nate121080

Hello everyone. I am 22 years old and have been hunting deer since i was 8. I have been fortunate enough to kill 26 deer ( all on national forest). The last 4 years i have not killed anything under a 6 pointer until this morning. I was sitting below my stand (way to windy to be in it) where i had seen 11 bucks on opeing day of muzzleloader and at about 8:30 a spike walked up to the ridge to me just slowly feeding. I watched him for about 40-45 minutes and decided I would like to have some nice tender vension. So I aimed right behind his ear so i could use all of his meat. I squeezed the trigger and he went down and never even flinched. My only problem is that I felt so bad afterwards for shooting him that I don' t think I could ever kill another young deer in my life. I don' t know if i' m just getting soft hearted or if its just where i' ve killed so many. I mean i never even got excited or anything and a doe use to tear me up pretty bad. What do ya' ll think it could be?

skeeter 7MM

Being you haven' t killed anything this small in the past 4 years and you watched him for a long period of time, you may have lost some of the emotion of the hunt or just talked yourself into needed some meat for the table - dropping your standards and feeling some what ashamed or upset by doing so. However don' t fret or be ashamed you accomplished the goal of filling the freezer with great eats. I am sure it will pass and it is probably something you can learn for future hunts and years. This how many adopt standards and set goals by experiences in the field.

Tree climber

don' t worry we all take one on occasion that we wish we hadn' t.it will pass,as long as you consume what you take.
Congrats. on taking the buck.you will have learned from this.

mikej92280

I agree with skeeter. The fact that you watched the deer so long played a big part in the way you felt afterwards. Thanksgiving morning a doe and a fawn come in right underneath me. My pop told me the night before that he would like some deer meat so I planned on murdering the next morning. When they came in I just couldnt do it. If she was alone I think I would have but the fact that she was with her yearling I just couldnt do it. Call me what you want but I would have gotten no thrill from killing that deer.

JagMagMan

Nate, I agree with Skeeter. the fact that you watched them for sometime before shooting is probably playing a big part in your emotions.
I love to watch deer. However, I decide pretty quickly if it is a deer I am going to shoot or not. I don' t think that you are getting soft at all though.
I do think that this is the part of " hunting" that the non-hunters and anti' s get confused over. To most hunters the actual " kill" is not what we are there for in the first place. Sure, there are " trophy" hunters and there are " meat" hunters, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with either!
Our main purpose, unless we are starving though, is conservation. Population control, that will benifit the species and all wildlife in the long run.
So, don' t feel bad about ANY legal animal that you kill! I' m a little leery of people who don' t have any emotion and just enjoy the " killing" aspect of hunting!

KoBear

dont feel bad. twenty six deer?? your still young. you needed meat, u got meat. so u took one young deer out of the herd. big whoop!! his spike genetics hopefully wont be passed along. if you wouldnt have shot him (since ur in a national forest) somebody else would have. congrats on the deer

hardluck71

On the property that I hunt, I would have shot a spike before I would have shot a 6 or 8 pointer just for better genetics. Truth be known, I would have shot a spike if he was standing next to a 6 or 8 pointer. I am not of the school of thought that once a spike always a spike but there is a good chance of that happening. Now correct me if I am wrong but if a young buck is going to grow up to be a trophy doesn' t he normally have at least 4 points his first year or even some times 6 points. By no means should you feel bad and you definately shouldn' t let it hamper on you to long.

Also you were hunting on National Forest land. There is absolutely no way to manage a deer herd there. Someone else may have shot the deer. Now you can add another buck to your list. Be proud.

Congrats on the buck and good hunting to come.

mikej92280

Last year I took a 190 lb 5 pointer 16" tall & 12" inside spread. When I checked him in the biologist aged him at 4 1/2. He told me it was a wise decision to take the buck because he would have never been anymore or any less. I know it has nothing to do with the topic but it just goes to show not every buck grows up to be a trophy.

webejonesin2

I wouldnt feel bad, the same thing just happened to me -except that this was only my second deer ever, being ancious and feeling the need to put meat in the freezer(which didnt help any) the shot placement sucked, it wasnt a one shot deal as i hoped for, but felt bad about it. After posting that i had shot the spike and people had congratulated on the deer, the feeling down about it passed, but the standrd thing set forth, as watching it has lot to do with it. I wouldnt say its being soft hearted.

Gary10ec1

Easy to see how you could get buyers remorse, but you needed some venison and didn' t do anything wrong. I think we all should have some of the same sensitivity. Shows that you have respect for the sport and aren' t just a killer.