[Tom Flanigan]

This was a great hunting season for me. I took a lot of game but that is not the reason why. I was more contemplative and appreciative this year and enjoyed all the sights and sounds of nature more than I normally do. I saw foxes, a bobcat, a coyote, turkeys and numerous downy woodpeckers which I love to see and hear.

I also got back into bowhunting after a layoff of about 30 years, although I never stopped gun hunting for deer. When I was working, I could not bow hunt without impacting my bird hunting. Now that I am retired, I can do both with abandon. I hunted birds and ducks in the morning and deer in the afternoon. I enjoyed having a bow in my hands again, although the new compound bow is a far cry from the recurve I used in the past.

I took four deer this year but passed on many others. I only shoot bucks that are at least three and a half years old. I took a lot of pictures including a three and a half year old buck that I passed on a couple of times because, although the rack was high and the tines long, it didn’t go past the ears. The third time I saw him I decided to take him, about two weeks after I took the photo below. I did feel a bit of regret when I saw him on the ground. I’m a bit foolish and now have a tinge of regret with every buck I shoot. Maybe its old age.

Here are a few photo’s I took while bow hunting. I saw an average of five deer an evening with only two days when I didn’t see any deer. I love watching them feed.