I remember the day like it was just last week. Mainly because it was just last week. I was sitting in the stand watching the sun go down on a 4 day bowhunt and I had yet to tag a deer. Sure I had deer really close during those four days but nothing I could connect on. On this hunt I was allowed 2 does, an eight point buck or better or a management buck in the form of a year and a half or older spike. On that last evening I had 2 really young does feed out in front of my stand at only 10 yards. Several times I had a perfect broadside shot on either one of them, but I never drew my bow. I had invested over $1000.00 on this venture and I was sure that if I didn't shoot I would go home empty handed. But not with an empty heart. A couple of times I mentally walked myself through the shot process, when to draw and when not to. But I never drew on them, I just watched. I thought about what my wife and all my buddies back home would say when I came home with nothing, but I didn't care. To me just having those 2 baby does out in front of me was reward enough. I challanged myself over and over again why I didn't shoot at such an easy target and the same answer kept coming up...it just wasn't right for me. I knew that some how my evil side would manage to muster up regret on the long trip home for not shooting one of those babies , but again I didn't care. I knew what was right. I knew what was in my heart.

Good Hunting.

I hear ya. If it don't feel just right, best to keep it in the quiver. Being up close and personal with them gives a certain satisfaction and lets you know you're not just caught up in a lust to spill blood. I expect anyone with enough passion for the sport to sit in front of a computer an talk about it to have the decerning taste and intuition when to harvest an animal and when to let them walk. I had that happen this year too. I am new to bow hunting, but an old hand with the smoke pole. Now, when that long necked old doe stepped out later, she was looking like backstrap, tenderloin, dry sausage, etc, but I got busted on myu draw by the spike under my feet. grumble, grumble. . . .

Another thing, I have hunted all my life(29yo) and seen plenty of horns, passed on alot, but when I drew on a doe for the first time, you'd have thought it was the all time B and C monster. My heart was racing and I couldn't see straight! That feeling wwas enough, I'll be back in the tree. Deer season is alomst over, but in Texas that means hog season is on.

I couldnt have said it any better.

Been there done that very good post....

You did good,been there and done that,and what the
old boy said about the first doe hit the nail on the head!![8D]

Yeah, having two biscuit deer frolick under my stand trying to figure out what the heck they were smelling last year was an experience non hunters will never have. I was so close I could have dropped out of the stand and taken them with my knife. I was giddy like a little kid watching them flitter around.

Damn I love hunting.

David

Now this is where I believe in evolution... the evolution of the hunter, that is.

Sound like you've transcended killing and started hunting. Good for you.

It is a strange realization once the thought occurs to you though, isn't it?

Nice post hardluck71. I have come home empty handed many a day in my hunting career. If I ever come home empty-hearted I'll know that is the day I would hang the bow up forever. Hope that day never happens!

Yes..nice post. I too have been there many times (never had that kind of money tied up in one hunt tho). I hunt in my back yard and always fill the freezer with at least a couple but I also hunt about 20-30 evenings during bow season. This gives me a lot of nights to just watch deer and a million other animals. I do always have the bow with me, just in case.

My best evening in the tree this year wasn't even a buck kill night, it was a no shot night. In fact it was a no bucks even sighted night. The two previous trips to the stand (in my dads backyard)I had not seen a deer. On this super night I saw over 35 deer! It was the most I have ever seen in one evening by far. The first group was about 25 deer ( i lost count) and they hung out all around me and under my stand for 45 min or so. After they ambled off I saw groups of 2's, 3's and 4 almost constantly. With no bucks sighted and no shots fired it still was one of the most rewarding evenings I have ever had in the deer woods. Try to tell an anti how awesome that felt..they will never get it.