By Alex Comstock
Today is December 23rd. For most of us, we've been out hunting whitetails for the past 3-4 months. For those of you that have not filled a tag you've wanted to fill, by now with not much season left, it can be easy to throw in the towel, and call it a season. But I urge you not to. Every year, more and more guys that I know talk about how they are "hunted out" and they don't hunt up to the end of the season, yet complain after the season about how they weren't able to get that buck they wanted. I feel strongly about grinding it out until the end of the season, and here's why.
As hardcore bowhunters, we only get a select amount of time to actually be out in the woods with a bow in hand, and have the ability to hunt whitetails. Most of the year is spent scouting, shed hunting, running trail cameras, and ultimately dreaming about that small time of the year when we actually get to hunt. When it actually comes time to where we can hunt, we put everything we've learned to the test to hopefully harvest whatever you are after. Yet, after a little adversity and not having things go someones way, it is easy for people to quit early. To be perfectly honest, for most of us, things don't go as planned. It isn't often that everything works out just how you imagined. That is no excuse to give up though.
With all of that said, if you feel "hunted out" or are down about how your season has been going, realize that by not hunting you are guaranteeing the fact you won't shoot anything. Grind it out until the end. When the last day of season wraps up, you should be able to tell yourself honestly that you did everything you could to try and accomplish what you wanted to accomplish. I think a lot of where I am coming from comes from personal experience. Since 2012, I have shot three bucks during the last month of the season, with two of those coming in the last week. It can be very easy to get down when three months goes by without filling your tag. Each one of those bucks could have lived had I thrown in the towel, and called it quits. By persevering through the downs, I was able to finish those season on a high, and go out on top.
If you get anything from this little pep talk I'm trying to give, is remember that your season can turn on a dime in a matter of seconds. It only takes one deer to change your entire outlook on a season. We only get so much precious time to be out there hunting these elusive animals. The one place I know you won't make it happen during crunch time is the couch. The season is coming down to the wire, grind it out until the bitter end, and you might just have some late season magic of your own.
