I used to be one that would get kinda angry when someone at the camp would shoot a nice “up and coming” buck that had the potential to be something. One day I overheard a guy saying that the buck he shot was the biggest buck he’d ever seen much less shot. I then realized that the happiness in his voice and on his face was what was important, not that deer. There will be more bucks but that guy killing his biggest buck that morning only comes once. He still hunts with us till this day and has grown as a deer hunter. That buck that morning opened 2 sets of eyes. Mine and his. He realized that he got more excitement out of shooting that “big” buck then he did the small ones he’s always shot and now waits to kill better bucks. Now for me it’s about the size of the smiles not the bucks. Sure I’d like to see some that get killed have another year or 2 but we just celebrate them and move on. Life’s to short for silly crap.
