I am technically an adult-onset hunter. I started when I was twenty after watching Dad hunt every fall and deciding that I wanted to see what it was all about – and that killing your own meat was not a bad thing. If you had asked me (or dad) to imagine what the next decade and a half would be like, I guarantee you neither of us would have pictured this!

As I write this, I have just hung up the phone with Taylor and Mark Drury. Throughout deer season, I will be writing up all of the Drury family hunts that will be featured on DeerCast (make sure you have the app or the website bookmarked!) I am also going to continue interviewing hunters from across the country and Canada that have taken amazing deer. Just like last year when I got to feature Wayne Bernier from Allagash Adventures after he dropped his amazing 200lb, 20 point buck with a 31-inch spread!

The fact that I get to do this blows my mind. I get to share a mutual love and excitement over hunting with so many people and no matter what our politics are or what our family looks like, we are connected by our drive to put meat on the table, protect our management practices and collect stories of our hunts to share.

Our community is like one big family.  Sometimes we fight amongst ourselves but when push comes to shove, I would like to think that every deer hunter would support every bird hunter and every bear hunter would support every fly fisherman and every coyote trapper would support every moose hunter because no matter what, we are a community of passionate outdoor folks that care about the
wildlife that we hunt and fish and trap.

This year has been like no other and yet the one thing that we can all look forward to is our desire to get into the woods and waters and enjoy hunting season, scouting trips and the changing
seasons.  I can not wait to get into my treestand and take those first few minutes to relax and listen to the woods around me.  My son will be coming out into the woods with us for the first time and I hope that the deer are moving.

May we all have an enjoyable hunting season that results in great stories and meat in the freezer!