days is not fun.
I only have so many vacation days I can use to hunt and the only day I can hunt after work is Thursdays.  Sadly, by the time I get off work and drive to a productive WMA it is almost dark. There are two areas I can hunt that are fairly close, but both are only accessible by water. Getting my jon boat and equipment out there is not worth it unless I can hunt all day.

I have two nice,private land deer hunts lined up, one for the middle of November and one for the beginning of December. After December rolls around I have access to much more land. Predator seasons are open, plus rabbit and squirrel. I'm thinking of taking a hunting break until then. I prefer small game hunting to deer anyway.

I think this Thursday after work I'm going to take my daughter fishing instead of going hunting. It is supposed to be nice and I'd rather spend time with her than driving all evening only to see nothing. I've always said that hunting should be fun. If I'm not having fun what is the point?

Spending time with her is much more fun!




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