Well, our 2007 deer season is officially over here in Tennessee and I have to say that it has had it's ups and downs.  The main aspect being the outbreak of the EHD disease that affected all of my hunting lands and many of my friends places as well.  TWRA has officially come out and said that their estimations are that 40% of a given area was affected, not 40% of the entire population of deer in this state.  Others may have experienced even higher numbers in their own hunting areas.
My observation of the dead deer that we found was that they were the more mature animals, both bucks and does.  Even the deer that we did kill, some had defects that seem to affect their hoofs, not to sure about the correlation between the defects and the disease, merely a country boy's observation.
Second thing that I felt was major was the frost that we experienced in the early spring.  Mast crops from the trees was little to none, with the deer having to compete with the squirrels and turkeys for every scrap of forage that they could find.  Seems like this would have been a great time for food plots and ideally it should have been but, the drought followed and killed everything that we had planted.
I say these things because while sitting in my treestand this fall I had plenty of opportunities to mull over what I could do differently or what I should change entirely.  I know that many of you did the same and that is a good thing in that we are ever changing to become better hunters and stewards of our natural resources.
As in making our New Year's resolutions, I have resolved to make my 2008 deer season more enjoyable by working really hard to produce food plots that will attract more deer and more animal life period.
Starting this spring season, Southern Woods and Waters along with two or three other companies, are going to produce more features on the proper way to produce good quality food plots for our animals. So send us your input  and comments and ideas about food plots and your success with your own.
Thanks for visiting our web-site and thanks for chatting with me.

Hugh

I'll be blogging about everything from hunting and fishing tips to the weather in the months ahead. Join me here or watch my Southern Woods & Waters television show in the middle-Tennessee area on Comcast Cable channel 50. Missed a show or out of the viewing area? No problem, you can watch the archived shows on my website at Southern Woods & Waters