Regret is the insight that comes a day too late.

I had my chance, and it's haunting me!
This weekend was a blast--from the drive up to the cabin, to the time outdoors, to the time with my bro and father-in-law, I can't tell you how much fun it was. I even had a chance at a buck, but passed...
Saturday morning I was leaning up against an old oak tree, overlooking a meadow about 75 yards long by 50 yards across. There were a couple deer trails that went right through the meadow and all kinds of scrapes along the route. I set up shop about 15 minutes before sunrise and settled in. I didn't have to wait long, as within 20 minutes, from the far side of the meadow, a buck appeared. From that distance, in the poor light, he looked relatively small and was only a 3 or 4 pointer (I think his left antler was a lone spike). I decided at that point that I would let him go and wait for something a little bigger. After all, I had never fired the rifle I was using, and if I saw a buck already, surely I'd be seeing them the entire weekend!
Oops.
As he made his was across the meadow, I started to realize he was a pretty thick guy, and his head was just small. But by then he was only 20 yards away, nibbling and looking at me. Any move for my rifle likely would have sent him off, so I just watched. He never panicked, was never in a hurry, but slowly made his way through the meadow and into the woods. And that was the only interaction we had with a deer the entire weekend.
Just wait 'till next year. (Geez, now I'm sounding like a Cubs fan.)