1st Annual "Season Closeout" hunt

We celebrated the closing of the 2010-2011 deer season with a full day of hunting. It was a fun way to get together, formally end the season, and hunt as a group on this last chance hunt. I think I may try to make this hunting day an annual tradition! Mike M. and I hunted the morning at the Frederick property. We heard some deer as we entered the woodline in the dark of morning. We both hunted the deep Laurel patch to try to intercept the “big heard”. We set up on stools under the laurel understory browse line and waited. I fickle wind chased me from my sit around 8:30, so I started off a slow stalk up the hill toward Brent’s tree (bedding area) and left Mike in a position free of my wayward scent. I moved slowly and hunted well, but never encountered any deer through the laurel and into the multiflora. Mike had decided to move as well and was hoping if I pushed one off the hill he could intercept. Unfortunately, he did not observe any movement either. We called it quits at 10:30 and headed for a quick lunch and drive to Havre De Grace. Mike and I got to Chris’s as he was shooting a few arrows in the backyard, so we broke out the bows after he got Moses (Cujo dog) put in his kennel. Chris is in the market for a new short longbow and Mike brought both of his two customs bows for Chris to shoot. We all pretty much shot poorly, but had fun shooting different bows and comparing the feel. Chris even brought out his homemade “old Ugly” takedown and Mike did pretty well shooting it at 15 yards! Tom showed up ready to hunt, as he had hunted the morning in the area we were going and saw no game. We thought our luck might change with 4 hunters surrounding this small woodlot. We pulled up and Mike made the comment, “If you look up bedding area in the dictionary, it would have a picture of this place”…. Chris guided us to our trees and we pretty much had the place surrounded. Unknown to me at the time, Chris pushed a few deer past Mike when he left me for his position. Unfortunately, they ran by Mike when he was halfway up his tree, behind him, and at a full run! Tom later reported seeing a few deer moving fast that could have been the same ones. I had a nice sit, and the weather was very mild in the 60s, and a moderate warm breeze had my tree swaying every so often. I watched some songbirds, saw some young eagles flying, heard the sounds of the waterfowl going and coming from the river, and even saw a few insects flying around…..but no deer as darkness fell. No one in the group got off a shot, yet I think we all had a good time. It was nice to hunt new terrain for a change. I’ll have to wait until next year to pursue deer again, and I now have a lot of time to get my act together and shoot better between now and then! We still have opportunity for squirrel into February, and spring Gobbler starts in April to round out the season totally.