your thoughts

[hale]

I need your thoughts about this and advice, we were out on thanksgiving and my buddy shoots a nice muley 4 poit, 23 inches wide an ok buck. He makes a real poor shot the first time and the thing ends up 3 miles down this draw in no mans land. We pursued him all morning and finally brought him down, knowing the area we would have been pressed to get him out that day so we dressed him out and covered him. At 7 am the next day we returned with ranch permission and drug him out. He let the deer hang for about 4 weeks, only cutting out some back strap and inside loin to eat. It froze real hard! About 2 days after x mas a warden came by he took the deer fined my friend 535 and took away his hunting rights for 2 years saying he wasted the animal. We argued it was frozen and the meat was fine but he said his hands were tied!!! should and how should we fight this.. The real kicker as that during the time it was hanging my friend was in the hospital and has to have surgery here in the next couple of weeks for dyfriticulitus(???) Hale

 

[NeMont]

What state do you live in? Was it hanging in plain sight for everyone to see?

A little more info. may help in giving you advice.
Nemont

 

[hale]

I live in Montana, and know the deer was in the rear of the house in a tree very hidden, they think maybe a meter reader called it in because they are the only ones who could have seen it

 

[heartshot]

Thats about 14 days longer than I would want to hang a deer. If the story is how you say it, if he really fights it I think they will let him off. I think that it would be hard for them to prove that the meat wasn't still good. Tell him not to let it go, thats bad on his record, let alone no hunting for 2 years.

 

[manny15]

That's a bunch of bull looking for revenue if you ask me, my butcher says you can hang a deer for 40 days in a locker let alone if it was frozen, and to top it off your friend was in the hospital.... two words "fight it"...this is a case of the miscarriage of justice if I ever heard one...period!

 

[hale]

thanks guys we is fighting it, I mean who can afford that fine plus hospital bills, and to top it all off now he lost that deer and the meat. My grandpa says that they used to hang deer for a long time in idaho and just cut off a steak at a time!

 

[Hawkk33]

I wouldnt have shot something I wasn't going to deal with ASAP. We are all grown ups here and we know that shooting a deer, elk or whatever means the work is about to begin and doesn't end until its gutted, skinnned, hung then cut and wrapped and if we can't get it done ourselves its taken to a butcher.

This guy around here had a cow elk hanging for a month or so was very disrepectful and offensive to hunters and other people to let that much meat go to waste.

 

[freedivr2]

If everybody in the world hunted, I'd still wonder why anyone would let a deer hang outside (freezing or not) for the general public to see. 90% of the general public (nationwide) are non-hunters and most I'm sure don't like to see a deer hanging from a tree in the first place, probably even worse seeing it hanging there for over a month.

Plus, that's not good (or normal) game care IMHO, to shoot a critter and then just let him hang for 40 days. Doesn't sound like anyone was interested in taking care of the meat or offending folks that don't hunt. That alone hurts our cause, tell that to your friend, would ya? We need to be considerate of others feelings, if for no other reason that they are the majority of people who go to the polls and vote in or out, new laws put up by the ecofreaks. So tell your buddy to quit whining, pay the fine, and hopefully learn a big lesson about respecting other's (non-hunters) feelings from all of it. I sure hope he didn't create another anti-hunter because of his actions. Later......

 

[30point]

I HAVE BEEN HUNTING FOR 35 PLUS YEARS AND I HANG MY DEER IN MY YARD AND DON'T GIVE A RAT'S ASS WHO SEE'S IT!

 

[2_Point]

I was buying cattle from a guy one time and he told me his secret for great deer. He would hang the deer in a root cellar for 3-5 weeks, depending on the Tempature, waiting for a nice green blue layer to form on the carcass. Then he would peel the meat off with large forks. Said it is very tender and has a great flavor. And he was not joking. A few years later I marry my wife and her dad, an educated well-off man, does the same thing. And no, I don't eat deer at his house.

 

[freedivr2]

30 Point........that's unfortunate that you don't understand that some youngsters (and adults) might be appalled by seeing a dead deer or elk hanging in a tree. I do give more than a rat's butt about it not only because I respect other's feelings (and hope for the same), but if for no other reason than this: I don't want those sensitive kids and folks to become more anti-hunting. It's stuff like this that turns their heads against us. We don't need any more of those and I'm not gunna be one to help make an anti-hunter. We need to positively promote this sport before we are a very small minority and lose it to the antis and ecofreaks.

BTW, that's more than just my opinion, it's what our Dept. of Fish and game promotes and has me teaching as a rule of the road in the Hunter Education classes.....hope you re-consider.

 

[30point]

NOPE. YOUR JUST CATERING TO THE ANTI'S. I AM NOT ASHAMED OF KILLING A DEER AND I'AM NOT GOING TO HIDE IT AFTER I SHOOT IT. YOUR ENTITLED TO YOUR OPINION AND I'AM ENTITLED TO MINE.

 

[nvhunter]

30point..you sound alot like our own Bobcat. Yes your entitled to your opinion, but people like freedivr2 are right, you feed the fire when you don't care how or if someone sees your dead deer hanging. It maybe ok to hang them in camp, but it does give the antis ammo. I don't mind someone seeing that i have harvested a deer and usually even have the head/horns where people can see them...although usually because i don't have room in the truck to stash them out of sight. But i am also keenly aware that some people take offense to it and know that it really does us hunters no good when someone objects to it.
Where i live it's not too bad, don't run into any antis and people usually like to see someones harvest. But if i lived in the big city i would be alot more aware of what i was displaying in the open for everyone to see.
That's just my opinion...of which i am entitled to.

 

[30point]

MAYBE YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT AN ANTI IS. THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KILL THE DEER.YOU CAN HANG IT IN YOUR HOUSE, THEY STILL HATE YOU. AS FAR AS OFFENDING SOME ONE BY THEM SEEING MY DEER HANGING, I DON'T BUY THAT. NONHUNTER'S KNOW HUNTER'S KILL DEER, IF THEIR GOING TO BE OFFENDED THAT'S WHAT THEIR OFFENDED BY NOT WHERE YOU HANG IT.

 

[jbone]

Well, I must agree with 30point. More people need to know that we hunt and are damn proud of it. However, personally, I would not let an animal sit outside for 4 weeks. I think the game warden was justified. If you take the time to kill it, you should be taking the time to getting it processed. I will also say that sometimes things happen that could preclude this from happenning, but this is few and far between.



JBone

 

[littlebuck]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-20-04 AT 09:51PM (MST)[p]Thats the spirit 30point! I got a deer on the muz. hunt. I hung it in the front yard to skin it. I will keep doing it as long as this Great USA remains free! However I took my buck to the meat cutter the same day. It was very hot.

 

[freedivr2]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-20-04 AT 10:38PM (MST)[p]I'm real sorry guys, but you missed the point I was trying to make here. I'm gunna try one more time, if this don't make the point, then I'm done.

Maybe where some of you guys live, hangin a deer is no big deal at all to your neighbors, in fact, I'm sure in some neighborhoods it's cause for some celebration by the majority of neighbors. All I can say is "lucky you". I live in "the big city", in fact, Redondo Beach, Calif. If I hung a deer in my front yard with all the liberals around here, I guarantee you some would freak out. Guaranteed. Like most hunters, I'm a fish outta water out here. We HAVE to be more careful because the vast majority of people do not hunt. You don't know what outnumbered is unless you live out here, I'll tell ya that. Didn't always used to be that way either, but it is today.

30Point, you're absolutely right when you said that anti hunters don't want us killin deer. AND there is NO WAY we will ever change the mind of an anti hunter, even though game management and biological facts are on our side. So I could care less if they were the ONLY people who saw me hangin my deer, but that's NOT the case. Fact is that only 10% of the overall population hunts, only 10% are antihunters, but the biggest part of our population, 80%, generally don't mind hunting, and can be swayed one way or another on it BY OUR ACTIONS ALONE. THESE are the people we don't want to offend. These are the people that are the majority of votes (on gun or anti-hunting ballot initiatives, etc.). These are the folks that we can sour or sweeten to our cause via our own actions. I choose to sweeten and to promote my passion with dignity. I have no intention of offending people who can vote yea or nay on the sport I love.

I can't tell an anti from a neutral person by lookin at em. So I have to assume statistically that the majority of people I see or meet are in the 80% "on the fence" category. I do NOT want to turn any of these people into an anti by actions that might be offensive to them. You don't buy what? You don't buy the fact that some of these people might sour on hunting by seeing bambi upside down with a pool of blood on the deck? Some would, some wouldn't, that's for sure.

Because of all this, when I stop at a store wearing camo (going to or from a hunt), it's obvious I'm a hunter. So I go out of my way to say hello, smile, open a door for someone. The image I want to impress in their mind is not one of a "slob" hunter or a "redneck", the stereotype images the liberal press and media throw at them, but just the opposite. And, even if I didn't have ulterior motives, I would still choose to conduct myself with respect toward others feelings, and not flaunt my kill to people I do not know, even as proud of it as I might be. Know this; it sure won't be me anyone could point to if we or our kids or their kids ever lose our rights to hunt because the antis just simply became the overwhelming majority. Anyway, I dunno if any of this makes any sense to you guys living in rural areas, but I hope it clicks a light on with someone who might not considered these simple facts.

 

[Deerlove]

Freediver I agree with you, there are a lot of fence sitters when it comes to their thoughts about us hunters. Hanging a deer in your yard for a month is NOT (imo) the way to get them to side with us. Russ

 

[30point]

FREEDIVER; YOU BEING FROM CA EXPLAINS A LOT. BUT IN MY OPINION YOU ARE STILL GIVING UP ONE OF YOUR RIGHTS AS A HUNTER BY NOT HANGING YOUR DEER IN YOUR OWN YARD TO LET IT BLEED AND AGE, IF WEATHER PERMITS( I DON'T DO IT TO FLAUNT IT). THIS IS A NATURAL PART OF HUNTING, IS PERFECTLY LEGAL AND YOUR GIVING IN TO THE ANTI'S AND GIVING THEM AMMUNITION, NOT ME. THIS MAY BE A LITTLE FAR FETCHED, BUT IN GERMANY DURING HITLER'S REIGN THE JEWS THOUGHT IF THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO DRAW ATTENTION TO THEMSELVES AND AVOID CONFRONTATION, HITLER WOULD LEAVE THEM ALONE. WE KNOW HOW THIS WORKED OUT. AS FOR THE FENCE SITTERS IN GERMANY THEY SHOULD HAVE TAKEN A STAND. THE MAIN REASON THOUGH THAT I RESPONDED TO THIS THREAD IS YOU TELLING A HUNTER YOUR WAY OF THINKING IS RIGHT AND HIS IS WRONG. YOU HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO YOUR OPINION BUT YOUR WORD ISNT'T GOSPEL. BY THE WAY, I AM FROM MISSOURI, EVERY BODY HERE HUNTS, OR SO IT SEEMS. SO STAND UP FOR OUR RIGHTS OUT THERE IN CA, DONT'T GIVE UP A SINGLE ONE!

 

[hale]

for all your info, My friend met with the judge and he said that the warden did not follow some policy and let my friend get an opinion of weather the deer was bad.. Point taken on the hanging of the animal, I think you do have some good opinions. California is a hot bed for anti hunters, maybe thats the reason that the poor jogger got atacked by the lion. I think that the real root of this issue is that the deer was hidden from public view! The person that turned in the deer was a meter reader in his back yard! i believe that the warden could have mentioned to him that the deer could have caused people to be offended, but then again people are offfened about every thing these days so i am of the mind that if what I do is with in the law then sorry you can be mad! I believe that the case is different from Montana to California, and I am sorry for you. the judge threw the case out and My friend only lost the meat, and the trophy but hopefully he will get those back too. Whining was not what he was doing, just standing up for his rights and obviously there are some who agree.