I was faced with a decision tonight in the woods. Take an awkward 15yrd shot in a position i hadnt practiced much on a spooky doe that i have become to know as "big mama" or... Let her pass to live another day and provide me with a better shot later in the season. I opted to pass on her. It hurts to think I could be skinning beautiful venison right now. But I believe our bowhunting fathers of past and present are smiling down upon me thinking, this kid has it right.. It's more about the respect of the animal and the journey than the kill itself. I live by that.

Has anyone had the honor of making such decisions this year? If so, shout them out loud an proud!!!

I made it a couple times, once on a cow and once on a bull elk.  I had the shot but the range was out of my self imposed limit.  Both were on a steep downhill so I wasn't as concerned about hitting them as I was where I would hit them.  The longer the ranger the more time for them to move and things to go badly wrong.  I ended up with elk tag soup but it's better than having a lost animal on my hands.  I still have deer season ahead so maybe better luck then.

Well chosen Caleb. ETHICS has been defined as the choices we make when there's nobody around to see.

good call!

Not me... I went for a total launch and emptied my quiver! The good lord guided every one of those arrows right into the dirt above and below him too....    

Sure felt good to lock and load!

i love these ethics threads.   :p

I've passed a lot more than I've shot. One was the biggest buck I've seen from the stand, but it was near the end of legal shooting time and something just felt wrong. I felt kind of sick at first to see such a monster walk out of my life, but the next morning I was back in the same stand. As the sun lit up the area where the buck was standing, I could see some twiggy little branches which would have been between me and his vitals. They were small enough that I couldn't see them the night before, but certainly large enough to have deflected an arrow and perhaps wounding, or worse yet, gut shooting, a fine animal.

You did the right thing at the moment. Kirk is just kidding...I hope!

What part of Iowa are you from? I live in North Central Iowa, but hunt most of the time in Northeast Iowa.

   

Last year i had a 160 plus buck 17 yards away just didn't like the angle so he is still alive.Couldn't take the chance of wounding him.

you did good.  We all need to remember,  if we are concerned about making it, the shot is probably one to pass by.

Thanks for sharing.

ChuckC

This is one of the values of bowhunting...something you can carry with you always that makes your pack lighter and easier to carry instead of heavier and more cumbersome.

Three cheers indeed...carry on Caleb...  

I hunt eastern Iowa in the muscatine area. The doe has been a regular on our trail cams you can tell its her because she is truly a pope and young doe.. She'll be back she left the food plot undisturbed and who know maybe in a couple if weeks she'll pull a big buck out of the timber for me... If she doesn't present me a better shot before then :-)

Nice call!

Good Call! when it doesnt feelright always good to pass!

Not this year, but last year I had a buck in velvet at a mere 8/9 yards, it was quartering to me slightly, I  was gonna wait till he started walking away from me. When he did, the shot didn't feel comfortable due to branches and the feeling I had. I let him walk outa my life that night thinking I will get another opportunity at him another day, I never saw him again. No regrets. It was a great encounter and I felt good about not taking shots that are not only "iffy" but because they don't feel right. I learned to trust my "feeling", it has never let me down.

A few weeks later I had 2 does come through at about 10 --12 yards. I let them walk because I wasn't sure on the size of them. No arrows lost last year, but it was a great year!

I passed a doe at 20 yards on Wednesday morning. I just didn't have the confidence to shoot at her plus she was a bit spooky and she had a fawn. I never even rose my bow up.

Of course i was kidding...

One of my favorite pass of all times was 3 cow elk and a bull all broadside at very nice yardage. but they were staggered in a line with the butt of the one in front, covering the vitals behind it.... i came to half draw looking for a spot and all i had was butts and guts...and the first one in line had a tree covering the shoulder.

They didn't even know i was there until i busted up laughing.... the butts and guts thing cracked me up....  

If i have to stop to think about the shot at all, I'll wait till it comes natural. Self confidence is huge with instinctive archery.

I don't pat myself on the back..I kick myself in the butt..for not getting a shot.

Good for you, I took a shot on a doe two nights ago and everything was text book perfect. less than twelve yards quartered away and totally relaxed yet somehow she managed to duck my string and I got a bad hit. I know it was not a fatal shot and was a flesh wound but it tears me up knowing she's hurting like heck. I'm sure she will survive but none the less it kills me.


Passed on a bunch and some real bruisers at that. Always left the woods feeling real good about it. In 22 years of bow hunting the three bad hits always haunt me and always will.

It takes a real woodsman to let one walk when it just don't feel right.

I passed on a 6 point due to "government intervention".  In the county I hunt the hunter has to judge the antlers of a buck as 13" or wider for the buck to be "legal".  I had a great hunt, the buck came in on the right side of the stand and proceeded to step at 12 yrds broadside looking the other way.  Shots do not get much better than this encounter.  He was right at the outside of his ears.  I had that "?" in my mind, so I did not shoot.  I followed the "law".  It does put a distaste for me that our games laws are so dictated by trophy hunters and manufactuers.  I was legal, and I guess that is ethical.

You made a good choice. If it does not feel right, then it is not right. Wait and try again.