So I’ve been absent from my blog posts for a while. Summer’s a tough time to talk turkey, deer or anything else, except for absurdly hot evenings hiding from the sun and weekends relaxing on the lake, neither of which have much relevance here.

In the hunting realm, my plots were planted long ago and it was up to God to make the rain happen. This summer, he came through. Everything’s growing fine. Now, we get to enjoy the benefits of our labors.

My dove fields did fine. In fact, we’re averaging seeing a couple hundred doves on a few acres each time we ride by to check the fields. The sunflowers have started dropping on their own, and I’ll probably bush hog the rest of them tomorrow evening to keep the doves interested until Saturday, our dove opener. My millet, another dove favorite, is doing great and the corn I planted came along fine.

Now, we are a few short days away from dove season. The unofficial beginning of fall, when we dust off the shotguns, pull out the grill and get together for a hunter’s feast following an opening afternoon in the sun. Just one or two more dove hunts will follow, then it’s deer season in upstate South Carolina, then a few short months later, it’s on to West Virginia for a Thanksgiving week deer season opening tradition with my family.

Speaking of West Virginia, I spent last weekend on my home farm and it was amazing. The hills are as green as I’ve ever seen them. We had a great turkey hatch this year and between three flocks we are seeing more than 45 poults! Incredible, it’s been 15 years since we had such an impressive hatch. I can’t wait until the spring after next, it should be amazing – so many two year old gobblers should put on a great show.

I also saw two very impressive bucks the morning before I left WV to drive back to SC. Both bucks are well above the average deer killed in that area, and dad told me he saw another this evening that was just as large. They’re dropping their velvet now, a sure sign that Fall is right around the corner.

All that being said, my inner hunter is restless. I can’t wait to start the hunting seasons and hope you all are feeling the same eagerness.

Let me know what the wildlife in your area is doing. How was your spring hatch? Are you seeing bachelor buck groups, or are they starting to break up? Happy hunting friends.

Brian