Good Hunt- Bad end

M

muleymort

Guest
So i was happy to draw a NE general season tag this year, drew northern last 2 and it was hard hunting and few deer. Went to a place i hadn't been in a couple of years, had my life long hunting partner with me, my old man, and to start we were seeing a few animals. Saturday we couldn't hunt long, and we didn't make it out again til tuesday. What a day 12" of fresh snow and deer elk and moose everywhere. Saw a great buck from a long ways away and made a 2 hr hike to try to put a move on him. When we got up to the quakey basin he had been in we were seeing deer everywhere but not the big guy. We did see some other bucks though and a couple i thought i would take. We had limited time so decided to leave the area undisturbed and come back in the morning. Well mother nature kept us from getting to our trail head until 7 on wed morning and by the time we got into our canyon their was shooting up in the same basin. We decided to head up there any way and when we got there saw 2 guys that were obviously following some blood. As they were walking back and forth and kind of ruining that whole area i started glassing a lower area and was seeing deer bedded all over. As i was looking i would turn and watch these guys and then look back, the last time i did this i saw a deer standing in front of some pines that hadn't been there before. I glassed him for a sec, pointed him out to my dad and my dad said i think thats a buck. So i looked again as he turned his head and saw he was an ok 3, bigger than anything i've taken. So i ask my dad to back me up, take aim, fire and he drops. Never moved again. After a high 5 and i calmed down we decide my dad will stay where he can see him and i will go and start the work. Once i got over there, no easy task, i pulled his head out of the snow and saw he was a 3 by 4, and a big bodied deer too. I was exstatic. I had told my 2 year old son i was going chasing bucks and was going to bring him one home. Well i tried to take some pics, but it was too cold for my camera so i didn't get any and as i start to take off my jacket and get out my knife i hear someone walking up above me. A guy yells did you find my deer? I said no, i shot one, he asks 4 point, i say yeah a 3 by 4. He says yeah thats my deer. Says he has been tracking it for 4 and a half hours and starts saying you're not gonna take my deer are you? He takes me shows me some blood drops the size of peas about 20 yards from where i shot this buck and says see it's my deer. We go back and look and the deer has 2 wounds. One tore through the very front of his breast, didn't hit bone just ripped through flesh and hair. The second right through the shoulder and through the vitals. Easy to see which was mine and which was his. He keeps saying you're not gonna take my deer are you, tells me his dad killed a bigger one in the basin that morning and was working on it and that this was his first deer. My dad gets there listens to the story and says well bud it's his let's go. I was fuming, but was done arguing and started gathering up my pack and gun. The guy keeps saying come on man don't be upset, what can i do to make you feel better about this? We just left after i told him i was leaving angry and there was nothing he could do about it. The killer is 2 days later my dad calls and says he read an article that basically came down to the guy that puts the animal on the ground is the one who gets it. He tells me sorry i probably screwed you out of that deer. So i don't even have pics of the biggest buck I'VE killed and i just have to get over it. On the plus side we saw a ton of animals, some trophy bulls both elk and moose, and over all really enjoyed the hunt. But the eternal battle rages on. I have to say it only makes sense that the guy that puts it on the ground gets the animal. Some situations may be grayer than that but in this case the deer was 1000 plus yards from the guy and i don't believe he would've ever seen the deer again. Heres to next year i guess. I hope the other guy spends a little more time at the range this year so some other guy doesn't have to kill his second deer for him too!
 
You did the right thing when it came down to it, so walk away with that and be happy.
 
Well!

I'm proud of you & I'm sure you're not gonna agree with me but............

In my eyes,first blood drawn is the owner of the animal(If the shooter is still tracking it & giving 'His All' trying to recover it)Yes,I know Game Laws might read different!

Just this year while Rifle hunting I was headed back to Camp to get un-thawed,I see a 4 point Buck kinda hunched up & slowly headed my way,I watch him for a few minutes & I decide He's definitely been GUT SHOT(I'm thinking:I don't wanna have to tag this Buck but I will if I have too)so I decide I'm gonna shoot him in the head & put him out of his misery,I gets ready & Squeezes off,BOOM!He goes down like a ton of Lead,I start heading over that way & 1/2 way over, I hear a guy just start CUSSING saying every word in the Book,I'm thinking WTH?

Well I get over there & it looks like my side of the head shot was slightly high,blowed the one horn right off & this guy was not a happy camper,funny part was,when he seen me moving in He got his Tag out ASAP & was notching it & Tagging that Deer,after the guy cooled down a bit He says:Was you gonna try & claim 'My' Buck?
I said NO!
I was just hoping to find the owner so I didn't have to claim/Tag that deer!
He'd drilled him right in the Guts,Buck woulda stayed way in front of the Hunter for days & died later of Gangrene,my biggest worry was I wouldn't find the guy that originally wounded him but it worked out that day!

Just don't finish them off by knocking a horn off!:D

Coulda been worse,both my brother & my son finished Bucks off a couple years ago that were wounded & ended up punching their Tags on PISSCUTTERS niether one of them would'of ever shot,sad but true!

Well muleymort,I know the Law might read different,but you done the right thing,someday the favor might be returned to you!






God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!
I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!
 
I've had 2 bucks taken from me. Both were the biggest I had taken at that point too. Still nothing more than a 18-20 inch 3x4. It really sucks!

4b1db2ac644136c4.jpg
 
LAST EDITED ON Oct-31-10 AT 07:40AM (MST)[p]I agree with B-Bop regarding first blood. We have always hunted that way, the guy that draws first blood tags the buck regardless of who ends up killing the deer.

Several years ago I had a killed a very nice 3x3 buck that another hunter wounded. I was not aware the buck had been shot until I walked up to the deer and sure enough he had been hit a little to far back and would have died eventually. Not long after I knocked the deer was down I spotted two guys working their way up the canyon following a blood trail.

I wasn't upset at all about not tagging that buck even though I went home with my tag unfilled. I was just glad I happened to be in the right place at the right time to finish off the buck, to me there is nothing worse than to loose a wounded deer.
 
I guess I'm of the "whoever puts him down school".
A shot in the foot will draw blood - I dont see how
that makes the deer property of the poor marksman.
 
I have always been a first blood kinda guy but I watched my brother get a deer taken from him and it was a good shoot just happend to be near a road I guess even if its staggering road hunters choose the biggest buck and shoot it an ethical hunter even if he makes a questionable shot will still track ang find his buck first blood need his chance to harvest. lets just use common sence dont shoot a wounded deer.
 
We believe in first blood but most states say different. Like I said if you come across a wounded deer and you put the final death to it in most states its yours. I would try to help the other hunter find there deer if possible and let them put the final shot in. quest
 
Rough situation, but you did the right thing, karma WILL eventually pay you back. Its a sad fact but nice guys really do finish last. Look on the bright side, now you know where a pretty hot basin is and you can go back next year and get a bigger one. In fact pm me the location and I will go do all of your scouting for you and let you know what is in there next year. Lol.
Keep your chin up, you will win eventually


I'll tell you who it was . . . it was that D@MN Sasquatch!
 
I don't think common sense is to not shoot a wounded deer. I would agree with what B_BOP did, put the deer down, but be ready to give it up if someone is tracking it. I would rather put one down for a guy then see him loose it and end up killing a different deer, ie killing 2 deer.
 
If the buck is mortally wounded and on a death walk its the person who shot first. Now if its a poor shoot then the animal belongs to who ever puts it down.
 
"In my eyes,first blood drawn is the owner of the animal(If the shooter is still tracking it & giving 'His All' trying to recover it)"

So a guy who makes a lousy shot which results in a flesh wound should get the deer that a hunter who makes a good shot on the animal finishes off? I don't think so. This is the type of mentality encourages people to shoot at anything they can, without regard to distance, or any of the other variables that a true sportsman should take into consideration.

The first shooter should not have taken that deer, in my opinion. If I finished one off that someone grazed across the chest, I bagged the animal. Period.
 
The law is pretty clear in most states as it is the one who puts the animal down, not the one who draws first blood.

It's a crappy deal all the way around. We had it happen this year on my son's bull hunt.
 
Well Bullelk1!
That's your oppinion/take & you're welcome to it!

Maybe someday you'll make a shot that ain't perfect & somebody will finish the animal off,Hell they might even give it to you!:D

Don't be so GREEDY,somebodies gotta give!

God is Great!
Life is Good!
And People are Crazy!
I love not acting my age,
Damn I love my NASCAR race,
And Hell yes I love my Truck!
 
If I make a nonfatal shot and they finish it off, its theirs.

You wouldn't call me greedy if you knew anything about me. I let other guys take far more animals than I do myself. At this point in my hunting career, its not about shooting the most or the biggest to me. I stll get my share.
 
I don't even bring a rifle with me on the general hunt in UT. Just an orange jogging suit and my running shoes. As soon as I see a forky hit the dirt I run over and tag it. I get my deer every year.

Dax
 
I feel your pain. We had a similar thing happen to me and my brothers years ago. Long story short, we hear shooting above us. Next thing we see is a 30 inch 3X4 on a dead run coming right into us. My bro put him down with a running shot through the heart. Turns out the guy above us burned the air off the flesh with a rump shot. Definately, not a mortal wound. There's a confrontation, a coin is flipped, and we walk away disgusted and angry. If we had it to do over again, there would have been no coin flipping.We would have tagged the buck. Now if you kill a mortally wounded buck than thats another story
 
Wait.....you guys are just joking right.......gun hunters dont wound enough animals with poor shots for this to even be an issue......right?
 
I appreciate all the different points of view. It still sucks to be sitting here with no meat in thr freezer, but thats hunting sometimes. I actually think i would have been happier with a coin flip even though if i lost i would still be walking away from an animal that wasn't mortally wounded that i killed. Makes it harder to swallow this year with all the possible changes and likley less opportunities next year. Thanks again for all the comments.
 
hobbes... You obviously haven't read the "My 30 incher" thread yet. Get out there and scare some deer with some over the head shots. It's the new hunting trend. We want these deer to be alittle more scared of us. It's all the rage now.
 
I've hunted long enough that I've been party to both give and take. Neither one is fun at all (unless I get a huge one LOL).

There is no hard and fast answer except for the law. "You kill it and it's yours". Since there is a bunch of grey area the individule hunter must look at his own compass and decide what to do.

Story time;
I cross-shot a bull elk with another hunter. We had no idea anyone else was around. After we arrived at the kill we spent 30 minutes arguing over why it belonged to the OTHER person. We actually BOTH tried to get the other to take it because we both felt the exact same way about the situation!
I ended up tagging it and he packed it out on his horse to his camp. When I stopped by to pick it up his wife had a HUGE meal fixed for me and I ate with them. I ended up giving him half the meat (took it to his son in town).

He's a sportsman in my book. Too bad he's the exception.

Zeke
 
It's too bad the other guy who ended up claiming the animal was not more honest with himself. The bottom line is that if the first shot is non-fatal, the buck should definitely go to the guy who kills it with a fatal shot. What's most amazing to me is that the guy even wanted the animal. I personally find no satisfaction in claiming an animal that is not 100% mine. He deserves the "half-trophy."
 
My $0.02..

If I made a non lethal hit on a animal, and some one put it down while I was tracking it, in my mind it would be his. the last thing I would want is a wounded animal wondering around that i could not find. You have to be honest with yourself, would my shot have killed the animal quickly, or would it have lingered on for a few days then died? It would be hard to claim an animal that someone else killed...
 
>There we go....Go King Soloman on
>the deer.....whip out a saw
>and start cutting the rack
>in half...see what happens...
>
>I also like the Zeke tennis
>shoe idea....
>
>-----------------------------------------------
>http://andymansavage.blogspot.com/


Don't blame that tennis shoe thing on me, unless it's to run from a hunting altercation. LOL

Best regards, Zeke
 
I had the same thing happen to me this year in southern Utah. Only I was the guy that wounded the buck first.
I am still sick about it. My shot was 560 yards, and I hit him to far back. He was walking, and I didn't give him enough lead. Anyway, I thought I had made a good shot but when I got to where he was standing there was only hair and a little blood.
I started tracking him, and was only going for about 10 minutes when I heard 2 shots just over the ridge from me. I was so mad!!! I knew someone had just shot my buck. There is not a more horrible feeling in the world!
When I got over the ridge 2 guys all ready had him cleaned and tagged, and were starting to drag him to their truck. It made me fell even worse when I got up to them and the buck was huge. About a 170ish size 4 point with big deep forks! Way bigger than anything I had ever killed.

I made a decision, and just went up to them and congratulated them on making a better shot than I did. I still hurts even today, but I feel like I made the right choice. They were very nice, and even let me take some pictures with the buck. So at least I have something to remember the experience.
 
Walking, 560 yard shot? How far is that lead? Not trying to start anything, but that is a long shot on a walking animal.
 
I knew I would get a response like this.
I felt very confident I could make the shot. I had an LE elk tag this year and had spent countless hours at the range with this gun. It is a Savage 300 mag. with a Vortex viper 6.5 X 20 scope. The scope also has a turret on it, and I had been making good shots as far as 850 yards. I know it is different when you are shooting at a moving target, but again I knew I could make it. The elevation on the shot was perfect. I just have bad luck, and the bullet didnt hit any bone or major artery.
 
I think you'd be better off working on stalking than practicing 850 yard shots. Go buy a camera and work on getting close to an animal.

Ive practiced up to 300 yards, but thats as far as I go. I wont take a shot at anything farther.
 
WOW! What's with all the hating! Haven't you guys ever heard of long range shooting?
If I would have killed him you guys would be on here praising me for an amazing shot, but because I missed (by only inches) you criticize me???
It is kind of like if a football coach goes for it on 4th down, and doesn't make it he is an idiot, but if he makes it he is a genius!
I just don't get it.
 
Nope, I wouldn't be praising you at all for a made long range shot. I am a die hard archery hunter, that occasionally hunts with a rifle. I believe the skill is in getting close. I have no admiration for long range shooters, except maybe the ones that shoot our enemies at long range. The long range shooting shows usually just piss me off. Shooting a gun is relatively easy, especially with the new scopes, and a little bit of windage/ballistic knowledge.

As far as you almost making the shot, your right stuff happens, but you probably didn't miss by inches because a shot into the ribcage would have made a dead deer. It is your personal ethics, I am not here to berate you, I wish you would have killed your biggest deer, however, if this thread makes you get into 200 yards next time and take the chip shot (and have a great time getting close) then that is the best I can hope for. If you want to shoot long range, then so be it. Have fun whatever you do.
 
Back to the original theme of the post, I am another of the first blood guys. Thats how it's been in our camp for longer than I've been hunting with the boys.

You hit a deer and you track it until you get it killed. I don't know what the guy in your situation was doing, but I would bet he was tracking the buck in the snow, following the blood. You ran into the buck as it was getting away from the other guy. More than likely if he was a decent tracker he would have eventually tracked it down and finished the job. If he wasn't the buck would have obviously lived since the shot was not that great. You helped him finish a job he started and had every intention of finishing. I say you did the right thing, even though it felt crappy to let him have it.

DeerBeDead
 
Ouch Dan, that hurt!! That was a low blow!!

You say, "I have no admiration for long range shooters"

Can you imagine the grief I would get if I said that about bow hunting! I am not a bow hunter, but I have enough respect to not bad mouth them.
This was NOT the bow hunt. There were hunters on about every ridge, and obviously just over the ridge from the deer. I did not have time to stalk to within 200 yards. If I did I would have!

If I was in the same situation again I would do the exact same thing. Sorry, I guess we are just going to have to agree to disagree.
I don't feel like I did anything wrong.
 
He must of been close to catching the deer if he was just a few minutes behind after a 4 1/2 hour tracking job.
It been first blood for us for many years.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
 
LAST EDITED ON Nov-05-10 AT 02:37PM (MST)[p]grizzmoose
Let me help.

"You kill it, you tag it. Anything else is party hunting. Right or wrong?"


That's the way the law reads. Correct.
A bunch of people talk about first blood etc but the fact is; The guy who kills the animal is SUPPOSED to be the one to tag it! ie; reduce to bag!

Zeke

My 2 cents; I don't want any part of it if someone else has hit it. If they want it, they can have it whether I shoot first or second.
 

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