Have you done this?

[loneranger]

Have you done this,? swear you were going to hold out for a big, mature buck, then,,after many hrs on the stand,and in the excitement of the moment, you shoot a smaller,younger buck. After it is down,,you kick yourself with regret, and your lack of self control, at not waiting. I did. I moved from a state that if you saw a yearling buck ,,you got excited, bucks of any kind were hard to find. I moved to a better state. Now it is no problem passing on yearlings. The 2 and 3 yr olds are harder to pass up. It seems during the off season I am cool, and certain I will wait for a big guy come next season. Then,,when I am in the stand,,,after all the waiting and preperation,food plot planting,etc, and a nice fat, two yr old 10 pt walks right in front of me,,,,drat,,,I take the shot. There is that rush of excitement at harvesting game, and then when you walk up to it, and remember you pledge to yourself, and realize you have to wait until next season, to wait for that big guy,,,you kick yourself. Have you ever been there? Or is it just me?

[DannyBouy]

Yeah, I feel your pain. We have 2-1/2 weeks left to our season (gun) and I have passed on about 10 doe/large fawns and a couple of spikes. Waiting for that mature buck. I've typically been a meat hunter, but I still have meat in the freezer from last year and from a big buck my Brother-in-Law earlier this year. but come that last weekend, if I see a doe or yearling buck, its going down! We're only allowed one deer for the season which is buck with doe tags by lottery. I happen to have a doe tag too. Getting a little nervous.

[JPH]

Have I ever lowered my standards in mid-stride? Yes. Have I ever gotten excited and over estimated a buck? Yes. Have I ever witnessed "ground shrinkage"? Yes.
 
Have I ever regretted making a clean kill on a legal deer? No. Hunting, to me, is about the moment. The experience of meeting nature on it's own terms. I carry the memories with me, not the antlers.
 
I'm actually glad you asked this question because I have been looking for a way to share an experience I had this season. I got wrapped up in the moment on the opening morning of MO rifle season and shot the smallest buck I have taken in about a decade. I will admit that I was shocked when I walked up on him and saw the size of his antlers. But the funny part is that this was one of the best days I have ever experienced on that property. I had taken this deer on the land that I have owned and managed for eight years. As I drug him out of the woods i saw other deer running into the woodlot. I returned to the cabin, hung him up and stoaked a fire. My wife came down and we hung out all day, just enjoying each other's company. At the end of the day she headed home and left me alone to savor the evening. Rather than return to the stand, I just poured a cup of coffee, added a stout shot of wiskey and watched the sun set. I admit that I love big bucks, but I would not trade that feeling for all the antlers in the woods.

[loneranger]

Glad I'm not the only one. Now antlers are not the biggest deal to me. Some mature animals,,like the 5 yr old I got last yr. don't always sport huge racks. It is the fact that a buck has made it thru 4 or 5 seasons alive, that is the challenge to me. The antlers are just the memory you have as a keepsake. I wish others in my area would let the young bucks pass,,then I catch myself doing the same thing. I vow once again, that NEXT season I will not shoot a 2 or 3 yr old. Well if the 3 yr old was exceptionally large??.....Now, I am slipping back, shame on me. I mostly hunt for the meat also. I love it. I saw so few doe this season though I would not shoot one on my property. Next season I am going to try to get my venison by doe. In an area that has more of them, and relegate my land to mature buck hunting.Anyone have a Bible to pledge on?

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: loneranger

Glad I'm not the only one. Now antlers are not the biggest deal to me. Some mature animals,,like the 5 yr old I got last yr. don't always sport huge racks. It is the fact that a buck has made it thru 4 or 5 seasons alive, that is the challenge to me. The antlers are just the memory you have as a keepsake. I wish others in my area would let the young bucks pass,,then I catch myself doing the same thing. I vow once again, that NEXT season I will not shoot a 2 or 3 yr old. Well if the 3 yr old was exceptionally large??.....Now, I am slipping back, shame on me. I mostly hunt for the meat also. I love it. I saw so few doe this season though I would not shoot one on my property. Next season I am going to try to get my venison by doe. In an area that has more of them, and relegate my land to mature buck hunting.Anyone have a Bible to pledge on?

 
Gee...sounds like fun.

[Quickdraw]

Been there done that.  It has been awhile since I have done it though.  I have been pretty well disiplined over the last 5 to 6 years.   The area I hunt is pressured quite a bit the neighbors have an "if its brown its down" attitude (not to mention they tresspass) and if it has horns they thrilled.   I keep letting 1.5 to 2.5 y.o. bucks pass and take does for meat.  We have a pretty scewed buck to doe ratio and need to balance it out by taking more does.
 
On the other hand I have regreted passing on some bucks, as it would have been a perfect hunt and great memory regardless of its size.  
 
I let two eight pointers pass by during bow and a 12 pointer go this gun season, only to learn the neighabors shot him.  Which makes me ask why bother trying to practice QDM?

[dewey]

ORIGINAL: JPH
I'm actually glad you asked this question because I have been looking for a way to share an experience I had this season. I got wrapped up in the moment on the opening morning of MO rifle season and shot the smallest buck I have taken in about a decade. I will admit that I was shocked when I walked up on him and saw the size of his antlers. But the funny part is that this was one of the best days I have ever experienced on that property. I had taken this deer on the land that I have owned and managed for eight years. As I drug him out of the woods i saw other deer running into the woodlot. I returned to the cabin, hung him up and stoaked a fire. My wife came down and we hung out all day, just enjoying each other's company. At the end of the day she headed home and left me alone to savor the evening. Rather than return to the stand, I just poured a cup of coffee, added a stout shot of wiskey and watched the sun set. I admit that I love big bucks, but I would not trade that feeling for all the antlers in the woods.

Glad to hear your story as WAY too many peole get hung up on what the deer scored and how big the deer is and not simply enjoying the hunting experience and the great outdoors around you. Watching the sunset or watching the sun come up at dawn is one of the great moments of hunting. I think people that have hunted for a couple of years and been successful understand that it is not all about the kill and it is possible to have a great time and not harvest an animal.

Dewey

[loneranger]

I also know the story,, that if you pass,,the neighbors probaly will not. Yet,,,if I do the same,,I am not helping either. There is the possibility, that a few live on and I guess I want to be on that side. Passing and hoping they make it a few yrs.There is the satisfaction that comes with harvesting your own game on your land,,at least that the State lets you rent for awhile,,. Satisfaction,,no matter what the size. The big rack craze definately is out of hand. That is all you see,,Every video,,Every Product,,every Magazine. Someone holding up a ,"Giant". Set of bone growing out of the head.

[JPH]

That all makes sense loneranger. I pass a lot of deer too. What the neighbors do, within the law on their side of the fence, is their buisness. I fully understand the satesfaction of passing on young deer and of waiting for a mature one. I see a conservation benifit in passing young bucks as well. On all this we are alike.
 
What I don't get is why any hunter would set such opressive standards on himself that he would be left "kicking himself with regret" or feeling "shame" if the hunt takes another turn.
 
The only ways I would consider my hunting to be shameful would be if I did something dangerous, destructive or immoral. Oh yeah, there is one other thing I would be ashamed of. If I had the chance to enjoy nature as it is, but I was ungrateful bucause it wasn't what I wanted it to be.

[Quickdraw]

Perhaps regret was a poor choice of words I enjoy the hunt regardless, and to be honest if I am given the opputunity to take a shot and decide to pass, it is sucessful hunt in my book, and I have never left the woods kicking my self as far back as I can remember.
 
As for the neighabors they are farmers they live of the land, so they lease out a few spots and harvest as many deer as they can, they eat them but there intentions are really to eliminate as many deer as possible from destroying their crops.  It is their property and they can do as they please but what really ticks me off is that almost every year I am chasing them and their guest off our farm.