I am 19, and I have been hunting since I was 12. Honestly, my heart rate only gets going when I see a shooter. And he has to be coming in close before it gets going really fast. If I see a shooter a little ways out, I get excited but I am still calm. When he starts coming into range, then my heart is pumping like crazy. Whenever I see a deer that I am not going to shoot nothing changes, but I do love watching them. I know what you are talking about WNYhunter.

I was kind of thinking this same thing. Sometimes I wish I could bring back the excitement to shoot a buck no matter what its size.

thats what i was getting at. There is a part of me that misses them days but I am glad to just sit back and enjoy more than the killing of one now.

I'm 18...been hunting since I was 12. My heart rate gets pumping everytime I hear crunch crunch crunch...let alone see a deer. Even the other day a doe came in. I planned to fill my muzzle tag on 'er. Had to wiat about 3-4 minutes to get a good shot. Within that timespan I kept telling myself...come on now, it's a doe. Just trying to remain calm for a good shot. But man, why would I want to change that feeling. That's what i love about hunting....

hardwoodhunter, trust me that feeling you get is the same for me when it's time to do the deed no matter what it is. But now, I like letting them go also. It is a different kind of enjoyment for me I guess.

I'm almost 44 now and shot my first deer (small doe) with a bow when I was 14 with a 50# Bear Blacktail bow. Heck, back then I was fortunate to just see a deer so it didn't matter if it had antlers, buttons, yearling or not; if you were hearing leaves crunching you were getting excited just thinking you were going to see or shoot something soon! lol Now, I'm seeing if it is a button buck; large doe; medium doe; aging the buck if it's a buck; estimating rack score; not that I'm all about score but just do it automatically. All while this deer is coming through. Nothing against all this or anything; it's just alot going on in my head while looking through binoculars cause I don't want to use my buck tag on just any buck you know. I know it's a far cry from "see deer-shoot deer" 30 years ago. It drives me crazy sometimes with deciding whether I'm gonna shoot or pass. The amount and quality of deer is so much higher than probably it's ever been. I really enjoy watching deer and my heart rate really stays pretty normal; until I grab my bow to shoot.