Deer Season 2009

We arrived at Camp Sunday to prepare for the opening of Deer Camp. Monday brought a driving rain. All in all, it was a good day for me as I saw several deer - including two bucks which did not meet the new antler restrictions. I saw another buck on Tuesday that was too small to harvest. It's the most deer that I've seen in recent years. However, I almost felt bad for seeing so many deer because no one else in the camp saw anything. There was very little shooting in our area and none of the camps had deer hanging up as we came home on Tuesday. We are going back up for the last few days of the season. Hopefully, we'll be able to find where the deer are hiding. There is no question that the deer herd is way down in Tioga County. Depending on who's side you are on, you either like this or dislike this change. One thing I noticed this year is the incredible amount of new tree growth on the forest floor in our area. Some places are so thick that you can hardly walk through. Since the deer herd has decreased, the amount of new growth has taken off. I guess this is a small price to pay in order for our children to enjoy the the forest for years to come. Although it's no fun hunting all day without seeing any deer, it would be a worse tragedy for the forest to disappear because of over-browsing. I'll post again next week to report on our second week of deer camp.