Archery Season is Coming!

Nice preseason grouping at 30 yards

July is finally wrapping up and the end of summer is in sight! As a youth pastor, Summertime is my busiest time of the year with conferences, camps and extended hours at the Skate park and Rec. Area we run. By the end of July I'm feeling worn out and ready for some recharging. My mind begins to wander forward to September, sitting in a tree-stand with my bow, far away from wild middle school students and parents looking to me to fix their kid's problems. Don't get me wrong, I love having the great privilege and responsibility of sowing God's Word into the hearts of young people but by the end of Summer I'm ready for a break.

We are going on a family vacation to North Georgia at the end of August to relax at a cabin on top of a mountain, swimming with the kids and helping them catch bass and bream in the lake. Then I have the weekend of September 14 and 15 off for the opening of archery. This year I have a harder decision to make regarding where I will be sitting opening morning. In past years Georgia's archery season opened a week earlier than Florida's but this year they open on the same day.

So my options are:
1. my lease in Georgia
2. my property in Brooksville
3. Chassahowitzka WMA

Daylight does from a recovered camera that had been stolen

I don't think Chassahowitzka is going to win. I did really well last year on opening weekend at Georgia taking a buck and a doe but on the other hand I'm looking forward to hunting my property near Brooksville for the first time. When my camera's aren't being stolen, I've been getting quite a few daylight pictures of deer. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that since my last post two more cameras were stolen and both of our feeders. They caught the guy who stole them but we have only been able to recover two cameras out of the four and he must have already sold our feeders because they have not been recovered yet either. It was a guy who lived  a couple properties down from us. He's currently in jail for beating up his girlfriend and some drug charges. Not so great neighbors. At first I was really angry at whoever was stealing my stuff, but after going over to their property with the police officers to look for my stuff and meeting these people, I just feel really sorry for them. They are strung out on drugs, living in poverty conditions and their only hope of being set free from the destructive cycle they are trapped in is through the love, forgiveness and freedom that Christ offers to all.

Didn't work

Seeing that even my metal lock-box didn't work I'm sort of at a lost for how to keep cameras going at my property. As far as feeders go I'm going to replace my stolen automatic feeders with cheap PVC tube feeders that have no value to the thieves in the area. That way I can keep the game coming onto my little property and give myself a better chance of connecting with a deer come Fall.

I shot my bow the other evening and after a tight group of three in the bulls eye at 30 yards I'm feeling confident for the opener. I might just have to flip a coin between Georgia and Florida. I'll keep ya'll posted.