The Feeling of Regret Post #7

I finally got a chance to go out and spend sometime in the woods! Last week I decided instead of hanging out with friends I would do something I enjoy way more, I was going hunting. I went out about 4:30. The silence brought me peace.   My dad had drove me out to the stand on the mule. So he could fill the feeder for my grandpas stand. However, it didn't go as planned and the mule ran out of gas in the center of the clearing. He left my uncle, who was also with us, on the mule while he went to get gas and the quad.  During this time, the turkeys decided they wanted to come out. But my uncle was still in the clearing. They didn't seem to mind until they heard the quad coming out. They filled the mule with gas and headed up. Finally it was my time. Now I just had to wait on the deer. After an hour and a half of nothing but seeing blue jays flying around I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. DEER! I finally had seen deer move. But it was just a doe and her fawn. I watched the fawn play while the doe ate. They were there for about fifteen minutes. Something must have spooked them because they ran back to the bedding area. Nothing else moved for awhile not even a squirrel. As it was just getting to the point where I couldn't see my sights I heard something walking towards me on the right. It seemed like it took forever for this deer to finally show itself. By this point I could have taken the shot. It stood broadside from me at 20 yards for at least ten minutes. I kept thinking I could shoot but what if I don't get a good shot? What if its a doe? What if its just a little guy? Well I knew  this was a big deer by looking at the body. The head I couldn't see to determine if it was a buck or a doe. This would also help me age the deer. The longer the distance from eye to nose the older the deer is. So I passed I just watched it feed around. A few days later we pulled the trail cam and looked at the pictures from that night. Well....I should have shot. It was a seven point. But I am glad I didn't I wouldn't be able to live with knowing that I wounded yet another  deer. (I have only done this about twice since I started hunting.) If I am not confident in the shot I won't take it no matter what I am shooting at.