Almost end of year synopsis....

[Daveboone]

Tonight is northern zone deer season closing, which functionally ends my deer  hunting year. I cant complain too much. I took a nice big doe with my Thompson Triumph inline during the ML season in October, and had a doe tag for my area as well of course my buck tag. After tagging my doe I didn't spend too much time hunting due to not wanting to ruin my week off the 9 days after Thanksgiving, and not having a tag to use.. I keep a very close tab on my local area, and am very in tune with the deer population. It being true tug hill forest hunting, the deer population isn't what you might find in more agricultural areas. I would be happy to take one doe and a buck, but would pass on a 2nd doe in hopes of having three more deer around come next fall as opposed to one less.

Early in the rifle season I passed on a nice big bodied four point. He looked to be enjoying his day, as I was, so I kept us both happy. I got quite disgruntled by finding dumped deer carcasses nearby, right along the seasonal road going into my area. All shot obviously by the same hunters...skinned and quartered on a gambrel, hide pulled down but left on the carcass, they left the neck roast each time, and whatever they shot them with all had non pass through shots to the front r quarter. If I made my guess, all were shot as they came from the same direction to a bait pile, but we are getting a bit more forensic than needed ... all the deer (four) were small ...first year fawns, except for a small six point buck , likely 18 mo. old. They didnt even take his horns...nothing much, but I think of it as an insult to the buck.

A particular camp under relatively new ownership nearby on the main road had a lot more cars there all season long, and the freshest carcass appeared the evening before they left...and in conversation, a couple members had made it known they didn't mind taking a few extra. My first thought was to dump the carcasses in their front yard, but as my camp is the only other one in use in this time frame, it would be easy to draw suspicion....

I had multiple opportunities at does through this past week, put passed....my game camera was actually showing a lot more deer than earlier in the season, which isn't unexpected once snow falls. Deer move down through our area with the snow off the Tug, into the nearby Lake Ontario plains area. If it wasn't for the extra deer being shot off by my good neighbors, I would/could have taken one on my permit. 

The most frustrating part of hunting like I did this year was that as planned and hoped for, I had snow this week. With snow, I can and will sit almost every day and wander in between if no one else is around. By the end of the week with the season closing, I feel like I am barely just starting.

Thursday afternoon I was on my normal evening stand when I heard two shots approx. 1/2 mile or so away. About 15 minutes later I saw two big does striding through the swamp below me about 75 yards away. I put the scope on them just for a better look. Two fine big does. Five minutes later another deer appears on the same trail. Buck. BIG buck. HIs main beam on my side is heavy, and sweeps low like a bulls out to his nose. One BIG northcountry buck, that had never been seen on my cameras. The scope is on him, but no way am I risking a shot through all that crap, especially with dark coming on soon. I watch him as he slows down and moves into a bunch of windfalls at the limit of my vision, but I dont see him again. Heavy sigh.

So I saw plenty of deer with plenty of opportunities including a passed on buck (the four pointer). I dont count the big buck as a passed shot, as no clear shot presented itself, but I am mighty pleased to have seen him, I have meat in the freezer (and a little from last year) so I am in good shape for venison. Traffic isnt heavy up there, and I am of a mind that if that big ass buck made it this far, he will probably make it through this season, and likely be around for next year.

TIme to start planning next year.....I will be up at the camp next week end checking the trails and cameras.