Semisane I hate to hear that about your missed opportunity.

I've always left my guns loaded unless the load was compromised. On several occasions I've reloaded after hunting in the rain or I found condensation on the gun. Other than that, if it's dry, it stays loaded.

Unfortunately, a lot of people do not have the advantage of shooting the gun off at the end of a hunt because they don't have a range at their home or live too far from a gun range. Or they don't want to shoot in their hunting spot for fear of spooking game and don't want to be arrested for shooting after legal hours. I think sometimes we forget that.

Hopefully you can redeem yourself and get some meat in the freezer before the season ends.