I've been a deer hunter for.....oh....12 years now. And when I say "deer" I mean just that......Deer, and any deer. My philosophy has always been "See deer, shoot deer, eat deer." This year I decided I wanted to take a buck w/ my bow......Didn't happen, BUT I learned a lot. Had a good year as well. I saw more bucks this year than the last 3 combined, and had to let several walk due to antler point restrictions, which I HATE by the way, but that's for another day.

I knew killing a buck WAS NOT gonna be easy. I had no grand dillusions of walking in the woods, sitting in tree and shooting one. I knew I was gonna have to work at it, and apparently I need to work at it MUCH harder than I did. I let quite a few deer walk this year, deer that even last year I would have shot. That was tough for me. Each time they walked off I was kicking myself in the butt saying "You dummy....shoulda shot that one!" Growing pains hurt, I guess.

Well I had my cnahce at my first buck this year and well it didn't go as planned.[&:] Anyway, I haven't made it to the transition period as I am still in your previous stage of see deer shoot seer. I did pass up a few smaller bucks up north MO but they were spikes and forkies. I haven't made it to the transition yet, but I'll let you know when I get there.

Yes,going fromshooting the first buck I saw when hunting to holding out for a mature buck, was trying at first. But after a couple of seasons of sucess, you'll never go back.

Mobohuntr, I took the same attitude as you this year. Previous years I did the same as you as well. It's hard for me to let any deer pass.I even let a medium to large 8 point pass by me with in 15 yards not once but 3, I say 3 times. The consulation I got from letting him pass was the fact that I video taped him. Knowing I could have taken a shot was some relief. I let some 6's go, due toantler restrictions,and one 7 along with numerous fork horns, spikes and even some does. Once again with them on video I felt better. I stayed in the woods longer and hunted more days than I usually do. It was quite an experience for me. Soooo naturally I did not kill a buck or any deer with my bow this season. This was the first season I have ever been so selective. Good luck next year and in the future.

Yes, I'm there. If it is not as big or bigger than the 8pt I killed this year, I won't shoot it.Not a difficult choice at all.

You just have to reassure yourself that the smaller bucks you let pass weredead if you chose to release the arrow. You put yourself in the position to kill the ones you pass on if you chose to.So in essence yousuccessfully hunted them. To me that's 95% of the hunt. Now it's just a matter of time untill you get the big boys in your sights.

i like to think like this...what you would shoot on the last day shoot on the first day but that may be because i can shoot 4 bucks here

I've entered the stage where it is hard to shoot anything.I haven't had great success in killing big deer but I have seen enough really big deer that I have a hard time shooting small ones.Even does is getting harder for me.I am letting my kids shoot them.

I started out bowhunting just wanting to shoot a deer with my bow. Ive now worked my way up to holding out for a certain size buck and enjoy hunting just as much or more. I think as humans we are competitive and like to be challenged. Each year I set goals and each year they get more difficult. This keeps things interesting and raises the challenge and my skill level each year. And I'll tell you what, I've learned more about deer and hunting them by not shooting and lettingthan walk thanI haveby shooting them.
Simple terms;the transistion was easy for me, it was just human nature.

I have no problem letting the 1-1/2 year old bucks pass. It is those nice 2-1/2 year old 120-130ish bucks that I just seem to have a hard time letting walk. I know there are bigger deer in the woods, but still not around every tree. I went three years without killing a buck while letting many small ones walk and have a few nice ones pass out of range. Then the last 2 years I have taken 2 bucks in the 120" range early in the season. And then have bigger ones in range later in the season when I could not shoot them because of not having a buck tag.Next year I am waiting out the big one or no buck at all. At least that is my story for now.