hunter ethics

offhuntn

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Last saturday I went on a limited entry elk hunt up Nephi Pole canyon with one of my friends, he had the tag and when we got to the top he went down one ridge and I went down the other to spot for him. I sat down right at daylight and spotted a heard of elk a thousand yards away, I set up my spotting scope up and just as I had the focused on the bull another group of hunters sitting on a rock on Golden Ridge shot, shot again, finally he went down. I focused in again on where he went down and I could see him thrashing around. I kept looking at the hunters and they continued to sit on the rock for thirty minutes while the bull thrashed. The bull finally got to his feet and they shot, again down he went. He still layed there thrashing around. Ten minutes later they sent two people back to the horses, it took them another fifteen minutes to get back to the hunters. After another twenty five minutes they sent six of the group over to the bull while the shooter stayed at the rock. The whole time the elk was trying to get up and could not, he kept rolling down the hill. One of the "bravest" of the party tied up his horse and went down to where the elk was still thrashing threw a couple of broken limbs at the bull. He tried to get up but could not, he could only get up on his front legs and walk down the hill dragging his back legs. Again the super hunter shot and again he dropped. Still thrashing the little brave helper grabbed a limb that was as tall as him and started poking him. Unable to move, the little brave called for the hunter to come over and finish him off. He got onto his horse and made it over to where they tied up the other horses and tied up. Instead of going down to the elk and finishing him he made sure his gear was tied to the horse in a proper manner and then five minutes later he started walking down to the elk. I panned back down to where the elk was laying and witnessed the worst thing yet, the woman that was with them was taking pictures of the elk laying there still thrashing around. Finally the mighty hunter finished him off...what a relief. Anyway I hope someone who reads this knows the group and says something to them, there was five men, one young boy and a woman with them, I am glad they did not ride back my way because they would have gotten an ear full. Just a little fyi, the bull they killed was not the one we were after so I write this because I hope I never see any kind of unsportsman like conduct like that again the rest of my life.
 
I understand not finishing him off initially just because maybe they couldn't see everything that you could see and were trying to give him a little time to expire but there is no excuse for not finishing the job once one of their party went down the hill. It makes me sick to hear about the woman snapping pictures while the elk is still alive. That's not hunting with any kind of ethics that I have ever heard of. Sorry they got your bull, even more sorry that you had to see such a pathetic act.
 
I don't mind shooting them , but I don't like watching them suffer . I know a guy who wounded a buck then walked back to his truck to get his video camera so he could film him , I haven't hunted with him since . Some people have a serious lack of compassion .
 
as bad as that is, i want to ask a question, has every animal you have taken went down on the first shot?

if you say yes you are lieing
 
>as bad as that is, i
>want to ask a question,
>has every animal you have
>taken went down on the
>first shot?
>
>if you say yes you are
>lieing


Thats not the point here. The point is that they came upon the wounded animal and delayed finishing it off for what appears to be, quite some time.

I agree with the others that initially they might not have had a good angle to finish it... and knowing it was alive staying where they were incase it tried to get away from them. But once that other guy got down to it with his horse it should have been finished off.


-DallanC
 
I was always taught that once you know you hit an animal MAKE SURE IT IS DOWN FOR GOOD!! Be it taking a long shot again or a finishing shot up close. Personally I hate chasing a wounded animal. I did it once and never want to do it again!
 
is it legal for someone other than the tag holder to "kill" the animal ?? Being a LE area I would suspect only one tag in the group. I'm sure it looked bad and most likely could have been sped up but don't jump to a conclusion that they were all pigs. Did the path from where they shot to the downed animal have a view of the animal??? If it didn't, I would have stayed in the shooting position also til another of the party verified the animals condition.

JB

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."
--Benjamin Franklin 1759
 
It's illegal in Utah to finish off another hunters animal, especially in a LE. Guys like this are one of the main reasons that groups like PETA have a leg to stand on....show a video like that to an undecided American and theyll go anti faster than you can say "Bobcat for president '08".
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-20-05 AT 10:38PM (MST)[p]I get worried about the anti's even coming here and grabbing the story and using it as propaganda on their sites or otherwise. Sad days, but everything in print seems to get used by someone for personal gain/agendas.

How far was this shot? Hopefully it was at a significant distance, if not - the guy should spend a bit more time at the range with his rifle.
 
Just to clarify things, the origional shooter was the same one who finshed him off, I could only see one gun. No not every animal I have shot has died instantly but I have never stood over a sufering animal and snapped pictures. From where he shot there was a revene between him and the elk so he should have had a pretty good angle of the elk. There were not any trees between them. He was laying in a patch of brush that was only 1 to 2 feet tall, the elk was thrashing around and his head was above the brush. It looked like he was only about 200 to 250 yards from the elk.
 
You know though, actually after I break their spine, to finish them off I throw a few sticks at them as well, its' an old indian trick, that usually kills them on the spot, just scares the sh1t out of them.

Granted maybe after the first shot they could not see the elk, who knows. But to sit there and fart around for so long is uncalled for.
Not every elk I have shot has went down the first shot, however I get up there where I can at least see what the hell is going on and if needed another shot to the head to end their suffering.
Then I can eat them!!!!
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-21-05 AT 03:15PM (MST)[p]You know there are always going to be a lot of different opinions about situations such as this, but as we all know everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. The opinion that I disagree with mostly is that from Phantomlord. Not every animal you shoot is going to go down after one shot, but if you wound an animal you need to find it and finish the job as soon as possible! You don't screw around and throw sticks at it when you are well within distance of knowing that it is still suffering. And then to take pictures while the elk is still alive that is just ridiculous behavior. I can't believe that there are people out there that are so disrespectful. Not only to the animal but also to the other hunters that are around seeing things like this happen. I personally can't say about rifle hunting and watching an animal suffer because I have never rifle hunted, but regardless of what weapon you are using if an animal is wounded and isn't able to go anywhere you need to finish the job!!

Utbowhntr223
"LIVIN TO HUNT & HUNTIN TO LIVE"
 

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