Last year, deer season shouldn't have distracted me too much. Thirty five minutes into opening day, total luck was on my side and I dropped a four point buck. Season over. So was my back. Hauling that deer a mile out of the woods had me walking like an old man for a couple of weeks.
With cross country season and numerous improvement projects to our farmhouse, this morning was the only morning I would have this month to bag a fall turkey. I was really going for grouse (who have a longer season), but neither were to be had. It was very windy, so maybe that had something to do with it. More than likely, it was my lack of experience with upland bird hunting and I'm still learning the woods around our new house. Still, it was a beautiful morning out. See for yourself:
Those pics are on the drive in, but I run parts of this logging road often and connect it to other hiking and ATV trails. I did that yesterday, squeezing in a slow four miles before we continued work painting our front porch. That went non-stop for most of the rest of the day, sans a break to talk to a gentleman at the tagging station across the street who bagged a moose.
So, with some extreme luck I'll harvest a deer very soon after cross country season ends. Then I can devote my time and attention back to running full-time (if I'm more careful with my back), which should work out well with providing enough time to stack some hay in the barn for snowshoe racing season. We also should be wrapped up with most our outdoor projects by then, at least until the spring. I knew buying an old farmhouse would result in a lot of time and energy spent on improvements, but at least it's also great cross training and also very rewarding. That being said, I'm looking forward to things slowing down a bit next month and having a bit more breathing room.
