I guess I'm in the opposite boat as the above poster. Letting several deer walk in a season doesn't leave me disinterested. I do it every year. Some opening weekends, I've probably let 15 or more bucks walk. Its this kind of population density that keeps me forever anticipating the opener though. With this many deer around, there's ALWAYS some very nice bucks around. I have made it a personal rule not to shoot anything LESS than a 4x4 or 5x5 the past several years, and have been successful every year. I've got some nice racks on the wall (topping out at about 174 b&c) but knowing theres bigger ones out there has me out of bed and ready to go on opening morning, while the rest of the crew is barely climbing out of bed. I've hunted rabbits, prairie dogs, pigeons, coyotes, deer, pheasants, doves, grouse, and honestly, haven't grown tired of any of them...given unlimited time, I'd hunt them all any time. But deer hunting is in my heart most of all.....I hope I live to be one of those gray haired old men one occasionally meets in the hunting fields that makes you think "How does he still DO this?" I have an answer for you....at that point, you don't know how NOT to.