SevenMag

letting 'em walk for me is no big thrill, i do however enjoy watching them, but seeing that big 'un walk out that I KNOW i'm gonna take is HUGELY more rewarding to me... letting 'em walk is a mgmt tool for us, i watch the deer and see if its a shooter and that is exciting, but once i get a good view of the rack and determine that it isn't i just sit back and scan to see if another is following it around and go back to watching the non-shooter buck eat and stuff... enjoyable? you betcha... as rewarding as finding a shooter? no way...

indianahunter83

I have let probably 15 bucks walk during bow season this year ranging from spikes to a basket 8 point and now it looks like I won't be getting a deer this year as they all have disappeared off of the land I hunt. Would I change passing those bucks? Not a chance because hopefully some of them become jaw droppers next year. I love the rush of hearing the deer come in and walk within 15 yards. This year I had a 4 point bed right below me for 2 hours.

rybohunter

I don't really feel any excitement in letting them walk. This year I passed on the biggest buck that gave me a chance(meaning up to this point I've never passed on a buck this big). It was about the same size as a nice one I shot about 4 years ago. That moment in no way shape or form came close to the excitement I got when I actually shot one of that size several years back.

Critr-Gitr

I don't know if excitement is the right term for me. I get excitement from shooting a big buck, I get satisfaction from letting one walk. For me they aredifferent emotions, not better or worse. Don't get me wrong, I get excited anytime a good buck is in range. I enjoy it very much. But I get satisfaction from doing what Iwant do to further the needs of my herd and my maturity as a hunter. It has much more to do with meeting my own goals as a hunter than it does arbitrary goals of the hunting community around me. And it feels really good to see/take a deer that is mature, when he wouldn't have been if you shot him two years earlier. We each take enjoyment in different ways.

GregH

GMMAT, this is exactly what I've done. From the time I started passing 1 1/2sright up to 2 years a go when I started passing 3 1/2s and 4 1/2s up to 135+ inches. By passing such deer it has enabled me to see even bigger deer and watch and learn more of how deer opperate. I won't get a high 140s+ if I shoot one that's smaller.

However, it does not compare to the feeling I get after making a good shot on any deer. If it's a doe I still get all shakey after shooting it.

That's why I hunt.

MNpurple

If I truely feel he is a great deer, then he is probably not going to walk. I have let bucks walk that I have spent the minutes leading up to them entering my shooting lane frantically looking at the rack, deciding if I should take him, could I do better, would this provide satisfaction for me, do I want my season to end right here, right now? Its a complete rush of emotions filled with second guesses when he passes through your shooting lane and you know he is gone. I feel a sense of accomplishment that I was this close to a buck that was so close to what I was looking for, but at the same time I am second guessing everything, were his tines longer than I thought, dang he is over 20 inches inside aint he, you dumb%&#$ what did you let him walk for? Its a sense of mixed emotions.

For me, the actual kill is the most anticlimatic part of the hunt because its over. Its over. I enjoy the chase so much more than the kill and there are times I think I would be just as satisfied to hunt with a camera, But there is something special about grabbing that thick main beam in your hands. If I could script my hunting season, I would hunt all year, take in all the experiences and then on the last day of the year tag out on a buck I am really happy with. Every year I actually dread the chance that a 150+ class buck could walk past my stand at 20 yards on opening morning. I just dont want the season to end so quickly, it would be hell for me. Couldnt he just wait until December.

Dr Andy

Exactly! earlier in the season I would get the shakes all the time even if I had no intention of shooting, by the end of the season I was calm. I think this is a good thing to do for us novice hunters. I don't want to repeat my previous woundings!

BigJ71

I wouldn't say that I "enjoy" letting a buck walk because I'd like to shoot them all...big or small.I just like to hunt periodbut I only have a certain amount of buck tags per year and some years (for what ever reason) I decide to go after a certain size or particulardeer. It's then I'll let other deer walk but it's no way near as gratifying as putting them down.

Charlie P

I don't mind letting them walk, enjoy watching them. Didn't shoot a buck again this year that's three years eating my buck tag. I do hate getting the phonecall that someone smacked one with the car.Also got to watch one I let walk during bow, get shot opening morning of gun. The guy was really phsyched so that didn't even bother me.

Don't think it could be for me.

IAhuntr

That pretty much wraps it up in a nutshell.

I guess I just view letting a smallerbuck walk as part of the mature buck hunting experience. That being said, any deer that walks under my stand is a pleasurable experience, the bigger the better, but as Greg says, it's nothing like the flood of emotions that accompaniesharvesting a deer.