Didn't have time for a proper intro yet. Real name is Joe. I live in Central PA, Centre County.
I get long winded lol. Not as much or as often as I used to due to time, but I enjoy writing.
Just wanna say thanks to
@redsquirrel and
@boyne bowhunter and anyone I missed that hosts this deal. I really enjoy the SH contest and specifically this team thread every year.
It's like a virtual hunting camp. Hunting can be a rather lonely pursuit for me. As an adult with kids and a career, I just don't get to enjoy as much camp camaraderie, or general platonic camaraderie, as I used to, or envisioned once upon a time. Nice to just check in a see how others seasons are going, and it's a good crew. Far better than most randos that gather on the innernet.
Hunting is hugely important to my life and I make it a significant priority. My life has two seasons, hunting and fishing. And fishing season has to share with baseball and turkeys. Hunting season clears the deck.
From now until April, I am hunting, scouting, and now dabbling with trapping about 2-3 days a week or as much as my work and home life will allow. I take about 10-12 days rutcation in early November, that's the core of my season and year. I hunt a couple days a week, usually mornings before work because it just works better for life stuff, and usually Saturdays. We have 3 young kids, 1, 3, and 7, and my wife lets me get away with a lot, but I could definitely live in a van down by the river and be a hunting and fishing bum in another life.
I hunt the mountainous big woods all around the region. It's a great place to live. Mostly bow hunt, and mostly public land, but not exclusively either. I'll pull out the boom stick if it comes to that. I enjoy a good squirrel hunt, and dabble with rabbits and grouse also. I discovered a growing passion for trapping, mostly water trapping, last season and excited to see where that goes. Almost as excited for that as I am deer season, which is pretty incredible.
Plan for the season, I need to get my butt scouting locally, yesterday. I did a fair amount of winter scouting and have some high-quality leads, but I still need to check a broad geographic area for acorns, and start confirming leads are alive. Big woods hunting, you gotta stay on top of things. They shift around a lot. Since turkey season I have spent zero time in the deer woods. I casually run a few cameras but it's become a less emphasized part of my program. Boots on the ground rules the day for me. Time to kick scouting into gear this week, maybe.
Our bow season kicks off Sept 30. Out of state hunts planned, I'll probably bow hunt MD a little, maybe as soon as this week. Looks like I have a good window clear of client stuff this week, not sure if I want to scout around home, or hunt down there. Thoughts?
I'll hunt WV on opening day of rifle for sure, may or may not get also down there with a bow.
Somewhere around 110-120" is a good representative buck around here and I usually hold out for something that size through the rut. Toward the end of the season the standards will creep down a bit.