Well my fellow Bambi blasters, the best team if I say so myself, even if the scoreboard tells a different tale, my season has ended. I didn't head out after work today as I'm under deadline and some people that outrank me waited until the last minute to request changes, so such is life. I had a fantastic season though, having shot two deer this year. That's double the total deer I'd shot ever before the season started. I would love to pull off the same trick next year, we'll see about that come September. I also contributed a goose egg to the contest last year, having shot my only deer that year from the ground, so pretty pleased about my 12 points there as well, even if we aren't finishing on the podium.
There is a little part of me kicking myself for doing the responsible thing since there's some daylight left, but I need my job, I just want another chance at a deer. If I went out today I'd still want another chance tomorrow lol, so time to start counting the tomorrow's until September. And making plans to actually be able to hunt the rut hard instead of letting family obligations take over. I'll still have the obligations, but I will be more firm on the "let's do that Sunday, not Saturday" and taking more personal time off for me during the week, this last year I burned too much time off doing things for other people (not a bad thing, just wanting to reorganize my time and efforts, and set boundaries U-Haul has trucks too, everyone doesn't have to borrow mine for free lol.)
I learned a ton this year, about hunting, the woods around where I live, and myself as a person. Type 2 fun is my gig, I might not be able to hunt but I plan on continuing some woods time with scouting and camping and fishing. This off-season will also hopefully be the year I buy my first hunting rifle (350 legend for Maryland deer)and second (270 or 30-06 or 6prc/that whole caliber comparison rabbit hole for Western/Alaskan hunts) (well and third, I'll likely pick up a cheap .22lr as well, and oh wait there's muzzleloaders too... This rabbit hole has rabbit holes let's just stop here), and I am really looking forward to learning to be safe and proficient at longer ranges, though I have no plans to hang up the bow for good. Also possibly buying or building a trad bow this summer and need to get the commercial sewing machine I've been fixing working too so my mind is all over the place.
Edit: I love going back and seeing my fresh eyed enthusiasm at the beginning of season, the possibilities are endless and I hope to continue that enthusiasm and mentality no matter how long I hunt. Talking a bit getting the feeling back but I have the same mentality about fishing, something about needing to try combined with the challenge and the unknown aspect. I'm a type 2 fun kinda person, and suspect that most of you are as well