all in all have considered retirement from Deer lately gettin tough but might get out this week for one blind to make a few sits in

Well this was probably one of the worst opening big game seasons in a very long time. Thanks to Al Gore, lol.. gotta blame someone.. Deer hunting and tee shirts just don't work well in my environment.
We stuck to a plan of not trampling the woods and sitting to one stand per day until the bitter end. It's way to early to disturb the woods and give up our presence, even though they probably know better than I.

Anyway, the stands we sat were void of wildlife during the day but once darkness fell, they came alive.
On the second day a shooter walked past mid morning but we picked a different stand.
Deer hunting to me comes down to patience and preserverince. When the patience runs out later in the season, preservierance will take over .
I still got hrs and hrs ahead of time in the woods.

The hunting time clock 2022:
2 guys =16 hrs each in the woods

if that was the shooter he is pretty nice

My son, grandson and myself logged in another 10hrs yesterday and back in before light this morning. We seen 5 different bucks. All between 1-3:30pm.
One was a definite shooter but to far out. I also let a decent 6pt pass.
They are out marking territory with scrapes and scent. It's starting to get real now as their getting ornery.
Seems the colder weather is finally going to start and possibly some snow by Wednesday. 👍.
The goal is to put one down this week with xbow before Saturday's big bang.

deer here-with no nuts- been out in fields various times of day feeding- watched a real nice shooter chasing a doe this afternoon all over a field while some other doe hung around eating grass and watching-

So a little catch up on my last weeks adventure.
Hunted all week with the xbow and the weather was perfect with about 4" fresh snow. The hunting was a challenge, as it should be.. We seen the deer we wanted to take. He was a beautiful 10 pt. I had him in my sights on 3 occasions but couldn't get the shot. My son seen him twice.
I passed on other quality deer that were easy shots. Finally on the last day of xbow I decided to take a doe for the purpose of securing meat for the freezer. At 6:30 am she walks right in at 30 yards and I let the arrow go. Great shot but I didn't see it go down so I like to wait about 45 minutes.
Right after I shot, multiple deer came right in. I had these 2 bucks sparing in front of my stand for about 45 minutes. Not having recovered the first deer, I wasn't shooting another.
They finally leave and i find the deer 15 yards from my shot. Double lung and it wasn't going anywhere. I am a firm believer in fixed blade broadheads

Opening rifle on Saturday we both see the 10 pt again but no shot. I passed on 2 young bucks . No deer taken with the gun that day.
Sunday was a complete blizzard with the lake effect. I hunkered down in a ground blind until noon when the snow stopped but the winds didn't.
I walked some logging roads and found a nice 8pt broadside 50 yards with no idea i was there . I kneeled down and fired my 30-06. In complete disbelief, the bullet lands 8 yards in the dirt in front of the deer. Humm.
I get home and take 2 shots at 75 yards. First shot was standing freehand, second was resting on the railing. There was nothing wrong with my scope, nor me. I don't get buck fever..
My conclusion was it was a bad load ( factory) on the bullet.
We head back to the woods Friday-Sunday.

congrats on the doe and your patience

So a lot of things have been happening in the past 2 weeks. Some fun, some not so much
The not so much:
My oil furnace finally quit right before I left for deer camp. It would be 2 weeks before a new installation. No big deal, we have alternative heat with a pellet stove.
Well on return for Thanksgiving, the pellet stove starts causing an issue and the furnace was a week out.
I get it to running and told the wife don't shut it off. It became 76 plus degrees on low in our house.
New furnace gets installed and someone was watching over us as the old furnace was burning a hole in the wall and didn't burn the house down.
Part 2..
This is the longest, most time I've put into the woods without getting a quarry I've been seeking. Multiple times we've had opportunities but something goes wrong.

Good news :
My friend bagged a nice doe to fill his needs.
I spent 10 hrs in the woods in perfect conditions yesterday and had ample opportunities to take quality doe.
I passed on 2 small bucks.
I'm once again heading back into the field for a final and first hunt this late in our season.
I'm quite sure more quality venison will be served for our family but I'm not so sure we will get the 2 deer we've been holding out for.
Obviously, I'm not taking a immature buck.

More later

Rich all in all  it sounds like the luckiest  fall you ever had IMHO- that burn behind the furnace coulda been horrible- glad all worked out and hope you have a great last shooting op

When your day starts like this and ends like this after 36 days in the field of opportunity, you know it's going to get real.
It's not the 2 we've been stalking but one we've passed a few times. Given there is a very healthy population of upcoming and the 2 are safe from a hunter for another season today on the last day of my season i pulled the trigger with a nothing spoiled shot.
Only thing left to do is process him to add to our by our own hands food supply.

I wish Jack was around to start a ice dance.
Hopefully be on hardwater before 2023.