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For all our applications, the only draw my wife or I got this year was her whitetail doe. That's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, but I was really looking forward to moose or elk.
However, by the time the doe season opened, Ellen had made sure of her proficiency with the .243 and was eager to acquire some venison. The third trip to one of our favorite hideouts near the end of October provided a 75 yard shot on a nice big doe, which promptly ended up in the freezer. Sorry, no picture this time.
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Archery season runs September 1 to December 10. In conjunction, rifle season goes September 10 to November 24. I like the archery-only portions at the front and back end the best.
During the early part of September, I was in the woods constantly. I knew where several good bucks and loads of smaller ones hung out and was determined to get a big one or wait for the rut, in the latter half of November.
On the first morning, a dandy mule deer buck stood broadside to me 15 yards away. It was legal hunting time but still just a tad dark to see my pins properly and I could only watch him wander out of range.
The adventures continued. Over the first 2 weeks, I saw numerous bears and declined to use my tag on a 10 yard shot one morning. On an evening hunt, a great flapping of wings told me a quail was incoming, and it landed right on my back. And I passed up close shots at 10 bucks on various occasions, the largest being a medium sized 4x4.
I didn't hunt much during October, but picked it up again in November. Finally, on November 9, I arrowed a nice 4 pt from 22 yards. Then, it was wait for November 25, at which time does also opened for archery.
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Number 1 son came for a visit in mid November and we had a short but great hunt together. Since entering the real world several years ago, where you have to work for a living, he hadn't hunted at all. So he was happy to get back into action and I was happy to have him here. We hiked up a nice ridge that had produced many deer for us over the years and he ran into a really chunky 2-point.
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