Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

Last Sunday while trying to cope with lifes everyday challenges and problems I decided to go out and hunt the afternoon. The woods is my sanctuary so I really wanted to just sit in my stand and think. When I headed out I thought my intentions were to harvest a doe or a nice buck. After sitting for a half hour a really nice doe meandered up to my stand from behind and continued through offering me a perfect 10 yard quartering away shot. My bow never left the hanger.
I realized I just wasn' t in the mood to kill anything. The evening passed with three more opportunities at nice doe as I just watched and enjoyed myself.

Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience.

And before you accuse me of turning anti , I have every intentions of getting blood on my arrow this weekend!:D

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

Doug.
There have been times like that for me as well if I am not in the mood to make a shot I will just sit there and watch.

There is always next time;)

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

I don' t know how many times I have done that..It' s quite a lot though. I bet I have passed up on hundreds of deer over the years when I had a good shot. Sometimes it' s just fun for me to practice on them. I' ll get one in and try to draw on it. See what I can get away with. I have been amazed at how sometimes you can get away with murder and other times...poof. They' re gone in a heartbeat.[:-]

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

At one time I couldn' t let anything with antlers by and shot a lot of spikes and forks. I had a cool 6 pointer in at 12 yards in my field last sunday and just sat in my tree and watched. ' bout a year & a half old and I was thinking how nice he might be in a few years. I have been letting little bucks pass for a few years now and it has been paying off. I have a decent 10 point running around and several smaller sixes and never had this quality when I was shooting all the small ones.

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

I got really lucky my first year out and I shot the 3rd deer I saw from my stand, a 7 point buck. It all happened so fast. That was in 2000. In 2001 I swore I wanted to watch more deer. I didn' t see many that year but I missed a buck that year. Last year I happily watched several deer including a set of yearlings that I saw almost every day. I only took one shot at a really nice buck that I missed by a hair. I dropped my bow arm due to extreme excitement! I found last season to be the most satisfying yet even though I didn' t contribute anything to our freezer.

I am hoping to get to watch the deer more this year AND fill the freezer!

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

Yes, I' ve done that on many occasions. I only care to kill 3-4 deer per year, after that I just love to watch.

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

All the time Bow. For example, I' ve been hunting since July on crop damage. I only shot one. I let a lot of them little bugger walk and things. Len was doing enough killing. I think he' s shot 11 so far this year. Since the season has started I' ve let a bunch more walk. When it' s too warm I say I don' t want to have to mess with one. I did have to throw away a deer when my power was gone for a week. I guess I better replentish the freezer. I had a great doe at about 10 yards this morning. ALMOST did it... but... I wanted to see what was behind her.[:-] I' ve shot enough of those buggers I don' t worry about it. Just getting out sometimes is enough. The days will come when it' s nice and cool and I' ll want to hear TWACK.... but it wasn' t today.

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

A few times I' ve even toyed with them and let them walk...let them go past and use the call to bring them back...then try to do it again. Great way to hone your calling skills.

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

I let them pass very often! I use the video camera alot!

Good Luck!

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

I' m hoping to have a few opportunities to shoot a few with the camera this year myself. I already have one under my belt for the year.

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

I usually average 50-60 hours in the stand before I loose an arrow at a deer.So yes,I let alot of deer walk.This year,though,I' m out of deer meat so I may have to fill a tag early.

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

Sure I let them pass in the past, now I got a bow so watch out spikes:D just kidding.
I got my first bow in Feb. this year, have been practicing almost every day, spent all summer weekends at 3D shoots, and now is my first hunting season. By the way I' m 47, and feel way too young to be that old[8D]
Bow_Nut

RE: Have you let them pass....
 

I have to admit , my freezer is empty also and we desparately need to remove a few doe from our land.

It' s kind of hard to describe. Any other time in the past I would have had a nice doe or two for the freezer. But for whatever reason I just wasn' t in the mood to kill this time. I dont know if it was everything else on my mind or what.

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

It came over me about 3 years ago. The thrill of the hunt was there but I found myself letting more and more walk. It gets worse when you start nameing the ones that you see often.:) There was one that I called scruffy and I would toss orange peels and hit him on the head. He was pitiful.
I bow hunted for the 1st time on Wednesday
and it was a hoot. I didn' t see any deer but spent the time learning. U know, what to do with all that stuff, Bow, bow quiver, butt pack, calls, ropes hanging everywhere, and a release hanging on my wrist.[X(] But I' m more prepared for Saturday, and who knows, I may let a couple more walk.[:-]

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

The older I get the more I do the same thing

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

Same here the older I get the more and more I let go by. I know what your talking about last year on the first day of rifle season I had a small 6 point walk by at 20 yards I didnt even pick up the gun just watched him, he bedded down about 30 yards away for about 3 hours then got up and carried on with his daily routine. I could have shot anytime, but just decided to watch him. Ended up not getting a buck last year, will I do that agian this year I guess if the mood comes over me I would. Happy Hunting.

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

I have no idea what makes me tick........but I pass up deer all the time. I have passed on many small bucks and does .........and probably 10-11 deer this year already (passed on a doe last night) including a couple of nice mulies on my first ever mulie hunt.
But tomorrow I may shoot a small doe if I feel like it..........who knows ?

One thing I have learned bowhunting though..........never pass on a deer that you' ll regret later.....be it a doe or whatever.....if you feel like shooting it...shoot it and to hell with anyone else......

.....if it brings you no satisfaction to shoot it though ........then it' s better to leave that one for somebody else that' ll appreciate it or leave it to grow !! My $.02 !!

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

Absolutely. I do it many times each season. I usually do drop the string on a few, but it' s only when I' m in the mood. When it' s warm....I' m not shooting anything but a big buck... mainly because I don' t want to have to mess with them. I enjoy the time out, regardless of whether I bring home anything. Heck, just knowing I passed the opportunity, is a great feeling. :)

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

I have let a few walk over the years, but I am down to 2 packages of venison in the freezer and the kids get POed if they don' t get their rations of jerky, so the first 2 without spots will go down unless they are spikes.

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

Yes I pass on deer, but its usually cause they are too small. If I have a tag and the right size doe steps out, she gets shot. There was one time quite a few years ago now, that I was hunting a strange place, and was going to have minimal time to hunt that year so I went into the hunt shooting buck or doe. And for some unknown reason, I let a good doe walk by, only to shoot a buck 15 minutes later. That' s probably the only time I remember not having a reason why I didn' t shoot.

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

I' ve passes on many, many time more deer than I' ve shot--and that' s a lot. Most of the time, it' s because I don' t want to shoot anything less than a mature animal--including does. Other times it' s because I' ve seen them enough times that I recognize them and don' t want to shoot a " friend." :D

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

A friend of mine owns a herd of Red deer (aprox. 150), he has one doe that is more less a pet. He named her Lucky. One day my buddy' s sister was washing dishes in the kitchen when Lucky walked up to the window and his sister splashed Lucky with some water and started laughing, well long story short, Lucky chewed the seats and visors out of her car :D (the window in the car was down) Since then I have looked at deer as more than just meat in the freezer.:)

BTW, the racks on those Red deer are huge!! And NO I can' t hunt ' em [:@] (not that I would hunt a caged critter anyway)

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

I hear you Bow.

I have let every doe that ever walked by me go. I just have no desire to drop the string on them.

I also let lots of dinks go by.

But I have never let a " shooter" go:D. They come by far and few between.

I would have to be in one heck of a tree hugging mood to let a fat old buck walk by:D

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

As for me, I let the string fly on the first big doe or legal buck that walks by every year. this is what I call a meat hunt to fill the freezer. However, I am also moody to when it comes to shooting em because I process my own game the thought of having to clean em, steak em out, grind em, clean up all the mess, and freeze em really makes me think twice after the first one goes in the freezer. I let more deer walk with a gun or muzzle gun than with a bow because it aint everyday I get deer close enought to shoot with a bow well that is except this year. I have let a lot walk allready b/c the right shot angle wasn' t offered.

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

I had 2 nice does and 3 yearlings in front of me Friday evening. The biggest doe was feeding on cut corn quartering away at 15 yds. Now I need a freezer deer, and this was a prime mgmt doe, but I elected not to shoot because I had over an hour of light left, and I just didn' t feel like shooting. Then I saw nothing else the rest of the evening of course.

RE: Have you let them pass..for no good reason?
 

Let lots of them pass. I even let a nice 7 pointer pass the other day.[&:] I know of at least two mature bucks, both 10' s that prowl my land and am waiting on one of them. I' ll take a doe pretty soon, when the weather cools down so I can hang her for a few days be processing her. I should be shooting them with the camera.[:o]