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Scenerio

What would you do?


  • Total voters
    13

Thunderflight

Dignitary Member
17,770
167
Shermans Dale, PA
A 200 inch buck walks buy you that was recently shot by another hunter. From what you can tell the wound appears to be non-lethal, but this is also judging from 20 feet in the air.

You shoot and and make a perfect fatal shot. The deer runs off and 30 minutes later you start tracking.

As you walk up to the deer you find another hunter has just tagged and field dressed the deer. He is the hunter who previously shot the deer. You try to explain that your shot was the one that killed the buck, but the other hunter tells you to pack sand and it is his deer. He has already tagged it and starts dragging it to his truck.

For arguments sake you both have permission to hunt the property.

What you do?
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Depends on if he shot it in the foot, or in fatty neck etc.. There would have to be no question in my mind his wound was non fatal...

Legally you're fugged... His tag is on it.. As far as the law is concerned it's his.. doesn't matter if he shot it first or not at all..

Personally I would nicely give him a piece of my mind about why his shot was non lethal etc. ( unless the wound was obviously non fatal) If it's obviously non fatal, he better drag fast or he'll be truck shopping tomorrow for a not so crispy one.

If it's a marginal hit, ehhh, shake his hand, and walk off..
 
Last edited:

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,721
248
Ohio
I would probably try to talk to him. Explain his non-lethal hit. I would have a better chance to hit the lottery to expect him to change his mind, but I would try it. I would not call the warden as it would be pointless. Legally the other hunter's buck once he tags it. I would attempt to at least try to get some pictures of it. I think this would be the best possible compromise in this situation. Sadly, the majority of guys out there are not going to give him up whether they knew they were in the wrong or not. I think the better man would prevail in the long run and would be blessed with more opportunities down the road if it were handled in this manner.
 
Under the set of circumstances outlined in this scenerio, I would do pretty much what Hickslawns is doing. Calmly explaining the non-lethal hit to the other hunter may invoke some shame and he might allow me to have it, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Interesting scenerio, but I'd have no part of it. :smiley_arrogant: Meaning, if I were hunting an area with another hunter, I'd know who it was and what his/her ethics of taking deer consisted of, before I was put into such a situation. If I knew the guy was some sort of "pin coushion" shooter (just trying to stick one in the deer...anywhere), there's no way I'd take the shot. If I killed the deer (for him) it would encourage his behavior and bad shooting habits.

On the other hand...if I did shoot the deer, it would more than likely be running the opposite direction from where it had previously been shot. Thus, I'd get to it before the other hunter, because after making a well placed lethal shot, I hardly ever wait more than a few minutes before tracking. I've only had 2 deer that didn't fall within sight and both of those deer were dead, just harder to find.

Bowhunter57
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,741
274
North Carolina
Pretty much what Joe and Phil said minus the torching of the truck :smiley_crocodile: Once that tags on it you're pretty much out of the picture.... TF not sure you if you're just being generic on this or it was naturally assumed to be an archery shot but if it was gun season I'd od went right after him and tagged him first :smiley_clap:
 

xbowguy

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
29,632
234
Licking Co. Ohio
This actually happened to me about 10 years ago. Shot a buck first morning of gun season...Tracked it for 4 hrs with descent blood....(enough that he should have been ready to drop).....to a gut pile ON a country road. Seen where my Big 8 tried to jump a fence and got what looked like a back leg tangled in the fence (ground on other side was all tore to hell in a semi-circle. Found out from a guy who gave me a ride back to my truck who shot the deer. Went to his house and his Dad said yes he shot it and was down the road skinning deer. Dad called him and they were on their way over. I asked to shoot a quick video to at least show my girlfriend what I shot and tracked. Told him the story as they were putting Dandy buck heads on the tailgate for me to video......They started studdering when I let them know I knew what went on.......I left the camera on but dropped it to my side....I still have the tape to this day of him admitting to shooting BOTH bucks that day. One was pushing a "Booner" and the 8 was pushing 140-145. I was in a different county and had no idea of whose land I was on after leaving my spot....Plus I could tell they had both been drinking quite a bit.....so was in one of them situations..........Probably should have turned the tape over, but I decided there were too many Bucks out there to get involved in a hassle.......(plus they knew where I hunted because of my truck and 4-wheeler)..........That tag now rests on a 140" 8 point right above my computer.........So I would say let it go as you just may be rewarded differently for doing the right thing......Had it be a 200" deer.....I may have done it different in my own situation........In this scenario, I would ask to get a pic with the buck, have it blown up extra large and place it in my house......He can take the deer but not the memories of your hunt.
 

Gern186

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,171
201
NW Ohio Tundra
I would call the warden and try to get the dispute settled legally, along with yelling and screaming at the other guy as he was dragging my deer away.

This scenario actually happened to a good friend of mine, except that he watched the deer go down after he shot it and his friend had shot the deer a few minutes earlier with a bow.....they were hunting about 200 yards apart and his friend made a poor shot on the buck, it ended up coming in range of the other guy and he took a shot at it with his bow, missed, re-nocked an arrow and then made a perfect double lung on a 190" typical......Before this the 2 guys were great friends, and now the other guy won't even talk to my friend.