I live for deer hunting and do it multiple times a week from Sept thru January. I have a small freezer and was lucky enough to get a nice buck in Nov so the freezer is full. I still go out though as I love it so much that if a bruiser comes along, I would take it and donate the meat. I'm not a trophy hunter and if the freezer is empty after Thanksgiving, first doe I see is going down to get the meat. Anyway, the deer have shut down the last few weeks where I'm at and I havent seen one for 2 weeks. We have a late 2 day firearm season today and tomorrow so I took the muzzleloader out today. I had plans to take a doe to give to my buddy who wanted the meat if I even saw one. Well sure enough, a nice doe came out around 7:30 at 90yd. I had a perfect shot and the hammer back and ready to go....but I couldn't pull it. I watched her for a minute before she darted back in the woods and on her way. I don't know why but I didn't want to take her. I think laziness of the work afterwards was in the back of my mind but I convinced myself that if she made it this far into the season, she deserves a pass. I mean the first deer I've seen in weeks, they are good and she just happened to slip. I'd like to think in a few years I'll get a nice buck and convince myself it was her offspring
Anyway, I told a few people at work and the reaction stunned me. "Why do you bother to go out if you won't shoot?" "You turned into an old man." (im 31). "You're not a hunter" etc. 95% of these people are non hunters and they didn't come close to understanding my explanations. I don't know why but it put me in a foul mood today so I had to vent a bit.