No problem with that at all, Ryan. If you, Rob, Scott, GregH,etc... tell me you "passed" on a deer....I take that at face value. You know what that entails.

But someone who's never killed one has NO IDEA of what lies between saying they "passed" on one and saying they "killed" one.

I'm cynical in the fact that I've witnessed firsthand, now.....even after shooting a couple....that there IS a huge gap between those statements, sometimes. Having a deer in bow range and getting an ethical shot......sometimes a huge gap. Having an ethical shot and being able to get drawn, undetected, ....sometimes a huge gap. Getting a shot and hitting your target.....sometimes a huge gap. Hitting your target and being disciplined enough to know what to do, then, to ensure (to the best of your abilities) a successful recovery......sometimes a huge gap.

It's not a stretch in my mind.

But to the guys who've gone through this a LOT......NO WAY I question them when they say they "passed" on a deer. I trust their experience and, like I said....take it at face value.

If ROb tells me he "passed" on a deer.....I know he could have been dragging if he'd wanted to.

I read it all and I followed where it went I just view it a little differently. I killed a small buck last year one of my first sits out. I didn't set out to shoot him, I actually passed him once earlier in the day. I wanted to shoot a doe, that never happened and he came back by later and at that point I wanted to kill a deer to start my season, an ice breaker so to speak, so I did just that. I shoot what I feel like at the time,unlike some I don't really restrict myself with too many pre setrules of what Iwill or won't take.

That being said Ihave passed on a lotmore deer than usual the past 3 seasons simply because I didn't want to shoot one that day or I had already killed earlier in the week and still had work to do to finish processing, yeah I was out hunting but I had no real intention of killing unless it had been something extraordinary so it goes both ways(in the past I would kill them all and just give the meat I couldn't deal withaway, I don't really feel the needto do thatanymore).jmho

Agreed!

Bowtech ....I DONT care why people shoot what they shoot ... I wasn't happy with my first bowkill .... read the entire thread before assuming .....

I take it as you DO care "Why", PT. I'm not arguing with you (NOT IN THE LEAST)....but it goes towards why you feel the way you do about the above. I don't begrudge you feeling that way AT ALL. I respect the sincerity of it.

I wouldn't even think of shooting a fawn.The one exception to that would be if it were seriously injured.

Just curious PT, what is deer hunting to you?

Exactly

Deer hunting is tradition .. it is the smell of the biting fall as it creeps in after the summer ... it is the turning of the leaves, the falling of acorns .... it is the fellowship with family and friends, the excitement of conversation that has 100% of everyone;s attention....... it's the final planning to where everyone is going that morning ... it is walking in the dark to my stand, listening for deer that I may have bumped ..... it is the ascention up my steps to my seat in the tree that I will be hoping to ambush a deer from ..... it is the anticipation of what can happen at any second ..... it's the sunrise ...... it is the scurrying of squirrels as they hurry to prepare for the upcoming winter .... it is a hot cup of coffee on an ice cold deer stand .....it's the crunching of leaves as I hear the unmistakable sound of a deer walking towards me ..... it's the heart pumping out of my chest as a deer comes by ... it's the joy of watching those animals that will not bi in danger by my stand .....it's a deer that is a shooter to me, coming down the path I expected him to ...... it's the preperation for the shot as he walks into range ..... it's the pulling on the trigger ....release or gun .... it's watching the deer's ensuing fight for it's last breath ...it's the climb down and the wlking up to the deer.... it's the appreciation to a mighty God for allowing me to take all that I just posted in .... it's the phone call to the womenfolk and friends that couldn't be there, telling them what just happened it's the pictures afterwords and the dinner and discussion of the day's events ...... it's ALL that and more .......to me

Yeah, Preach...."Totally" different......lol.