It will get to you the first time you let a buck go the first time, when you would have shot that bck last year. Then afer that, you enjoy letting them go and watching them come back time and time again, because they have no fear of that spot any more. You will watch them grow and hopethat he does not get shot. I was on my friends farm this weekend, and they just started managing this farm 6 years ago. They set the standerds at 18 in. wide 8 point that is mature. My buddy sent me to his best stand (gun hunting) and he told me about a 17 in wide 7 point that would probably come in that he is letting go and asked me not to shoot it. That afternoon, thae 7 point came in a feed around the bottom of my box stand, not 5 yards away, in the edge of the food plot. I have never seen a deer this relaxed, andI was actually just as happy watching that deer feed asI would be ifI had of pulled the trigger. Let me add we also saw an 18 or 19 in. wide 8 point, that ran across the road and into a lane. I couldn't get on him fast enough, but once again,I got enjoyment out of just wathcing him. Passing on young bucks is really starting to grow on me alot, ecspecially sinceI have seen 3 mature deer this year thatI am positive of, when last yearI saw 1. I know at least 2 of them are still alive. My mature buck sightings go up every year, andI still get the enjoyment of watching the younger ones grow.

I hope somewhere in that ramble, there is an answer for you, Jeff.
Brent

This was my first year letting nice bucks (100"-120") walk by during archery season. Its a good feeling knowing that they'll grow but I'm still waiting for the one I dont let walk by . Ill definitely let youknow what not letting that one (!25"+ ) feels like whenit happens

Not a lot... but we can live with it.[8D] I don't worry about such things in terms of from year to year. I treat and relish each hunt unto itself. I've let lots of deer walk and really don't think about it. I've also just flat decided it's time to kill something. I hunt to hunt. If you lost your little paradise tomorrow all your efforts are for someone elses benefit or whatever. Unless you own a bunch of land or have a guarantee that it's yours for a while all you can really think of is "This Hunt". Then decide what you want or don't want. If you were suddenly thrown out into the world of State Land Hunters your sightings, choices and all will greatly change. When I go to my nephews in Ohio... it's a different hunt with different self imposed standards than it is on public ground in NY's Southern Tier.

I've let so many small bucks by that it doesn't excite me as much as it did when I first started passing on small bucks 15 years ago. It really does excite me though when I see that same buck a year or 2 later and he's a shooter then because of what I did!

If I didn't let a lot of deer walk, my season would be over in a hurry. Sometimes I don't shoot a doe just because I don't feel like skinning one that day. If I shoot the first buck I see I would be done the first day.

I get excited soon as I see a deer, but it passes quickly when I see its not a shooter. I get a feeling of accomplishment drawing back on one and letting him slide but thats about it. I get much more enjoyment out of watching them especially if they do something I have not seen them do befor.

This season was pretty unique for me, opening day, I chose not to take a shot at 3 bucks. 1st one was probably about a 140-150 10 pointer with the beginning of a drop tine, come in at 17 yards and work over a bush for about 19 minutes.(saw this buck again on the last day of bow season, haven't heard of any of the neighbors taking something like that, fingers crossed)

Then an hour later had a nice 130ish heavy 9 pointer and a 147 10 pointer come in with the 10 at 18 yards and the 9 at about 6 yards.

Drew back on both 10's, why I didn't take the shot? I still am not sure, two years ago, I harvested a nice 150ish main frame 10. I saw that buck coming and I instantly knew if he came close enough I would take the shot. These other 3 bucks...well, none of them made my heart race and my knees go weak, maybe because it was opening day, and I had been watching to many deer hunting shows over the summer I don't know.

There was a little remorse on my part when I got home, wondering why I didnt take a shot, but the following day the land owner made a nice shot on the 2nd 10 pointer (the reason I know it was a 147) and it was the biggest buck he has taken off his land (actually biggest period) and his first with a bow since 1996,after that there was no regrets.

Over the course of the season there were numerous chances withmultiple 2 1/2 year old bucks,(off the top of my head, maybe a dozen within 20 yards) none of them gave me the rush...

I had one buckraise my pulse, butbeing at the end of the day, and the uncertainty of making a good shot prevented my from taking a shot, no idea on a rough score, but it got my adrenaline going.

I did take a doe mid season, Itold myself if the doe crossed into theshooting lane I would take ashot, (I also wanted to see how the rage 3 blades would work, they work superbly btw, along with earning the right to shoot a buck next year, earn-a-buck is required in my hunting unit) as she kept coming closer and closer,I found myselfgetting more excited. When she finally cleared the treefor the shot, well, whyelse are you out in the woodsexcept for that moment. Everything leading up to that point is the cake, the harvesting of the deer is the frosting.

So, back to the original question? I think you need to hunt what makes the experience enjoyable to you. If youhavethat 5 pointer that you have at 16 yards and you can't think straight, take the shot. If that 19" 10 pointer makes you think about taking a shot, and you need to justify it, maybe it is best to let it go.

My hunting is not defined by what I bring home with me via dead animals. It is defined by what I bring home with me by way of memories. The sunlight shining through the trees on a cold november morning, the squirrel that stared at me from about a foot away in the tree trying to figure what I was, the chick-a-dee that landed on my hat, the deer that I watched that had no idea that I was there, to name a few off the top of my head. That is what keeps me coming back, if I had taken that shot opening day, I would have missed all of that, so, what is there to regret?

Having a deer within your bowrange standing in a shooting lane is a successfull hunt. Whether you decide to shoot it or not, you've already "hunted" that deer successfully.

It is a different sort of feeling passing on deer. It doesn't compare to the thrill you feel when you kill a shooter buck. But, it definitely is a rewarding feeling knowing that deer is a dead deer walking and it doesn't even know it.

However I will say this year I got discouraged/ frustrated with the amount of 1.5 & 2.5 year old bucks I passed. At the begining and middle of the season it was thrilling to have them in bowrange and watch their every move in their natural enviromnent.Any deer would get the heart pumping. I would walk out of the woods excited that day and view it as a "good hunt". Towards the end of the season and around the zillionith young buck that walked by me, I would hardly pay attention to it. Wouldn't even peek my interest to the point of getting ready for the moment of truth. My demeanour wouldn't even change. The buck (or doe) would simply stroll by my stand. And what I would have deemed a good hunt earlier seemed to be a discouraging hunt later.

I can still remember letting that first buck walk, very hard for me then. Now its common place, and just knowing that a buck will add 20+ inches by next fall is enough now for me to pass. It seems now days, unless taking a doe for meat, I'm always Hunting for a Monster. very satisfying.

I dont mind being picky, up untill the rut that is. It seems that the bigger bucks can be harder to get during the rut as they are constantly cruising and not paying much attention to anything but that doe they are following. From mid Sept-late Oct I tend to be very picky about the bucks and or doesI shoot. But once the rut starts, Im not as picky. I enjoy watching bucks chase does, thats the excitement for me. I will take any good 1 1/2 year old buck that gives me a clean shot and hold my head up proud when I do. Ive said it before and Ill say it again. It seems too often that most of us here and across the world are getting too caught up in the big buck phenomenon. Is that what hunting is really about?? Because if it is, I quit. Sure its great to get a big wall mounter, the feeling is great, Ive taken 2 wall mounters of which I only mounted 1 back in 2002. The other one is a rack display. the one I shot last year. These in some eyes are in no case considered a "wall mount buck", but to me they were both worthy of putting on the wall. Any deer is. I go out for the encounters, and to be closer to God and enjoy everything he has blessed me with that surrounds me. Thas what hunting is all about.