Hope Restored

After several weeks of getting more and more depressed due to not being able to get to the woods and spend some time there, I finally got the chance earlier in the week. And was it ever a breath of fresh air, literally! The last couple times going to check my trail cameras I got very disappointed. There were very few pictures on them, and even fewer pictures of deer. Where I used to average 120-180 pictures a week per camera, the cameras only took 80 pictures each for three weeks; talk about scary. I attributed it to the hot weather and the deer not travelling far from bedding areas. However, it still had me scared. After returning on a couple occasions the pictures seemed to increase but the pictures of mature bucks were not there. I am by no means a "trophy" hunter, but must say I like the reward of harvesting a mature deer. He or she has lived several years and hasn't done it by accident, and to have the privilege to harvest one brings me even more joy.

This brings me to the past week when I had finally managed to get enough time to spend some quality time in the woods. After the short deterrence, I headed out with my wife and son to our 198 acres a few miles up the road. When we got there it had just finished raining a few hours before, so all tracks were washed away. However, we did see a couple sets of fresh tracks that showed they were walking around. Then it happened, we had walked down a path to a field where one of the cameras is located and my son and I broke the wood line and started walking toward the camera when two hens and four poults jumped and flew into the trees. I was ecstatic!!! These were the first turkeys we have seen on our property. They are several to the east of us but they haven't ventured to our place. After seeing them, I was complete, but we decided to walk the rest of the property and it was uneventful. Well not completely, I did find that the persimmon trees are loaded down and will be prime early season blind locations, the acorns are looking to be a heavy harvest for mid fall as well.

A few days later, the in-laws decided to drive up from Florida and pay us a visit. So that gave me another chance to travel to the property and check the cameras. Low and behold, the trail cameras captured two decent bucks, one of them is mature (further one) as well as a couple of younger bucks, and several nice does that will help fill the freezer.

This week has been an incredible week for me, a much needed breath of fresh air, and hope is restored! Now, I just need to find a job ;-)