Two shooter and one deer

[popshooting445]

I have hunted in public land were there are lots of hunters and i can help to wonder. If I shoot a deer that keeps running and then is shot by someone else, whose deer is it?
Is there a rule of thumb?

Another Ethics question

[buck460XVR]

Here's a good read from another forum recently on the subject.


https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...e-deer.858638/

[603Country]

Back in Louisiana, when I was a kid and deer were driven with dogs, the meat was usually shared among the hunters that shot at it.

[Lohman446]

So I get to have a successful hunt without cleaning, dragging, or processing the animal? Sounds like a tremendous win for me

I'm deferring to the other hunter. If he or she wants it chances are they need it worse than I do and I don't really care. Then again I hunt private property at my house so anyone in this situation is my neighbor I have to live with the rest of the year

[Pahoo]

Is there a rule of thumb?

I have only had this happen to me once. I knew the hunter and we had a "friendly" conversation. I even helped him drag it out. Don't get me wrong; I know I shot him first but perhaps I didn't deliver the fatal shot. I have never shot a deer that was worth the confrontation. This was on private land and did report it to the landowner and kept it positive. …..

I have never understood the mentality of a poacher. ….

Be Safe !!!

[dahermit]

Originally Posted by popshooting445

I have hunted in public land were there are lots of hunters and i can help to wonder. If I shoot a deer that keeps running and then is shot by someone else, whose deer is it?
Is there a rule of thumb?

Another Ethics question

In Michigan it has nothing to do with "ethics". The law has always been (in my lifetime, may have changed), that the deer belongs to the "...person who has killed it...", which I interpret to mean the last and "killing shot". I have no idea what the rules are in other states.

As I remember, the DNR booklet/instructions stated that the person who killed the deer was the only person who could legally tag it.

[44 AMP]

Don't know if its covered in actual law, where (and when) I grew up, the person that put the deer down got to tag it. That was the established custom.

I also know people who will drop an obviously wounded deer, just to finish it humanely, and let the original shooter claim it when they catch up.

NO matter if you feel in the right or not, if the other hunter demands claim, let them have it. No game animal is worth an argument.

[bamaranger]

I lost the first deer (a doe) I ever shot at to another "hunter" because the deer was still on its feet (he said) and he shot it (again). I was just a kid, 13-14, it would have been my first deer. Granted, had I shot a little better, the deer shouldn't have gotten out of sight, but to this day, I believe my hit was fatal and that guy simply shot it again for effect. It may well have been down already. Oddly enough, my sister, also a kid, same age, lost her first animal as well to a similar situation, from the same stand no less, just a few seasons later.

This all occurred in a state (not 'bama) and area with tremendous hunting pressure on what was essentially open land. Guys with orange hats were everywhere,and the opening 2 hrs or so of buck or doe season usually sounded like WW-III. It's all we knew, and all we had. The accepted practice was who ever shot it last, or put the animal down, claimed the deer. I decided right then, still a kid with no deer to my credit, that I didn't want anything to do with a deer that had a hole in it from another hunter. I wouldn't let a deer rot that I had dropped that had been shot previously, but if somebody showed up tracking, they could have it. I also determined that I would be darn certain of my shot the next time.

[old roper]

Here in Co if you killed wounded deer/elk shot by someone else and gave him/her dead deer or elk it would be considered party hunting, which is against the law.

Here you have to sign tag immediately upon kill.

[jmr40]

If the animal is still on it's feet and shows no signs of being wounded I'm going with the person who fired the shot that put it down. If the animal is obviously wounded and not going far I'd finish it off, but if the person who initially hit it could be located I'd give the animal to them.

That's how I'd roll. But if I shot an animal that was obviously wounded and dying and someone else finished it off, and they didn't want to play by those rules I'd not start a fight over it.

[Wyosmith]

I have done that 2 times.
Once about 40 years ago a big buck mule deer came through the trees with a gut wound and one leg shot and broken. I killed it with my 270 at about 20 yards. I back-tracked it about 300 yards and saw 2 hunters who were obviously looking for it's trail. I fired my handgun to get them to look up the hill at me. I waived them over and took them to the deer. They were very thankful. A dad and a young lad who was very sad he's made a bad shot, and thought he'd lost his 1st deer. Both were happy to get that deer and I made a young lad happy.

The other was an elk that also had a broken dangling leg. It was about 25 years ago now. It was a raghorn bull down a steep draw from me, at about 300-350 yards. I heard the shooting and laid down hoping maybe a heard would run past me in the draw below. But only the one elk came through. I shot it dead, again with a 270, and waited only about 5 minutes before the hunter came into the draw. I thought I'd wait 10-15 minutes and see if anyone came after it. If not I intended to tag it myself.
Well the hunter was trying to recover it so I waived my orange scarf at him and he waived back when he saw me. I then pointed down the draw to him a few times until he understood I was showing him where the bull was. He got about 100 yards from it and saw it dead. I waived to him again and he waived back with obvious appreciation. I went on my way and kept hunting, but didn't go down to the elk. I didn't get to talk to him, but by his smile which I could see through my binos, I know he was glad I had helped him out.
We will all have a better set of memories if we help each other instead of competing against each other.

[Ben Dover]

[QUOTE=Wyosmith;6759614] I didn't get to talk to him, but by his smile which I could see through my binos, I know he was glad I had helped him out.
We will all have a better set of memories if we help each other instead of competing against each other.[/QUOTE]

Amen to that! I've helped other hunters several times, and been helped as well.

[taylorce1]

Two people with loaded guns and one deer, isn't a fight worth getting into IMO.

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

I had to deal with that issue more than once. I deemed it necessary once to shot another hunters deer quite a few years back in time.. The prior shooter not all that far away walked up and glanced at his bloody prize then turned and walked away. After witnessing that poor behaviour. A 1/2 hour later I forced myself to field dress and Tag it. Big Doe it was so poorly shot by the other fellow as my shot to end its life was to the back of the animals head. It crossed my mind to just leave it for the birds too. But now thinking about? I'm glad I didn't.

Last occurrence.
I walked up to a 20 something year old fellow hunter turning my deer on its back. {I followed its blood trail on snow about a 3/4s of a city block length} Upon my inspection. There was only one wound to which the young fellow said there should be two. As we talked. I offered to field dress the prize {big body spike buck} and said smiling if there is a second wound He'll get the deer and a free gut job to boot. Only one wound low in the ribs behind the front leg found nicked the animals liver. But the ballistic tips I shot always garner the animals passing not all that far away.
The surprised and disappointed young fellow eventually told me to Tag the disputed deer. As I unfolded my deer license. The young fellow in light conversation told me he hasn't seen a deer in 2 years and he had a family waiting to see his success of being skunked again that last Sunday of deer season.
I looked at him for a moment~~ winked and with a smile I turned too walk back to my Stand. I quietly said loud enough for him to hear "Happy Thanksgiving to you and family"
These types of occurrences do happen and are resolved by both individuals calmness and integrity afield.

[FrankenMauser]

I know a few people that have dealt with the situation.
Generally, a polite conversation results in one person graciously agreeing to keep hunting, while the other tags the animal.

I've never had to do it, but one of my brothers has put down a few wounded deer, and possibly an elk(?), and locate the hunter(s) responsible for the animal.

Though where we hunt now, we'd have to be more careful about considering such. It's technically illegal to leave the site of the kill without tagging the animal, and the area is much more popular now. The law doesn't always care whether your intentions were pure...

[stinkeypete]

times have changed in Wisconsin and not all for the better, of course. It used to be that if you were on the blood trail of your deer it was etiquette that you could follow it on to private or posted land to finish or recover. Not anymore.

Leaving a blood trail to hike miles to ask permission of a land owner reduces the chance of finding your animal. Then again, my area is so overpopulated with deer in some areas that... I dunno...

[Pahoo]

times have changed in Wisconsin and not all for the better, of course. It used to be that if you were on the blood trail of your deer it was etiquette that you could follow it on to private or posted land to finish or recover. Not anymore.

As well as other states and mainly due to the decrease in fundamental values and hunting ethics. One option you do have, is to call a DNR officer and he can help you. Can't begin to tell you how many folks I have confronted, that claim to be tracking a deer. I always ask them to show me a non-existent blood trail. …….

Be Safe !!!

[TXAZ]

Originally Posted by taylorce1

Two people with loaded guns and one deer, isn't a fight worth getting into IMO.

**** ^^^^ Voted as the post with the most wisdom this year****