It’s the time of year when the two biggest seasons have come to an end. The holiday season is over and deer season is sadly over too. Now the countdown is on for next year. This was a year unlike any other with COVID-19 changing the way we hunt, so it required some learning along the way.

This fall we were lucky enough to watch a doe with triplets in our yard. This taught the kids respect that we would not hunt those deer and would let them grow for another year. They learned how fawns lose their spots and how annoying having three kids can be no matter what the species. I greatly sympathized with that mama deer as she tried to walk and all three just needed to nurse at the same time, my three kids all bug me at exactly the same time too.

This year I shot a bow at a deer for the first time. I purchased one years ago and hated it. I even tried to sell it again because “that thing is useless”. It turns out once you learn that you need to have matching field points and broad heads of the same weight they work much better at hitting your target. And I did-twice- turns out it was good after all.

I discovered a couple new butchering tricks this fall. When you skin your deer and cut it in half gravity says “haha you’re on a sand pile- this will be fun” then I heard both halves of my deer fall to the ground. This was a happy accident as rinsing off the dirt also took off the hair and from now on all meat will be rinsed in the sink instead of spending hours picking the hair off.

I was deemed to be a master hunter recently. Apparently that term also means “you shoot them all, it’s our turn, you don’t get to hunt yet” and then you get to sit in your truck down the road for a few days while everyone else hunts and you listen for their shots. Yes, working in my truck, wrapped in blankets freezing, while everyone else was in a stand on opening morning wasn’t a lot of fun, but hearing a shot, knowing it was either my sons first shot or a shot my dad shouldn’t have been here to make, was unbelievably exciting. It turns out my dad shot a deer. My dad has shot lots of deer. But when this spring my dad had no heartbeat for 30 minutes-trust me that deer was worth its weight in gold. I have truly learned what matters in hunting and it’s no longer the meat.

Unbelievably I was invited back for a second black powder season this year in Southern Ontario, I guess I wasn’t as horribly behaved as I thought. I was educated in the fact that no amount of begging allows you to shoot a smaller buck and some people truly do hunt only for racks. The taxidermist I use is in that area and everyone thought I was crazy having a doe skull mounted. Yesterday I got a photo of another doe skull mount, it seems I taught them girls are gorgeous too.

As 2021 is about to start it is important to remember three things. Never stop learning and change or adapt when needed. Be thankful for every hunt you have. And always-ALWAYS-outshoot the boys every chance you get.