Day 112

We expected people to want to hunt our land.  We just didn't know just how many people would either drop hints or plainly ask. Apparently, the big deer hang out at the edge of the golf course which shares one of our property lines. When people found out we now owned some of this hunting heaven, many weren't shy about their interest.

I’ve never been a hunter, To me, it feels like a hobby you don't just pick up. I always connected it to family tradition. Since my family didn't really have a tradition of hunting, it never was something I did. I have nothing against hunting as it is an important element to healthy habitats and conservation, if done responsibly. 

My wife and I talked about the requests we received to hunt the land. We decided we would allow access to a few people. We just asked for a heads up in case we had plans to work and explore the land. We hoped that if any deer was taken, we might get a cut of the meat. We also were leaning towards focusing on bow season, not gun season.

We had a few friends agree to these terms. They visited the farm a number of times. Early morning to sunset, the hunt was always on. But that doesn't mean there was any “hunting.” Sometimes it seemed like it was just time to relax in nature with no real intention of really hunting in less an impeccable opportunity presented itself. I’ve heard that’s one of the joys of hunting.

Though there were a number of visits, none of the hunts were successful at lowering the deer population. Both friends said they had chances, but they weren't sure things. With a limited number of tags, you don't want to shoot your shot too early at the risk of missing out on a bigger and better prize later on. They also said that the deer outsmarted the boundaries. They would creep up right up to where our property met the golf course, but never really trotted into our property. 

It was nice to see people enjoy our land. We had plans to make that even easier.