Hunting and family time

[NYRturkeycall]

Down here in Suffolk, was planning on being in my spot by 530am.  Wife has been more than fair letting me go out almost every other weekend since October and play hockey Sunday nights. Today is my last opportunity to hit the ground for one more bow day before shotgun season (at least in my DEC spots).

Deciding to put back my gear and clothes and head back to bed to surprise the wife and kids. My 4 year old will be thrilled when she wakes up...the baby just always smiles. 

Point is, deer will always be there, time won't...and seeing your little girl's smile because Daddy stayed home is worth more than all of the public land 8 pointers I could hope to find. 

Hope you all have a moment or two like this as well, however it might turn out.  Enjoy your families and loved ones. 

Merry Christmas and Happy holidays. 

[DoubleDose]

Couldn't agree more.  Hunting 1C for decades.  December archery is a grind and not like October/November; and not worth it in my opinion unless you have a food source to hunt.  January, with shotgun/ML, changes the game back.

[mlammerhirt]

Well said!!......and when they get older the kids will love tagging along. My 7 year old is up and ready to go this morning. Doesn't get any better than having him tag along.

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[wolc123]

 

Our two girls were born just 10 months apart. The years have really flown by and I remember those days fondly, even though our oldest is now in college (home now for Christmas/New Years) and our youngest is in her last year of high school.  They still get super excited about Christmas, and this remains their favorite time of the year.

 It didn't take much snow and freezing rain yesterday, for me to pull the plug on a planned late ML season overnight trip to my buddy's souther tier hunting camp, just so that I could stay home and be a bigger part of that excitement.   There may be a lot more deer down there, and the odds of punching my ML tag would be better if I had gone, but it would not be worth the time I would have lost with the family.

I went deer hunting with my ML for a few hours behind our house yesterday, and at least I got to see a deer back there, for the first time since the early September antlerless gun season.  I could not tell if it was a buck or a doe, but it looked big.  Maybe we will meet up again, during the new Holiday ML season after Christmas, when I will have 5 days off work and a lot more "free" time.  

Family time has consumed more than the usual amount of my hunting time this year, due to our youngest daughter's high school field hockey team's playoff run to the state championship downstate.  Our oldest daughter goes to college down there, so that brought us all together, for a few days in November.

Things always seem to balance out, and even though I lost most of my hunting time during the southern zone two week crossbow season (I have not had the time to maintain proficiency with a vertical bow since our kids were born), the new Holiday ML season will still give me a crack at punching that tag.     

I am very thankful that my wife and our girls love venison.  Our meat situation is good right now, because sharing some time with my parents has yielded a button buck (my wife's favorite kind), during the early antlerless season, and a fine mature 9-pointer during gun season.  Sharing some time with my wife's parents up north tacked on a mature doe during the early ML season.

Another deer or two, during the late and Holiday ML season, would be the icing on the cake.  I will keep trying, because I would like to share some more meat with extended family members, who could really use it.  I cant help but notice how all three of the deer, that I have killed so far this year, have involved giving up some of my time to do something for others. 
 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Edited December 19, 2021 by wolc123

[Jeremy K]

My season has been very abbreviated this year compared to previous years because of our new baby . I was still able to get away for a few over night stays and avoid the early morning drive. Family time is incredibly important but it's also important to take part in activities that make us who we are.

[mlammerhirt]

Current situation as i type.....it doesn't get any better than this! He is happy as a pig.....pounding snacks he picked out for breakfast......driving our utv back to where we park before walking in....and chilling in a heated blind watching YouTube videos.

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[Nomad]

Somewhat related,  Mrs Nomads best friend called around the end of the summer to say they booked a trip to Ireland , and would we like to join them ? Mrs said sure , then was told it’s the first week of Nov., sorry she said that’s the rut . 

[genesee_mohican]

We have family visiting around Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas or we are visiting them hours away. It’s awesome and I’m blessed. I do wish however that they would be starting the new ‘late season’ a week after Christmas so I could actually get out a few days. 

[NYRturkeycall]

Glad to see all the replies and know that you guys are enjoying your family time however you decide to spend it. Merry Christmas Happy holidays and have a great New Year!