Great season.

Good attitude! Deer movement here( before 1:00 a.m. anyway! ) stank as well.

Awesome outlook!!!

Ok, so here`s what`s happening. It`s a long, long story and I won`t get into all of the details, but in a nutshell, I found out yesterday I`ve immediately lost access to the two small farms I`ve hunted for the past 25 plus years. I was so emotional when I found out. I`ve hunted these two places for so long, I love them as if they were my own. They`re both tough places to hunt, but still, I`ve seen and killed many deer off of them, and spent so many hours in my ladderstands there. I knew I`d lose access to them one day, and suspected it would be soon, but what took place blindsided me and it`s not how all of this was supposed to happen, but yet, here it is. I was hoping and asked if I could at least finish hunting until January 3, but it doesn`t sound like I have that opportunity. Even though I`m having a pity party right now, I`m still abundantly aware that I`ve been so blessed to be able to hunt these farms, and especially for all the years I was allowed to. The owner never once asked me for a lease or any other form of payment, I was just allowed to literally have the run of the place and hunt to my hearts content. The times I`ve had there, and the memories made there will be with me always.

Now, to what`s ahead for me...at my age and physical condition, I know I just cannot handle the terrain at Owen-Putnam or anyplace remotely like that. It`s just not doable. I have a great buddy who takes me deer hunting on occasion, and in fact, he took me hunting off the ground and sat with me last evening. We saw a small buck, and a couple does that were too far out to even consider, and it was a rush seeing deer while at their level, but his land access is very limited, and I won`t intrude or impose upon him. He`s taking me out now because he`s already killed his buck.

As I remember the farms I just lost, how I was able to go in and set up ladderstands, trim shooting lanes, move stands or add additional stands, as my back and finances would allow, hunt however and whenever I pleased, I literally had the run of the place, it was just as if the land was mine and I was able to do whatever I pleased, (the only stipulation was that I couldn`t take anyone else there. If I did, I would lose access), I can`t be bitter about losing access, or even really, the way this all happened, and I`m not bitter, but I am in mourning. In mourning because deer hunting as I`ve known it for the last 25 plus years is over, in mourning because I`d made a bond with those two little pieces of ground, and in mourning because for all intents and purposes, my deer hunting "career" is over. I may still go out and deer hunt on the occasions my buddy, after he`s killed his deer, might offer to take me, but I`ll go mostly just because it`s always so good to hang out with him, and there`s no guarantee he`ll even ever have the time or inclination to offer again.

Please understand, I`m not fishing here, not looking for places to hunt. Far from that. I`m just grieving the loss of a way of life that I`ve lived and loved for even well before the years I had those two pieces of property to hunt. I`ve been consumed with deer and deer hunting for decades. My whole world revolved around thinking about, planning for, and going deer hunting. I`m grieving the loss of those two little pieces of deer ground too. And I`m grieving, knowing that each year now, when the leaves start to turn, when the bucks start to get restless and want to search out does, I`m not going to be out there. I don`t have the money for a lease, and even if I did, I doubt I`d go that route, it`s impossible to get permission to just hunt a place anymore, for all the obvious reasons, and I don`t have the physical stamina, the financial resources to drive to those public places with any regularity, nor, do I have the patience to deal with people on public land. So in all reality, on December 5, 2020, my deer hunting career died.

Thanks for letting me vent, and try to deal with my emotions as I typed. I bet that if there`s anywhere in the world that people would understand what I`m feeling, it would be this place, right here. If my buddy get`s me out again and I`m blessed to take a deer, I`ll be certain to get it accounted for here so the Geezers team will get the credit for the contest.

Sorry to hear that. Thing’s have a way of turning out for the best, keep your chin up and another opportunity will show itself.

I felt the same way in late 2017. I was contacted by the owner of 350 acres of land behind my house that I'd had sole permission to hunt for 23 years to let me know that the property was going to be heavily timbered and sold. I was allowed to finish the firearms season and took a decent 8-pointer within 15-20 minutes of the season's closing. I would have let it walk if it weren't my last day there.

The loss of that farm and my mother's death 5 months later put me into such a violent tailspin that I walked away from a 23-year marriage and essentially quit hunting for 2.5 years. I finally got back into deer hunting a few weeks ago with the firearms opener. I had been an avid archer since 1989 (bowhunter since 1997), and lived for the early archery season, yet I haven't drawn a bow since 2017. Now, with right shoulder pains beginning to worsen, I may not shoot again unless I take the crossbow route. That's quite a fitting end for a guy who strongly opposed their inclusion in the beginning. LOL!

I'm still trying to get my deer hunting excitement back. I, as well as you, will get past this pity party. Hang in there!

Wow, I`m so sorry to hear about all you`ve gone through. Life is hard sometimes, and it`s not always easy to navigate even through the simple times, much less the times that drain us and feel like they`re wrecking us. God bless you buddy.