Blogging Again . . . In the Catskills

Well, I have decided to start blogging again. Who knows how long it will last. Since my last post, I have graduated from college, found a job, and moved to a new region. I believe it was 2008 when I took up hunting again. That was in Washington, a place I had never hunted before,  pursuing an animal I had never hunted before with a weapon I had never hunted with before. It was a steep learning curve, to say the least, but I justified the time and energy and expense with the belief that the rewards (meat in the freezer) would eventually come once I gained enough familiarity with the area and the quarry. Then after two years, just when I was starting to gain some confidence--I moved, all the way to New York. 

This time the learning curve was not as steep. I had hunted whitetail before and was familiar with the tactics for doing so. Plus, I could use my gun. Still, I invested considerable time scouting the new area to learn its ins and outs. Over the course of three years, I switched between hunting public land, to participating in the various components of the Cornell Deer Hunting Program, to hunting private land, and then a combination of all three. In short, I never really got my bearings with the land and the habits of the deer, though I did manage to take a couple deer. Had I stayed, this would have been the year that I felt comfortable with the area and I would have been able to script a pretty solid game plan. Then I got a job. 

Now I'm in a new region: the Catskills of New York. And so, I start the cycle all over again. It's a process I truly enjoy, but it is also very time consuming. And if history is any indication, it doesn't bode well for filling the freezer. I have always regretted not blogging about my experience of learning how to elk hunt. There were so many fresh thoughts and experiences and insights that have now slip my mind. It is a bit of a pity. And so, not wanting to make the same mistake twice, I figure I'll document my experience of learning to hunt the Catskills.

I have no justification for including the picture below. Just that  I almost stepped on the fellow while scouting, and I'm not quite sure what to make of sharing the woods with this new predator. At the very least, can't have a blog post without a picture, right?