I do miss deer camp. There were 21 of us that spent 2-3 weeks at our 1866 farmhouse that we called 21 Club or the Luther Hilton. We all hunted our 1600 acre lease that consisted of swamp, farm fields and rolling hardwood forest. When I first joined the camp the deer were thick as flies on cow shit!  You could count on there being a nice snow cover on the ground, being in the woods or swamp was beautiful.  At least half the guys would have a buck hanging by dusk opening day. As the years went by the deer numbers fell and the oldtimers began passing, it was sad to lose so many that were like family.

After 40 years leasing the property (we owned the house) the land owners put the property up for sale, it sold to 6 different owners that had much deeper pockets than we had. It was a sad day. I withdrew from the club when i was forced to hunt surrounding public land.

Up until my 30s we used to butcher them ourselves.   I remember one year we had 12 of them hanging in a canopy my dad built for a motorhome.   Motorhome was gone but the canopy came in handy.  Dad would freeze much of the meat then take it to the machine shop at the mill and slice it with the bandsaw...lol....I'm pretty sure he took sanitary precautions.....Maybe not...lol  

I remember hunting here in west Ky as a youngster when we were only allowed one buck tag and no does. If you saw a buck it was a successful season. Now we’re covered up in deer, we don’t mess with deer camp. I can step out the door most any day and get one or more. Last year fresh out of back surgery I shot two from the back patio, used the SXS to load em and took them to a processor. I usually process my own but another major surgery has me sidelined again so I doubt I even bother this year. 

When I was a kid there wasn't a deer camp. You go up to the farmer and ask if you could shoot a deer. Most of the time he'd say don't shoot my cows but kill all the damn deer.  Today you gotta pay to hunt anywhere around me.  Any public hunting is 3 - 4 hours away and it's packed with nut jobs. Had a friend who would call   me towards the end of the season here because he had a culling permit on his ranch.  He would basically sell off the 'buck' permits for 1,000 each.  He had 4500 acres. But I hunt for food not trophies. I'd be able to get 3 - 4 does and he wouldn't charge me for closing out his tags.  I would give some meat to him and the ranch manager and put the rest in the freezer. I'd also clear out 8 - 10 hogs, gave most of that to some of the locals who needed the meat more. Dear here in SE Texas are small compared to what I got in Ohio. If you get a buck around here that dresses at 90 lbs that's good.  I've given up on deer hunting here.  #1 I can't afford the leases, #2 the desire to go seems gone and #3 I feel like if I wanted to go on public I'd have to camp most of the year so I could scout and then hunt.  I don't have that kind of time. 

I used to be an avid hunter.   Always took vacation opening week.   Haven’t hunted in 30 years.   I miss the social aspect of being at the deer camp more than the actual hunting but do miss the venison too.