We returned from the Midwest, tried to catch up on work for a few days and celebrated Thanksgiving with our families.  Then it was off to the eastern shore of Maryland for the firearms season that opened on November 25th.  This usually a very interesting hunt if the weather cooperates.

Our farm is right in the middle of a “big woods” section and is surrounded by other heavily hunted properties.  We usually have an edge up based on our food plots which are a great attractant for the deer in the area and we are pretty selective about what we shoot. However, the surrounding landowners are getting smart and planting competing food sources.  That, in addition to heavy hunting pressure on the surrounding properties along with weather that was way too warm, resulted in us not seeing nearly as many deer as we normally see. The bucks we did see were nowhere near the size of what we had seen in the past.

There was heavy shooting all around us and the deer had a hard time making it to our fields.  It was a good thing we have a decent number of resident deer that live in our sanctuaries or we wouldn’t have seen much at all.  The warm weather did not help either.

We hunted the first week and left for home hoping the January two day season on the 5th and 6th would be better. It wasn’t!  The temperatures were at an all-time high record for January.  Nothing was taken on this hunt and only 4 average size deer for the first season. It was definitely not what we were expecting.  I am going to have to re-think this for next year.

All in all the whole 2006-2007 season was a great success.  We were away from home a lot but we got some great results. What we really got were unforgettable experiences that we will carry in our memories forever.  That’s what it is all about– the overall experience! Those memories are the true trophies.

Hopefully, we will be able to try it again next year.  I hope you all had a fun and successful 2006 and that 2007 is a good year!