Well I have read every post on this topic and thought I would give my two cents. Everybody makes mistakes!!!!!!!! And we all learn from them. And a doe or a spike is not a mistake. Only if it is not legal. Over the last 25 years I have listen to other hunters talk about not killing does. And in the next sentence say that is all they seen this year. And I tell them in a sarcastic way I wonder why. Then I tell them we have to keep the herd in balance. I have seen it in my home state. We can kill 3 does and 1 buck a season. And this is working well. We have a better herd than ever. To get on topic this is how things affect young hunters. My son at deer camp last year was hunting with a mosinnagnt 7.62x54r I had 6 rounds of soft nose ammo for his gun. Opening day I was hunting not far from him when a shot rang out. I smiled and thought he got one. later when we got back to camp. I ask him if he shot and he said no. Thinking that there may have of been another hunter near by I thought nothing of it. And told him to keep a look out for other hunters. He had to go back to school after opening weekend. I told him I might use his gun to leave it there. The next day I went to use his gun and there was only 5 rounds so I checked his gun and it had been fired. I called him up to ask him about it and he got realy upset and told me that he was afraid to tell me in front of the others in camp that he had missed. And that he knew that he would catch h*!! from the other guys for taking a bad shot. I thought he knew that I would have stuck up for him. I have hunted with those guys for many years and know all of there storys on why they missed. I asked him if he looked for blood he said he did and he didn't find any. So here is the lesson in all of this if you take a youngster hunting. Make sure you tell him that he has your support and understanding. And not to be affraid to tell that he missed. And that EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES!!!!!!!!!!!