Bittersweet Season

[Griz]

There is no place like the woods. It can be a place to be alone or a place where life long friendships are made. Some people think we as hunters are all blood thirsty killers. As your post says, there is so much more than the kill. Enjoyed your post alot !!

[mrbb]

I agree, a season's success is and never should be based on kills alone
BUT on a different note, to me the season never ends, I didn't hunt this past yr, but I never stopped spending time in the woods
as a fact, I went for a nice ride on the 4 wheeler looking for sheds, and came across a set of coyote tracks, seemed a pair of coyotes had a kill and it was taking the two of them to carry it off, had a major blood trail between there two sets of tracks
I guess I startled them, as the tracks were not theer when I went in and about 10 minutes later there they were in my tracks
as with 2+ ft of snow, there using my trails to get about on, same with deer
I plowed about 5 miles of trails thru the woods and logging club roads, and the deer and critters are using them like hi ways!
been traveling them a few times a week, hoping to find a shed bettwen feed sites and bedding area's

so to me, the time in teh woods is a yr round thing, it allows you to see things you don't get to see, many times while hunting, as no worrys about booting deer or gettting busted, being out there in the off season
and heck you can learn alot about deer movements too!