I was a founding member of a land share club 41 years ago on one of the most fabled hunting swamps in Mississippi. It was along the Big Black River and the hunting was about as good as it gets. Over the years it grew and we added shareholders and purchased more land. My son grew up fishing and hunting there and the joys the land passed on to us was much more than the price I paid.
I started as a young man in my 20's and as time always does (if you live long enough), I arrived at the door of 'Ol Geezerhood' faster than I thought possible. Given my age, I thought it was time to unwind my interest in the club; not to leave my wife the chore of unwinding it for me one day in the event of an unplanned departure. It was a very sad day when I locked my mobile home and left the keys to the new owner. It was a long ride home that day.
I've been a traditional bowhunting fanatic my entire life. I bought a new place in a new county closer to my daughter at the request of my wife who wanted to be closer to our daughter and granddaughter. I knew no one here, it wasn't really home and it felt odd. I purchased a small tract of land to hunt on.... but as much as I am privileged to have that opportunity; it wasn't large enough to hunt daily and compared to what I left...the hunting was pretty dismal though I did manage to kill a doe on it last year.
This year I was going to try something different. I decided to try to join a new club. In a miracle, a club just 8 minutes from my home decided to take in an old man (who just hunted with a recurve) that wasn't really good for much anything else. I found it to have a fair number of deer but having to be around new people I didn't know, learning new land with a different terrain was challenging in more ways than you would think. The first thing I noticed is the club likely had 35 "club' stands that anyone could use (A concept we never used at the old place) but they were all shooting houses and ladder stands with wrap around shooting rails; worthless for a traditional shooter as you can't get over the rails:)
This weekend it was in the 40's here and I thought I would give it a go in a few of spots I had pre-scouted. At 7:30 this morning a doe came tip toeing down the trail just as I had envisioned. A 20 yard shot from my 52lb Widow, Gold Tip, and two blade Zwickey Black Diamond Eskimo resulted in a quick harvest and my first kill at the new club. It wasn't a monster buck; nor was it even a very large doe but I was thankful for it as if it had been either.
I noticed that many, if not most folks, at this place hunt with lets say 'alternative' bows in the archery season, so I was pretty happy to pull up to the skinning shed with the first traditional harvest likely they had ever seen. Today was good.
Topic: Sometimes Change is Good (Read 1628 times)
