FAIR ENOUGH!!!! Public opinion has weighed in and I (Founder) should not have shot at the big buck. From second #1 of the whole event I had said that deer shouldn't have been mine. The first person (I thought a younger kid) who shot should have killed it, but they didn't. They missed, as did the other fellow.

I should have just watched the excitement and let the deer bound off, but I didn't...probably couldn't at that point. Instinct took over and I shot. I really didn't set out to step of those guys toes....I really didn't. I hope they understand that. I honestly felt they were done....had lost sight of the deer while reloading and I guess from what they said, clearing a jam in one of the guns. I just didn't think they were going to get that deer and I shot. ????????????????

What more can I say?

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com

Deer is dead at your house DONE, This bit of drama over a deer. Oh no the founder did what BLA BLA BLA. Who cares.

Good shot glad you put him down. Now on to the next deer hunt. I hope you get a bigger one next hunt. I hope the ETHICS POLICE HAVE GONE HOME AND NEVER LOOK IN A MIRROR, BECAUSE THEY MIGHT JUST FIND WHAT IS LOOKING BACK IS NOT PERFECT EITHER.

Brian,

I do not think you were "wrong" to shoot the deer. The only "mistake" in my eyes was being so near the other hunters. Perhaps if you were 100 yards away we don't even have this discussion at all? There appears to be a comfort zone spacing we probably should give other hunters, fisherman, duck hunters etc.

I am sorry for you and the others. Just an unfortunate circumstance that turned a little ugly after the fact. It is very easy for all of us to say what we would do right now completely removed from all the excitement and rush of the situation. It appears that after shots were fired you did everything possible to determine who got first lethal blood. Good luck to you and the others in the future. Maybe we have all learned something from the discussion. Have a great day.

Chad

LAST EDITED ON Sep-20-08 AT 10:04 AM (MST)

don't yah hate it when that happens, i had a simular exp. while hunting two guys just emptied thier guns and when they were finished the buck was still running, I shot and droppped him by this time they had reloaded and even when the buck was clearly down they started shooting again, wierd & sucky feelin!

too many people in the woods these days!

I'm with SilentStalker on this one, no harm done in shooting at the Deer. It was just the proximity to the other guys that causes the drama. Having said that, I am 90% certain I would have done the same in you shoes. Never been there, but maybe we can all learn something from your experience.

Brian I am glad you locked the other thread. I was on the mountain and watched the whole thing go down. I am as my brother said the one that recocgnized you. So I am speaking for the rest of our party. We appreciate the fact that you would make the statement above. We really just wanted to make a point, and in turn I think we in some way formed a possie, not our intentions. A couple of things #1 I've never met you before but I am almost positive your not a bad guy just got cought up in the moment. #2 My buddy and brother (the two snipers) would like everyone to know the aren't really that bad of shots. #3 We don't have ear tags on any deer, nor have we ever thought that. #4 I think everyone that has read this has learned something and can take that to the hills, no mater whom yuo agree with.

Brian I made a comment about the Horse thing (Uncle Eddie) glad your O.K it was meant as a joke. Now I'm thinking I should have went with my first one. "To bad the horse didn't kick ya in the butt it would have knocked High wide and Handsom out" Again just a joke .

Hope the possie thins out I will continue to frequent MM if thats ok I think it great give us all kind of a chance to hunt 12 months a year. Once again appreciate the chance to voice our opnion, weve all made up now. Someone else post a big buck and we'll all brow beat the hell out of them j.k.. Wyatt

The buck is yours and you showed more patience/courtesy than a lot of guys would.......Great job on a great buck!

sarg7mm - I didn't lock the other thread, one of the moderators might have? I did unlock it. I don't mind people voicing their opinions about me.

I'm sure your buddy and brother shoot just fine. Everyone misses, heck you can ask any of my family or friends, I miss often. Everyone misses sometimes.

Really though, I didn't mean to step on any toes. I just thought your buddy and brother were done. I was sure they had both lost track of the deer while reloading or trying to clear that jam. When the deer appeared and stopped to offer what I thought would be the final "good" shot opportunity, I shot. I think he would have gotten away if I hadn't...???? If he had been wounded prior to me knocking him down, I would have gladly let you and Mr. Sanford decide who actually hit him first. We looked and found no blood prior to where he fell on my shot.

Good luck to your party. I'm sorry they didn't just kill him on the first shot.

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com

<<<Good luck to your party. I'm sorry they didn't just kill him on the first shot.>>>>

This has nothing to do with the mistake that occurred.

i stayed out of the other thred. i have been in hunters saftey this last 3 weeks for the fourth and last time. lol wife and 2 kids. i get that some dont understand the law. and it was broken. the guy that kills it tags it!!! its the law. we went over big time in class. laying down dying or standing running. no exception!!! party hunting even if you are not together. you should. now you have a damlemma. by law you should give up the buck. both get sited and go to coart. i didnt know doesnt cut it with the law. i lived this on both sides you see as well. i had shot a rag horn he piled up going over a litle knoll as i ran down to him lying under a tree another guy runs up and finnishes him.and tel me its his elk. claimed him and i was pissed!!! but i knew the law. first blood is how we were raised. mountain law. but state law states it differnt. you both have broken the law. how will you show up now? do the right thing as a ethical hunter? or teatch your boy and many who read the board in the community what kind of ambassitor you repressant? some dallemma. thanx for sharing your truth. ken

"i stayed out of the other thred. i have been in hunters saftey this last 3 weeks for the fourth and last time. lol wife and 2 kids. i get that some dont understand the law. and it was broken. the guy that kills it tags it!!! its the law. we went over big time in class. laying down dying or standing running. no exception!!! party hunting even if you are not together. you should. now you have a damlemma. by law you should give up the buck. both get sited and go to coart. i didnt know doesnt cut it with the law. i lived this on both sides you see as well. i had shot a rag horn he piled up going over a litle knoll as i ran down to him lying under a tree another guy runs up and finnishes him.and tel me its his elk. claimed him and i was pissed!!! but i knew the law. first blood is how we were raised. mountain law. but state law states it differnt. you both have broken the law. how will you show up now? do the right thing as a ethical hunter? or teatch your boy and many who read the board in the community what kind of ambassitor you repressant? some dallemma. thanx for sharing your truth. ken "

What law are you referring to? You are wrong. The person who is the first to mortally wound the animal is the one entitled to tag the animal. If the rag horn you shot was mortally wounded and the other person shot to finish him off you should have tagged him. That is the law. Do not misunderstand. It is not first blood. It is the person to mortally wond the animal that should tag it.

This experience along with my own personel experiences is exactly why I will NEVER rifle hunt in Utah again! I am assuming this happened on a rifle hunt, because as I remember the shot was 400 plus yards. If I'm wrong then I appologize, but my point still remains. Rifle hunting in this state is in a word; A-RIDICULOUS-FREAKING-JOKE! I'm 35 and I've never had what I thought was a fun and enjoyable hunting experience during rifle season. This is just one more reason to throw the rifle in the case forever and pick up my mathews. That's not to say these type of scenarios can't and don't happen during archery season, I'm sure they do. I've just never experienced it or read about it.

happend in wyoming.

mathewsman,

This whole scene took place in Wyoming not in your Utah.

Brian

This happens all the time and it doesn't matter if it's a rifle, muzzleloader or your precious archery!. Public land is public land no matter how far you hike or ride in end of story... I have seen guys spot and stock the same bull before, do we as hunters yell out and tell them to stop and decide who saw it first? Has anyone else even mentioned that FOUNDERS' son was there and that he could have lost his dad to an injury..I hear how so many of you get mad at some hunters for shooting fork horn bucks..and not letting them mature.. How do we know if that hunter is more interested in meat for the winter rather than an antler spread..The one thing that really pisses me off about some of you, is that you are so quick to judge other hunters...By the way nice buck, and if I would have shot and missed and SOMEONE else was able to get it...Congrats to you and do you need some help..Hunting is a privilidge everyone!

Brian just learned High wide and is your dad once again sorry about the joke above, man I'm a jackass, why do we have to use handles, cant we just use our real names by the way my name is Earl Tohmas Conely.

DON'T BULL$HIT US WYATT!!!

THIS IS MY NEW GUN,YOU MAY NOT LIKE IT,YOU'LL LIKE IT A HELL OF A LOT LESS WHEN IT HITS ITS DESTINATION!!!

THE ONLY bobcat THAT KNOWS ALOT OF YOU HAVE HAD THIS IMAGE IN YOUR PEA BRAIN BUT DUE TO POOR SHOOTING TACTICS I'M STILL KICKIN!!!

This is why I think this website is good.

hearing other hunters stories (good or bad) gives us a chance to think a scenario through before it happens to us. I am sorry this happened at all, but most importantly because there were young men involved.

We all need to be very conscious of our actions around our kids. They learn everything from us, good and bad.

nothing gets by you Bessy

Brian I think you did the right thing in shooting at the buck. Too many times bucks get wounded by poor shooting and go off to die. Once someone shoots at a deer you often can't tell if it has been hit or not. I think it is better for someone else to put it down if they can.

I couldn't even imagine shooting an animal out from under someone else, let alone do it with my son in tow. Pretty sad what hunting means to you. Its a trophy at any cost?

You were more worried about a deer getting away than you were about how your son and the other young man would have precieved the whole situation. Thats just sad.

We wouldn't even be discussing this situation if the first two guys could hit where they were aiming. I don't blame Brian one bit assummimg that he shot if a safe manner. Would the two original shooters be fussing over who shot what out from under each other?... probably. Geez... Last time I checked, you needed to actually kill a deer to put a claim or tag on it.

You had just as much right to shoot at that deer as everyone else did, You could of been standing right next to them and I wouldn't of seen any problem with it.
Just because your the founder of MM people hold you at a higher expectation then your every day JOE so thats not your fault. They shot they missed you shot you hit a couple of guys finished off the deer for you ect ect. I bet there wouldnt even be two posts to this thread if it had been a two point. Just my .02$

>We wouldn't even be discussing this
>situation if the first two
>guys could hit where they
>were aiming. I don't blame
>Brian one bit assummimg that
>he shot if a safe
>manner. Would the two original
>shooters be fussing over who
>shot what out from under
>each other?... probably. Geez... Last
>time I checked, you needed
>to actually kill a deer
>to put a claim or
>tag on it.

The guy who finally killed the deer didn't tag it? Did you miss that part?

By definition, the mortally wounding shot means the shot that killed it. If the deer was still alive, and the other guy shot it at 20-30 yards in the timber then the buck belongs to him.
Maybe that's just my thinking though.

For you to decide that the buck would have eventually died from your shot is wrong. An example is that gut shot deer will often cover a lot of ground after the shot. If someone sees that buck 1-2 miles away and kills it then the buck would belong to them. That buck was not killed by Founder's bullet. Sure looks to me like the law has been broken. Maybe if given enough time to die it would have been Founder's buck, but that's not what happened.

I think it takes a lot for Founder to leave the thread open and then make the statement that he has, but it seems that for hunters that are experienced there was a lot of things that went wrong up there and kept piling on top of each other. I think it was wrong of Founder to make a claim on the buck when someone else had just killed it.

LOL
There were pools of blood the size of soft balls down to where the deer held up in the pines a 100 yards down the hill. The other two guys and I went through all that. That deer was toast. Darrell finished the deer, but was first to admit it was pretty much done in that stand of pines.
LOL..Oh my, oh my, and these are the days of our lives.

I don't know why I'm still defending what happened? It's done, I probably should have let the deer go, but I didn't, I shot it.

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com

OK, I've let people rip into me on my own website. I can take it. In the end, we learned that some claim they also would have shot the buck as I did, more claim they would have let it go. I respect some of the opinions shared, whether they agreed with what I did or not. There is no doubt in my mind that there are people in this world that are closer to perfect than I. In the end, I regret a few things that happened in those few moments. Regard me as you wish.

I'm locking the thread now because I think about every opinion possible has been shared and I've got work to do and more big bucks to chase.

Sorry if someone didn't get their chance to take a stab at me, but I'm sure your thoughts were posted by someone else.

Brian Latturner
MonsterMuleys.com