There are not too many things that my Mom and Drew Brees have in common, but there is one phrase that both of them have uttered the majority of my young adult life, "FINISH STRONG." We all know that in life it is not how you start the game but how you finish it. In this instance I am talking about my own personal hunting season.
I have hunted more hours and more days this year than I have in a long time. I put in countless, mosquito filled hours during the early bow season and really have not let up on the whitetails yet this season. I have had enough duckless hunts so far to last me for the next ten years but I have not let up on them either. The recent cold snap in the northern reaches has brought droves of birds to the southern states. This past weekend provided me with one of the better public land duck hunts I can remember. There were birds in the sky and they were actually listening to what we had to say. Soft chuckles and feed calls were making the greys and even a lone drake pintail commit to the decoys like Japanese planes in Pearl Harbor. I had been waiting all year to see ducks suspended in time over the decoys while my front sight covered up their breast bone. Teal were flocking and though we were not lucky enough to suck in any of the passing green heads it was great to see them down here for a winter vacation. The long hours we put in scouting and finding new holes were paying off. My patience was beginning to pay dividends and it looked as if the season could end with a bang.
We were beginning to turn the duck hunts around and I was hoping the deer hunting would be next in line. The rut was beginning to peak and bucks were being spotted all over running does. Even with the rut peaking I still cannot get hooked on the deer down here like I can on the northern whitetails. Like I have said several times in past posts I am a whitetail hunter at heart and will probably always be. Louisiana though is not exactly the best place to pursue such a passion. I know there are many great places to hunt deer in the state but as a whole it just does not have the luster that the fall mountains provide for an avid bowhunter. Most of the season is spent swatting mosquitoes and when the rut finally does come around and the temperatures drop, the woods are filled with men covered in hideous orange vests toting high caliber cannons through the woods. As many of my northern readers know, the rut is a time for us bowhunters to enjoy the cool weather and sit in silence waiting for grunting bucks to run a hot doe past our set.
Another aspect of southern deer hunting that does not quite sit right with me is the fact that most states in the southeast allow 'baiting.' Now I know this can be a very controversial subject throughout the country but to me personally it really takes away from the sport and the fair chase aspect that most purists love. Don't get me wrong, I have sat over a corn pile on a buddy's property and to me it just didn't feel right. I know that this does not guarantee success but when you bag an animal over bait I believe it does sour the success a bit. My apologies for venting about this issue it is just something that I strongly believe in.
With all of these tough hunts this year I have been able to realize one thing. The failures that we face as outdoorsman make the good times that much better. I started the season with several tough duck hunts and now we have been killing our fair share of birds. I am scheduled to to hunt mallards in central Louisiana this coming weekend and I am expecting nothing but success. I have put in too much time to fail this year and I plan on finishing the season with success.
Every year we as hunters believe that "this is the season." We think that this year will be the defining year in our hunting careers. Well let me say this, many state's hunting seasons have come and gone and from what I have seen through several different social media outlets some amazing trophies were taken this year. Down on the bayou we have just a few weeks left and I plan on filling tags and making these coming weekends some of the best I have had. As many have said over time it is not how you start but how you close. What ever you may be chasing this weekend enjoy the ride and do not take it for granted. I am going to tell all of you what my mom has told me since childhood, whatever you are doing "Finish Strong."
Every year we as hunters believe that "this is the season." We think that this year will be the defining year in our hunting careers. Well let me say this, many state's hunting seasons have come and gone and from what I have seen through several different social media outlets some amazing trophies were taken this year. Down on the bayou we have just a few weeks left and I plan on filling tags and making these coming weekends some of the best I have had. As many have said over time it is not how you start but how you close. What ever you may be chasing this weekend enjoy the ride and do not take it for granted. I am going to tell all of you what my mom has told me since childhood, whatever you are doing "Finish Strong."
-Good Hunting
