Old hunter, well part of me is old. Its funny how the brain and heart stays young and the body reminds you that while you want too, sometimes you better think twice. I'm 57 on Sunday and have been hunting sense my early twenty's with a bow. I hunted deer and hogs for the first few years and due to the fun and ability to hunt hogs year around, I stopped hunting deer. It has to be 30 years sense i purchased a deer tag. Never regretted it with California's short season and 1 deer limit.
Things have changed this year as both the wife and i have retired and relocated to Arkansas to be by our 6 kids and to watch our 10 grand kids grow up.
I now live in a state that has a 5 month season and a 6 deer limit plus they have all but outlawed hog hunting so deer it is. Not to mention that i live right on the Arkansas Oklahoma border and one of my sons lives just in side of Oklahoma, this called for a nonresident license. This gives me a 12 deer limit. What i would do with 12 deer i dont know but i can now hunt with my son in Oklahoma and in Arkansas with my daughter and younger son.
We arrived here in March of this year, As soon as the unpacking was done i started looking for and scouting the enormous amount of public land here. Ive been out with my son taking care of food plots on his land and setting up game cameras, looking at the pics, setting up stands. I even purchased a game cam and set it up on my little 15 acre peace of heaven.
I have several trees picked out on several pieces of public land that i will hunt from with my first ever climbing tree stand.
Tomorrow is opening day of my first deer season in 30 or so years. It will be the first time i have ever hunted whitetail deer. It will be the first time i get to hunt with any of my kids.
To say the built up anticipation is killing me is a profound under statement.
This, my first deer season in Arkansas/Oklahoma is already a tremendous success and it hasn't even opened yet.