congrats Rich

Well thank you Trevor.
It was a long season for us but very good fun times. Our crew of 5 dropped off to a core 3 plus my grandson. I knew there would be challenges having less of us afield but everything worked out. Again, we have a vast amount of woods and property with zero pressure from outsiders.
Typically a good season is 3 deer harvested, a great season is everyone gets to pull the trigger. Were not picky be are are choosy based on the surroundings.
I've had discussions about what to take and when but we are the only ones that know our property. There's a reason for how we harvest and it's not always going to be the biggest deer in the woods but I will say, aside from 2 doe and a crazy mature unicorn, we haven't taken anything less than an 8pt in 10 seasons. I say less, we've taken bigger.
Were not trophy hunters but we know about the trophy deer in those woods so you try and use patience , then comes judgment.
We really track our deer pretty well with cameras. Starting in May and ending in December, we're pretty in tune with the woods. The deer don't venture far from their preferred areas unless something makes them relocate.
As an example, we've been watching this 8pt since May, he is still there this morning.

On a side note:
I got this picture yesterday of a pike lake I fish as a first shakedown. Always action and fun to fish.
It's beginning to look like a lot like Christmas. My first planned hardwater adventure is December 26th.
Fun stuff..

there is little we do that is so satisfying as our trips afield -aside from family.
Glad you had a great time- enjoy those trips as long as ya can,
 
One thing I learned over a lifetime of trying to figure out Deer is that a buck will often travel for miles looking for love during the season only to return to home ground very late in the season.
Have occasionally again seen my  target buck in the last few days of our Muzzel season in late December right back in his earlier haunts.
 
cant hit the woods and ridges  any more and am stuck field hunting one spot not far from the truck and really enjoy your descriptions and photos of the deep woods hunting--
great memories being made there.

Trevor, it's far different where we hunt.
The high mountain deer don't leave their areas very much, I'd say less than a half to quarter mile once they've established a home. The doe also as we can basically name them ( like spot on the SR in puckerbush creek, lol.
Just think about it, why would you leave when everything comes to your house.
If you take out the fun stuff they like, then they will leave. If they get wary, then they will smart up.
Alternative foods such as fields and corn are miles away and require lots of energy so they adapt to the high country and we're not hunting those types of valley deer.
It was a great season with lots of opportunities , we just choose them as the conditions apply.

Ps:
I just loaded up on ice gear and got a fantastic deal on a new pair of Simms waders at 50% off.

I can now hunt on one 67 acre farm--about 2/3 is fields the rest a high ridge and swamp.
If unmolested the deer will on rare occasion enter a field during shooting hours-- have always passed doe there but took 5 bucks--4 real nice shooters --gotta wait them out lol
Now the owners grandkids shoot there and get a couple of weeks before the season for a special landowner hunt-they took 4  in that hunt and now with the snow are pushing the swamp to each other regularly and took at least one buck outa there a few days ago.
Went over today and cleaned out my blind--done for the year almost 3 weeks before the season end,
 
Am actually happy for them getting some deer and appreciative that whenever they know I am there they go elsewhere but the place stinks for sitting for unmolested deer when they are pushed they wont come to the fields  till after dark,
 
Ahh for the old days of hiking ridges and still hunting woods--fond memories
 
Kinda like puckerbrush--have seen that for the last time cept for fond memories too   
 
stay up in those hills as long as ya can rich-then build a little shack with a gas heater and stay a while longer lol

We built a shooting shack for my 10 year old grandson last spring. It's the only one on the property and it's heated.
The deer I took from one of my tree stands was one that's frequent around the shooting shack. The stand is about 200 yards away.
I passed on him a few times, hoping my grandson ( and my son) would get the quarry to share together.
There's other around as well but on the last day of our season, his time had come.

I'm still a hardcore brave the elements guy that will sit in a tree and freeze my azz off if I feel that's what is happening. We have 11 tree stands, 4 ground blinds and 1 shooting shack on the property of 784 acres with probably 4,000 plus surrounding acres that nobody hunts to apply pressure . We haven't heard a gunshot within ear all season, or any season for that matter.
There's no houses, no fields just the top of a mountain on a dead end 2 miles up from a highway in the valley.
It's beautiful hardwoods up there that is private property and used for logging purpose only at select times.

great place- not many like it

Hunting deer on natural movement without others in a vast expanse of property can be a lot tougher than one thinks.

Great job!

Thanks Dar. I've been on that mountain for 36 years, kinda know what your saying.
Putting meat in the freezer isn't difficult, hunting deer is the challenge we love.

I ride around a few evenings a week year round near home and look at deer  in NO hunting areas-they act different in those places.
Today I watched a couple of dozen in a field where 2 mature bucks were fighting like crazy-one kept knocking the other to the ground and they  would face off and do it again over and over--great.