I'm sitting here thinking about the enjoyable and lesser enjoyable hings of this past general hunting season. Good things; saw a good number of deer and some quality on my property, especially the first half of season, Nov.-early Dec., I took the opportunity to Redneck reinforce the roof of my 50yo travel trailer using steel welding sheets and 15lb. pavestones in early Dec. - all was holding up well and in place in early Jan., had some great hunting dinners late season in Graham, TX at Dos Leones and the Rockin S Bar and Grill, harvested a mature management 9pt. on my Throckmorton lease just before Thanksgiving week, enjoyed watching a few movies in Graham, TX at the Grand National theater on a couple of Sat. nights and afternoons between morning and late day hunts. Best $6 and $7.50 movies I've seen in awhile. Breaks up the hunting nicely. Getting to meet the new ownership of Clear Fork Processing in Graham, TX - Husky. A really good guy. Hunted out of a tripod in the rear of my place for the first time and enjoyed the experience and sights. Got to share hunting stories and strategies with my THF Throckmorton hunting partner, our 5th year of leasing together. Sharing stories and pics with my THF breathern.
Some of the things that were not as enjoyable this season- $11-12 bags of corn, still remember 5+ years ago when they were $5-$6. $13-14 bags of protein, remember those being $9-10. Ammo shortages early to mid 2022 and earlier and higher cost of ammo, $3.50-$4 gallons of gas, remember that being $1.75-$2.00 a gallon a few years ago. All in all, the benefits and pleasure of getting out into God's country far outweighed any negatives this year. What are some I maybe have missed?

good things, got out camp set back up following a fire last spring, new travel trailer nice enough for wife to join several times, good meals at camp, took a nice 8 point management buck, only seen 1 hog so far this season (odd, normally kill 20-40+)

bad things, acorns like I have never seen, corn piling up under feeders, deer not following any sense of a normal patterns or paths, hogs seemed to have vanished (good and bad thing),

probably others both good and bad that aren't coming to mind ...

Bad. Too many damn pigs. Shot 8 this year. 2 more to get to double digits. May have LO call his trapping guy. Not seeing enough yotes to shoot. Misfire in my AR with 2 mature yotes in my crosshairs. Season done too soon, time flies when you are having fun.

Good. Sunrises, sunsets. Lots of young deer with potential. Seeing the mature buck I wanted to see only to let him walk for next year. Trading stories with my hunting buddy on this place. Moved the quad pod into a killer spot, I will sit there Saturday PM. Awesome experience with a Bobcat who could not figure out what the shutter noise on my camera was. Walked 10 yds up to blind trying to figure it out. Way cool with awesome pics.

General deer season recap:

Best- got to be outside hunting. Made a good kill on a doe with my recurve and shot one with the compound that me and my daughter got to track.

Worst- really didn’t see a shootable buck period. Normally have 2-3 at least to choose from. Would have liked to get a mature buck with my recurve ( or another doe ) but didn’t come together. Could go out for late doe season but probably won’t.

Any way you slice it, I'm a blessed and thankful man.

The good:
- I was actually able to make the trip to the ranchito from here!
- Saw tons of deer.
- Attempted and made my longest shot ever on an animal at 235 yards. Cull buck dropped DRT.
- Haven't seen a hog on the hoof since "The Great Freeze," and only have a handful of TC pics of lone boars taken in the middle of the night.

The bad:
- Didn't get to share it with my family or friends.
- Antler quality was terrible this year.

Only bad I can think of is rattling a really mature 9 point in and got him to 70 yards. Only problem was he was across the fence and on the neighbor's land and wouldn`t come across it. Watched him for about 3 minutes before he turned around and walk back into the mesquites. It was a small 20 acre piece of property across from our main lease that we never hunt but have access to. To many good things to list. Just thankful to have a lease and enjoy the woods and critters. Saw about 17 different bucks but none that I wanted to put a tag on. Killed 12 pigs but never saw one after December 2. Happens every year after you educate the for a couple of months.

Good: Plenty of time in the blind, meat in the freezer and great times with family and friends.

Bad: Season always ends too early. Big bucks never crossed my path.

Worst thing: it's over

Best thing: it's over