This year's elk hunt drawing was held recently and once again I was unsuccessful in getting a tag to hunt one of our finest big game animals.

However, I did draw a tag for the early rifle season for elk in Colorado in October. I would have preferred the Pennsylvania hunt, but I'm grateful to have the opportunity to hunt with family and friends out West.

In other outdoors news:

• County treasurers have mailed the 2009 antlerless deer licenses and they should be in your possession by now. Make sure that you sign them and put them in your license holder with your regular hunting license. I plan to wear my license on my back, as I have done for the past zillion years, but the license can be worn on any visible area of your outer clothing, which is a change of past rules.

• The crossbow controversy has been settled. The Board of Game Commissioners voted down a proposal that would have placed restrictions on crossbow use for the 2009-10 deer and bear seasons. I'm sure that we haven't heard the end of this issue and it will be revisited in the upcoming years as a sunset date for the change to be permanent must be voted on by June 30, 2012.

Based on the current rules, crossbows can be used by hunters participating in the archery deer and archery bear seasons, as well as the turkey and two-week firearms deer seasons.

• The archery bear season opener is Nov. 18 and 19, and the archery deer season for either sex is Oct. 3 through Nov. 14.

• October also features the opening of early muzzleloader season and senior-junior rifle hunts for antlerless deer. The muzzleloader season is Oct. 17 through 24. You must have a regular hunting license, a muzzleloader license and a valid doe license for the WMU area that you are hunting.

• Junior and senior license holders can hunt with regular firearms Oct. 22 through 24 with a valid general hunting license and the antlerless license of the WMU they are hunting.

• In any case, there is no harvesting of antlered deer in either the rifle or muzzleloader hunt, and don't forget your fluorescent orange.

• There still are quite a few leaves on the trees during this time of year, and I'm always on the lookout for other hunters and the deer ticks that still abound until heavy frost knocks them down.

One year, I sat down on a pile of rocks that appeared to be an old stone boundary wall watching for game. When I got up to head home, I happened to notice at least a dozen of the little bloodsuckers on my outer garb. We did a serious search of the clothing to make sure that we were all clean of the pests.

• My heart was saddened when I was driving past an area that we like to hunt near my home and saw that a beautiful 8-point buck had met its demise after an encounter with a vehicle. There is a lot of truck traffic and I believe that a truck was the opponent of the buck.

The buck was clear of all velvet and was polishing those antlers on some unsuspecting small tree. Even though there is no rut going on at this time, the deer have been in search for mast and other food sources.

• Be extra vigilant in the early hours of dawn and then dusk, as deer like the lowlight conditions to move from bedding areas to food sources. Always watch for the young of the year trailing behind the mature does.

Jay E. Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.