Well, it's about the end of another year. I was very fortunate to be able to hunt more then I have in years. I was able to get out a total of 76 days of bow hunting since Sept. 8th up to now. The deer were hard to find this year, though they were around. I think I just got used to doing the same old things I have been doing the past few years, and it wasn't until I made some changes that I did have deer coming in.
I started off the early season seeing a few bucks, but I needed to shoot a doe first. That was in NJ. Once PA opened, I was fortunate to get a doe my first time out, but that one was swiped by a bear. The rest of the year I had to hunt very hard just to find deer. I worked hard and put my time in moving around, trying new sites etc. I managed to have a few encounters along the way, and each was exciting to say the least.
Most of my encounters with deer didn't provide shot oppertunities, at least I didn't think so at the time. Looking back, I think I could have pulled off a shot here and there, but probably better that I didn't. It wasn't until some late season hunting that I had some more shot oppertunities. These shots all ended up as misses many of which were due to bad form of some kind. (back tension, dropping the bow arm to peak, etc.) There were also a few arrows that met with an unseen branch or two.
I had high hopes of tagging deer or a bear. I had my chances. I must say this was a great year all in all, and the tag soup was delicious.