Back in my KILLIN' days, I can remember adopting the mindset that if i don't kill it , then guy next door will.
it was like I was in competition with every other hunter in my area. I remember being worried when the guy on the next farm fired a shot..."Oh my, what did he shoot, I hope it was a doe, man I wish I knew!!" I was putting unnecessary pressure on myself, for no reason. Pressure that was not allowing me to get the full benefit out of the hunt.,,,imo.
One day, I remember watching a small buck and a doe come by and for whatever reason (still not sure), I let them walk. I did that once, then twice, then later that season I talked to the guy hunting next to us and he talked about all the deer they were seeing as opposed to previous seasons and he told me that they had stopped shooting everything they saw. We even talked about deer we had both seen, groups and individuals we could identify as the same ones. It began to become fun and not so much a competition. The next few years, until I went to another club, that place got better and better. Seeing deer was automatic, every hunt.
A few years later, on another farm, I shot a deer and as soon as it hit the ground, I realized that I killed it for the sake of killing something. The hunt was no longer about the hunt or the meat but about the killing. I no longer was there for me, but more to fulfill some inter-ego issues and to get bragging rights amongst my peers.
I changed that day. Since then, I have killed far less deer than I did in the years before that, but have enjoyed hunting alot more.
Kill what you want, I do. Oh, I save alot of money on ammo as well...lol.
