All good things must come to an end… it’s inevitable… and December 15th is a date that lots of hunters dread, especially those who are still hoping to fill a tag they’ve been carrying around most of the fall.
The amount of wind and cold weather that the end of November, and so far into December offered up sure made things a little more challenging.
I’m sure that some hunters look back on the season and call to mind the opportunities they had to harvest an animal of the right sex and age for their tag but chose otherwise, thinking “I’ve got lots of time.”
And then the clock starts ticking hard and fast this last week of the season, and those same hunters are second guessing their decisions with lots of “could have / should have / if only” thoughts.
This year has had some additional challenges with reductions in tag quotas, and the near elimination of the supplemental tag allocations for deer in many areas.
A lot of factors contribute to these management decisions… population targets; mandatory hunter reports; harvest levels; winter severity indices; climatic change; disease and other causes of mortality; predation levels; etc. etc.
In these cases, all we – as hunters – can hope for is that – with our unfilled tags and lower harvest levels – conservation wins, and that the herds might benefit in the long run.
But in the meantime, there’s still a few days left to give it one last push… just remember to go about it safely, ethically and always legally… and with respect for the animal as the highest priority.
And if it comes down to a tag going unfilled, be happy that you had the opportunity to spend some time in the great outdoors with the hope that “there’s always next year”.
And although the food quality is nowhere near as delicious as the natural, organically raised wildlife that we love to put on our tables, I do have a few good recipes for both unfilled tag & animal track soups… lol.
Good luck out there in the woods this week!!
