I have to say that I'm glad 2008 is over, and I hope 2009 will be a bit less stressful.  Christmas at my house was good... the days leading up to it were a bit hairy, but aren't they every year?  This New Years Eve, my wife and I actually went out and celebrated for the first time in 18 years.  Didn't stay home and watch the ball drop this time.  That was great.

Hunting in 2008 was fun and frustrating.  I love to simply get out in the woods or in the fields.  But, I had only two pheasants on the kill list.  The thing that really ticks me off about that is that we went to a WMA that was supposed to be stocked with pheasants each week.  I don't think they stocked it nearly as much as they say they did, otherwise I would have at least seen more birds.

Also, no deer, no quail, no grouse.  Not happy about that.  But, I've started working on plans for next year, including checking state stats, etc.  It will require some serious Spring and Summer scouting, as the areas with the best harvest rates I am not at all familiar with.  Thankfully, my wonderful wife got me a spotting scope which should make it easier to glass with.

In the meantime, I'm going to do some coyote hunting, and this Spring I hope to chase some turkeys.  I've never done either and am looking forward to it.  Tell me this - do turkeys have excellent eye sight, which is why guys camo-up so much?  Seems like the turkey hunters I see on ODC are camo'd to the hilt!  I'm just curious.

Well, that's it for now.  Happy New Year, everyone.