how do you feel?

[justr_86]

I have heard alot lately about people wounding animals and never recovering them. Not neccisarily on here. How do you feel about that when they keep hunting and keep wounding animals. How many is too many? I was always taught you wound and lose an animal thats the end of your hunt. If you wounded one you could hunt that animal and that animal only. I just wanted to get your feelings on this topic. If people would practice it more how much would it benefit the herd and how often does it happen theres always a few stories about it every year. Sorry if it has been discussed before.

 

[bobcatbess]

THIS TOPIC HAS BEEN BEAT TO DEATH!!!

IT PISSES ME OF!!!

I DON'T LIKE IT!!!

1 IS TOO MANY!!!

IT WILL HAPPEN TO ALL OF US SOONER OR LATER NO MATTER THE WEAPON!!!

AND YES ALOT OF IT HAPPENS BECAUSE WE HAVE WAY TOO MANY UN-ETHICAL TARDS!!!

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!!!

 

[justr_86]

OK I guess next question would be is how would you prosecute people doing this. That is breaking a few laws especially if they shoot another animal.

 

[bobcatbess]

I DON'T KNOW THAT YOU COULD ENFORCE IT!!!

KINDA LIKE THE ASSHOLES DESTROYING PUBLIC GROUND ON THEIR ATV'S!!!

LAW SAYS THEY CAN'T DO IT!!!

FOREST SERVICE SITS BACK WANTING MORE LAWS & THEY CAN'T ENFORCE THE LAWS THEY ALREADY HAVE!!!

IT'S A LOSE-LOSE SITUATION!!!

IF ONES OWN ETHICS DOESN'T DO THE RIGHT THING WE ARE SCREWED!!!

THAT BEING SAID WE ARE SCREWED FOR THE MOST PART!!!



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!!!

 

[justr_86]

ya pretty much

 

[bobcatbess]

justr!!!

I HOPE YOU DON'T THINK I'M BEING NEGATIVE!!!

I'VE JUST SEEN TOO MUCH BULL$HIT HAPPEN OVER THE YEARS BY JACK-ASSES THAT DON'T CARE!!!

THEY HAVE NO RESPECT FOR WHAT GOD GAVE US!!!

I SAY WE TRY & TAKE CARE OF IT!!!

ITS TOUGH DUTY!!!

WE'RE OUT NUMBERED!!!

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!!!

 

[sageadvice]

Bess, those are strong words...and well said!! +1

Joey

 

[bobcatbess]

HEY sage!!!

JUST POSTING THE TRUTH!!!

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!!!

 

[justr_86]

That ya pretty much was agreeing with you bobcat. I appreciate the feedback I just was trying to see if anything could be done.

 

[bobcatbess]

I WISH THERE WAS SOME WAY OF ENFORCING IT BUT I DON'T KNOW YOU'D DO IT???



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!!!

 

[wyomule]

Ive seen happen many times. A couple years ago I was packing out my elk and I guy told me he just took a shot at a bull but he was sure he missed it. He told me all about it and pointed out where the bull was and where it went. I had two more quarters to get so I was unable to take a look that day, but the next day I walked across the canyon which was a long hard hike so that is why he did not go over. About 20 yards in the pines was a dead rag horn (spike only unit) No idea who that guys was or where he was camped. Called it in and gave a description. Don?t know if they did anything but the carcass and head was there the next year.
I think we need to have an ID number in big enough numbers that you can see it with binoculars that we have to wear during the hunts. That way we can turn the number in and they can track down who it was. Really I don't know what you would do but I think if I would have try to find out who that guy was it might have helped. Paying attention to your surroundings and most of all being a good role model for not only your kids but your piers goes a long way.

 

[Packout]

"Hit One, You're Done." That should be the law. The pie is limited and every wounded animal is a wasted piece.

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www.sagebasin.com
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[ARCHERYBUG]

BESS and Packout have the answers !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[slamdunk]

#1 with packout!
(this is how it is in the guiding/outfitting world for the most part)

Enforcing that is another issue.

 

[thebroker]

well i guess its time for me to chime in and piss some more folks off..... First are you seriouse, game will be wounded thats just the fact and the nature of the hunt I dont condone it nor do i like it but it will happen just like someone will always be speeding down the freeway ... to say one and your done is prety harsh, and there is no way to enforce it, it is again a personal choice to do what is right and ethical in the woods . I believe alot of game survives the wounds especialy Archery , how many of us have killed a bull or cow with rifle and dug an old broad head out of it . as well I believe they survive many rifle shots and if not the predators get them thus the circle of life . i believe a lot of bow hunters would be home very early if they hit one back or in a shoulder that did not penetrate .I bow hunted once (hard time going to full draw out the window so gave it up) any way the game is mananged and managed well in utah . i am sure there is a percentage of game that is not killed and taken in every area thus under the alloted kill quota allowing a percentage for lost game and still be within management objectives ...Wounded game is a pet peave of mine i see to much of it just as all of you i am sure . use the correct weapon system train train train not only in shooting but as well as the retreival of a wounded animal i would like to see some educational vidios produced on it as well as it included in hunter education. but to say to your son or daughter after you have searched and searched climed every mountain swam every river expended all efforts . sorry your hunt is done for the year is in my opinion not fair to them and really defeats the planned management objectives . I am sure i will here from the Hollyer than holly how they wounded one and called it a year. but i think for the most part except for the few bad apples out there most hunters to a fantastic job of trying to find there animals and if the dont they most allways drop the next one right in there tracks

 

[slamdunk]

Well here's a sick story for ya, and one that is all too common, but what do ya do??

My neighbor returned hom from the archery opener last weekend, took out his two teenage boys.

His boys saw me outside working in the yard, came over to share their stories with me that transpired in only two days of hunting.

The oldest boy, 17 was bragging and laughing how he hit and lost 3....yes THREE deer!! Couldn't understand how he was hitting them so badly, he's been shooting all summer!

Then the younger one was bragging that he "only lost TWO", "he wasn't as wasteful"......WTF?????

5 deer stuck and lost, i'd bet my 401K that at least 3 of those will die.

To think this was just ONE camp out of how many??????

I'm not dogging on archery hunters here, i myself lost two spike bulls with a rifle in one year long long ago, i realize it happens....but it's a damn scary statistic!!

 

[Coyote_chaser]

I know archers hit and wound deer, I myself lost a spike 2 years ago in Spanish Fork canyon. I dont know if I really agree with the "one and done" philosophy though. I do hate what Slam said though, when people go around and tell everyone about the deer that were hit and lost. I was sick to my stomach when I could not find the bull I hit, and I did not go around and tell everyone that would listen. Its gonna happen.

 

[slamdunk]

Coyotechaser (i love that name BTW!)

I beleive the "braggers" are just juveniles claiming SOME kind of "success".

None the less, it doesn't change what happens, and it's an all true common story.

I lost a big buck once in the Henry's while bowhunting a long long time ago when it was just an open area, my guts STILL churn thinking about it.
I'm confident we could have found him the next morning, had that damn monsoon not come in over night and washed away the blood trail and tracks, but it still makes me sick.

 

[BrowningRage]

No way to enforce this type of crime. Prevention is the only option I see. Ethics courses in hunter's safety I guess. We learn from those around us, fathers and such. I can't see a way to FORCE someone to "fill" their tag having hit a deer with any weapon. And what about non-lethal hits? I missed a buck last year right over his back, when I got my arrow, there were 3 hairs in my fletching and no blood on my blades... The deer was obviously fine, I just grazed him... Who can verify any of that anyway..? LOL
Its an impossible law, but not an impossible hope.

 

[justr_86]

I guess all it boils down to again Big surprise are you ready for it???????



stupid People, That think its a status symbol if you can make it back to town with an animal every year no matter what you had to do to get it.

 

[Coyote_chaser]

Slam your right its gonna happen, but alot of the problems we have just come because there are always gonna be losers that do what we love to do, which is hunt. The same guys who ignore shed laws, ignore closed roads, take longer shots than their ability should allow and ignore the basic values that the majority of us do without thinking. At some point you would think someones conscience would come into play, I mean I could not just keep shooting deer after deer without feeling some sort of remorse. Or blowing past a closed road just to beat someone to a spot, or mob my wheeler through the sage to find sheds.

 

[slamdunk]

EXCELLENT post Coyote!! ;-)

 

[mossback50cal]

Laat year I shot a nice 4x4 mule deer in New Mexico with my bow at thirty yards. I waited fourty five minutes, as it looked like a good hit. I recovered my arrow, which was soaked in pink blood with bubbles on it. I started tracking, with little blood the first ten to twenty yards. After that the blood was covering the ground on both sides of the tracks and sprayed on the brush. A definite double lung hit. I tracked the animal a good half mile with that much blood, as it was all downhill at a pretty steep angle. The deer never bedded, and never stopped. After a long while the blood started thinning out, and I just KNEW the deer would be somewhere around, as I thought he was running out of blood. Well after another quarter mile or so, the blood ran out. I tried as best I could to follow the tracks but there were so many tracks in the area I couldn't stay on which ones were his. So my dad and I set up quadrants and searched for the rest of the day and all of the next with no luck. Every day after that we returned to the area hoping to find something for a week. But never found any signs, no crows, nothing. After the week, I had three days left of the season, so I went back hunting. My whole point is, I believe that if you put in the work to try and find the animal but don't, then thats all you can do. I just don't like when people don't bother to look for the animal. They should be taught a lesson on ethics, as the animal deserves us to give it our everything to find it when we wound or kill it.

 

[thebroker]

i agree with you. you did your best most dont. i have lived this story over the years and there is nothing worse not a worse feeling... but i believe it dont end it for us for the year like i said in my post these are taking into consideration on the planned management objectives

and besides coyotes gotta eat

 

[justr_86]

I like the idea of do everything you possibly can to find it. If you cant after you have exhausted every resource then I think it would be ok to try for another deer/elk. But its like you say not everyone does that. Ya theres not a way to make people quit doing it because everyone is always right and your never going to change that.

 

[sageadvice]

Hit One and you're Done! i'd support that idea in my state or whichever state that i bought a tag to hunt in. It would be very tough to enforce though, many would simply say nothing or lie to themselves.

I really hate to chap on bowhunters, fact is i won't. Probably, the very best and hardest hunters i know use a bow above other means of taking game. My hunting partner never ceases to amaize me with the nice Elk and great muley's he takes on public ground, easy to draw or over the counter areas. On the other hand though, there are many that show up around here that have no business at all, hunting deer or anything with a bow.

I'd venture to say that in years past when this area of North Eastern Kali had deer by the hundreds, might be as low as half of the deer hit were recovered. There were so many bucks some would shoot at a buck and if they didn't see it fall, they'd just drive up the road a hundred yds or so and shoot at another. The stories i've heard!! "Did you get your buck?", "No but i hit a couple, couldn't find them" I heard this over and over!

I used to love to bowhunt back in the late 60's thru mid 70's. I'm color blind, don't see blood well at all. That, and the fact that i never practiced enough to be a good shot on game, didn't have any sights, recurve, crappy arrows,... loved the hunting but, i gave it up, it wasn't fair to the animal. He deserved better! Hit one and you're done. In this day and age, Great idea!

Joey

 

[Packout]

The "Hit One, You're Done" idea would be very difficult to enforce and of course not everyone would follow it. That is no different than many of the Wildlife Harrassment or other laws we have on the books. BUT, many people would take pause and think about it. That is all laws really accomplish, make the average hunter think twice about their actions. It takes a long time to change mindsets, such as party hunting, but it is worth the effort.

This probably won't come to pass, but it sure sounds nice.

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www.sagebasin.com
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[eelgrass]

If everyone would adopt the "hit one, you're done" idea, it would make us all better hunters and better shots.

A lot of "hunters" could not care less about the over all health of the animals they hunt. A sorry fact of life, I guess.

Eel

 

[Gator]

Hit one and you're done would have to be started at a young age and thru something like hunters safety for it to take-off.
Good idea if you can stick to it.

 

[ORsouthpaw]

I shot and lost a lead cow a couple years ago. I looked for blood for 30 minutes and saw none. Even though I recovered my arrow which had shown that penetrated only 8-10 inches acording to the blood and hair. Being inexperienced at tracking and knowing it I backed out went to camp and came back with 4 other hunting partners then we proceeded to search for several more hours until a down pour crushed my hopes. I went back the next day and searched from day break til around noon. We had to head back home 6 hours away. I punched my tag when I left as my season was done.

Now, looking back I feel good about my efforts even though at the time I thought about giving up archery hunting all together. I have come to realize it is part of the game and if a person hunts long enough it's very real possibilty that it will happen. If that had happened to me on the 1st day of our 8 day hunt instead of the 2nd to last day then I'm not sure if I would have punched my tag or not. Maybe I would have, but should I? If every effort was made by myself and with the aid of 4 other hunters we couldn't recovery her within a day or two she was either dead and unedible or she had managed to survive. I have come to the conclusion that I would in fact continued hunting. Not because I am oblivious to the fact that I have caused suffering but because this is a part of life in the woods. This in not the correct answer for everyone as each hunter must come to grips with errors made. My only issue with someone doing this would be if they showed a blantant disregard for what they had done by not putting forth a reasonable effort to recovery or simply bragging about how many animals they had shot at.

 

[Avsman]

Even golfers get muligans, I say one and still able to hunt two and your done. and its really pertty easy to enforce, sooner or later they will tell someone what they did by wounding 3 in one year then its just that persons job to turn em in. My .02

 

[mtmuley]

Hit one and you are done is a great idea. But, it would obviously be a self imposed rule. I actually have done it. (Lost a bull in 2003, Bad deal. Looked hard for a long time) How many hunters could adhere to a self governed regulation? I have friends that bowhunt that punch their tags after a hit and non-recovery. I don't think there are enough ethical and honest people out there that would make an effort. mtmuley

 

[rifle666]

one and done. in a perfect world yes, i agree 100%
but shlit happens, and anything can happen.
with any weapon < bow hunters get a bad rap> and that pisses me off,
i really love the guys on the rifle hunt, joe hunter and his 14 kids see a buck 700 yards away. and the 15 of them empy their rifles, the buck appears to run off, so they load up and drive away.

but all hunters are guilty, just this year on a LE hunt i talked to a guy that admitted to hitting 2. he was activly looking for one of them, but just because he knew it was a PY buck.

this is a subject with no end though, only as sportsman can we teach and educate ourselves and our children.

to brag a little, i have been lucky, i have never hit any big game animal without finding it. i feel very proud of that, but trust me that fact has a lot of luck in it.

one and done should be taught in hunter safety.

I live life one mule deer at a time.

 

[Huntnfever]

it comes down to hunters ethics...i myself have had this happen on a rifle hunt lost a spike...followed his blood trail 5 plus miles...just ended up getting smaller and smaller...i was done didnt hunt for another elk that year... I agree if u hear someone bragging about 3 plus hits and his brother 2 hits..and no animal something is wrong. But i do agree with if you do everything you can and then some and still no animal, you shouldnt be done for the season. But if you are just too lazy or unethical to do the right thing..one and you should be done for good. If one person wounds 3 deer a year for lets say 20 years thats 60 deer lost, 60 elk, and he has 4 kids and he teaches the same to them....that is 240 animals lost from one person...and it just continues.....anti hunters arent a hunters worst enemy, hunters are your own worst enemy... You will hear about 1 bad thing someone does for hunting for 20 good things that is done by sportsmen

has anyone seen my kittie

 

[nickman]

These stories are endless.

In '83, after 5 straight years of successful bowhunting, I made a shot on my best deer, rifle or bow. I was sure it was a great shot....22yards broadside.

We tracked blood all day and even went to town and get headlamps and tracked all night. Finally found it the next afternoon....crows. It had traveled 2.5 miles, bleeding good the whole way.

Coyotes had it pretty much trashed by then. We made jerkey out of what we could. It was the last time I bowhunted. I was sick.

I had a guy looking at a tule elk, on the edge of a huge, swampy river bottom. It was a trophy in anyone's book. He wanted to shoot it at 800 yards. There was no way to get into a better position that would prevent it from getting to the swamp.

I said, fine, it's your tag, but when you wound it and it gets into that swamp, we aren't going back to town until that bull is in the truck.

He passed on it and took a much smaller bull later that day. I don't know what he would have done had I not pressed the recovery issue.

We find dead deer and elk all season long. Arrows, bullets, whatever.

Just this past week, a very nice 7x7 bull was found that someone did not follow properly. It was on pretty flat,open ground and I saw no reason it should not have been recovered.

If you ain't prepared mentally to recover that animal.....don't shoot it.

I PERSONNALY believe that if you hit one you are done. That's just how we were raised.

On the other hand, I understand that a person has the right to tag an animal, so if you made the effort and failed, try again. I don't walk in your shoes.

 

[bhunter]

I am of the mind if you shoot and lose it your done. I have had that happen we found the bull that I shot at 22 yards but had the unexplained happened in the sun light I caught twig with a fletch and caused the arrow to dive a little bit and hit too far back the next day and it was not pretty. I hate it when I hear I stuck it but it got away. Some people seem to say oh it's coyote bait, that really bugs me. It doesn't matter if it is rifle or bow I have seen plenty of 3 legged day after rifle season so it can happen with a bow and rifle.

If there is any proof of a man in a hunt it is not whether he killed a deer or elk but how he hunted it.