It's hard to believe another year has gone by - where does the time fly! It seems like only yesterday I was out scouting for the upcoming season, practicing daily with my new bow, checking my summer trail cams and anticipating opening day.

This year we had a very weak acorn crop which made it difficult for the deer. Hunters complained about the lack of deer sightings which I believe was in part due to the expanded ranges the deer were forced to encompass in search of food. I believe there is going to be a large amount of deer that will not survive the winter. Despite the lack of food, hunters were still able to harvest some monster bucks. According to the preliminary DEC harvest data, 2008 harvest numbers should be in line with 2007 figures.

Here is one of the more recent emails I've received from one of our readers, Rick. Rick passed this buck three times during the 2007 season. He found the buck's shed in January when the deer was a solid 110" buck. On December 6, 2008 the deer showed himself to Rick and Rick was able to arrow the 137" monster from his treestand as it trailed a hot doe. Rick watched the deer run 60 yards and pile up. He also does his part to help keep the deer herd in check and took 3 does this season.

For some hunters, myself included, the end of the NY hunting season does not mean that hunting is over - neighboring states Connecticut and New Jersey offer hunting opportunities in January and February. I'll be out in CT until the end of January and I know some of you will stick it out in NJ until winter bow is over in February.

Starting in February - or earlier in some cases as we've already seen - the buck's will start shedding their antlers and I'll be out with a few friends collecting sheds. This will help us determine which bucks made it through the season in certain areas and help us find out where the bucks were traveling. The late winter is an excellent time to get out there and scout vast pieces of public land as well as tiny suburban woodlots. In addition to scouting some great public land spots, I will also be knocking on a few doors in the suburbs trying to pick up a few more spots for the 2009 season - its never too early to start!

This year was NYbowhunter.com's best year yet! We had over 10,500 visitors by the end of the year up from only 2,500 in January 2008. The website continues to grow through word of mouth and through articles in publications such as Full Draw and the Northeast Big Buck Club Magazine. For 2009 we will continue to provide readers with quality product reviews, information on how we are preparing for the upcoming hunting season and informing readers with the latest news from the DEC and pending legislation such as the current bill to lower the archery age from 14 to 12. Our sister site SuburbanWhitetails.com has been off to a great start and I'm getting good feedback from our readers there.

From all of us here at NYbowhunter.com we would like to wish everyone a safe and Happy New Year!