ORIGINAL: GregH

Good post on feelings about deer we've killed.

I've thought about this often over the years. While I must admit that I feel a larger adrenaline/euphoria burst over a large, mature buck that I've taken, there's still the same feeling to a lesser extent for the smaller does and fawns I've killed as well.

As for the sadness/ remorse factor, I've groomed these feelings to be the same for whatever animal I've killed. Meaning that I don't feel more remorse for a big buck than I do for a young doe. I try not to show any favoritism. Very similar to when I was married and had step children as well as my own. No favoritism. It may be there deep down, but my mind won't let me admit it. The bottom line is that I feela sense of remorse for every deer that I kill.

Actually, I'm an animal lover even though I kill them sometimes. Kind of weird huh? When I told a buddy that I shot 2 does this year to get my earn a buck tags, he said that at least I accomplished my sense of kill. I was astonished and a bit angered. I told him that that had never entered my mind. To me, the kill is the anticlimatic part of the hunt. The sad part that I quickly put out of my mind. I do this by quickly reverting back to the exciting part of the hunt and the feelings it brought just before I pulled the trigger. I also start thinking about all the delicious meat I'm going to have in the freezer. It's like I want to skip the middle (kill) part.

It is sad to some extent but it is a necessary part of hunting and I will keep doing it.