re: Just got back from missouri....I wana puke!!

I let a 5x6 walk in SK my first year hunting there under similar circumstances. I was all of 21 years old at the time. Watched him for 15 minutes and it never really occurred to me that I should shoot him. Maybe it was being star struck, maybe it was just the surreal aspect of being 30 minutes into my first Canadian whitetail hunt. I even got some video footage of him. It was the first day of the season and I had another 7 days to hunt. What do you do? This place killed a 180 class deer pretty much every few days although the average was somewhere around 150. I let him walk thinking he was a 150ish deer. I got ridiculed pretty good when I showed the video at the camp later that evening.

I hunted that same location for the duration of the hunt and never saw him again. I ultimately killed a 125ish 4x4 on the final evening. Still my biggest deer at the time but a far cry from what I let walk.

The enigma buck ended up getting shot 2 weeks later. Gross score was over 170. I ended up sending the video to the hunter that killed him, he got a kick out of that.

It happens...

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Maybe it was being star struck,

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That could have been it as well. I was just in awe of him. You know when a buck just stands there with his head held back and bows his chest out..... it was really an awesome experience eventho i didnt shoot him....Just makes me sick

ETA: Ended up shooting a 7pt cull buck and a 200# doe. Meat in the freezer.... thats what counts, or thats what i keep telling myself

I still passed on several bucks, most of them were 4pt or smaller. Had an 8 and a 10 walk up but their tines were only 3" tall IF that, still young deer. Call it what you want, I was there to shoot a wall hanger. I have to let the young ones pass, thats the way i was raised i guess.