please help----shot a hen!!!!!!!

outdoorslover · 11-16-2006, 04:44 PM

I know I'm gonna get hell for this but I ACCIDENTALLY shot a hen while pheasant hunting today. It was flying behind some bushes and I identified it as a rooster but was horrified to find I was wrong after it was too late.My question is what to do. Has this ever happened to any of you? Please be honest. What is the correct thing to do to make it right? Do I tell the DNR or what? Thanks for the much needed help and please be gentle with me.

Ruddyduck · 11-16-2006, 06:36 PM

How didyou positively identify it as a rooster when it was flying behind a bush? We all have choices to make in life and you made an incorrect one.
Hopefully you can learn from your error and never repeat it again. You can be thankful no warden was around and you got away with a cheap lesson.
If you cannot identify your targetand know what's beyondone doesn't shoot. It's that simple. Spend some more time at a range shooting skeet low gun. Train you eyes and reflexes. When you can call for a target and if it comes out broken and you have little of no gun movement you'll know your getting shooting discipline down.

Californiadoctor · 11-16-2006, 06:46 PM

I know how you feel. A couple of years ago one very foggy morning I was goose hunting and saw a large bird flying straight at methat I convinced myself was agoose and fired without adequately identifying what it reallywas. To my horror, it turned out to be a Tundra Swan which is legal to shoot in some states but not in California. I immediately took the bird to the nearestDFGcheck station and explained what had happened. I was written a citation but for the most minimal offense it could be written for "illegal possession of a protected species" rather thanthe more serious offense of shooting a protected species. Thewarden said that she wrote the ticket for the lesser offense becuase I had immediately accepted responsibility and reported it to the authorities. It was awful having to go to the DFG check station with the bird and in front of many other hunters explainwhat I had done. But looking back,I believe it was the best course of action. I know I would have a guilty conscience to this day if I had just left thebird in the field and snuck away. Reportingthe shooting of the hento the DNRwill be a humbling experience and you will probably have to pay a fine but you will know that you did the right thing and not be tormented by guilt.

Caldoc

outdoorslover · 11-16-2006, 08:30 PM

You are most certainly right, Ruddyduck. I shot a rooster just a little before that and was trying to get my double. I was so intent on it that I forgot to wait for the clear view and decided to take a chance. Lately I've been way over zealous and I finally paid the price. I feel horrible over it but I don't think I could turn it in. I have no income because I'myoung and I couldn't make my parents pay the fine. I have the meat because I figuredI might as well make use of it. I know that I might not be doing the right or legal thing but it's all I can do---honestly. Thanks for the help and any to come.

uplandhunter605 · 11-16-2006, 08:44 PM

i see what your coming from about not wanting to make your parents pay for it. im a kid and i dont like making my parents pay for my mistakes. im gonna be honest and it may sound unsporting, but i wouldve cleaned it in the field and taken the meat and left the carcass there. as long as you know you did something wrong and know to be more careful, you can get away with it one time. at least if you take the meat, it didnt die for no reason. your making sure the bird isnt going to waste. i never have to deal with this problem because we are allowed to shoot hens here in nj because they are stocked.

USNRETHunter · 11-16-2006, 10:53 PM

I attended Hunter Safety Course with my son and posed that exact "what if" question to the DNR officer. His answer:
1. Don't do it (no surprise), ie if in doubt, don't shoot.

If you have done it, official answer:
2. Legally, you can't possess it, so leave it.

3. ((hushed whisper, I never said this...)) there is also the prohibition against wanton waste. It is dead, you made a mistake, don't just leave it there, but don't let me catch you with it...and for god's sake, don't do it again. (Pull the breasts and put them in an inside pocket.)

Bottom line, we all make mistakes from time to time. Learn from them. But, common sense is authorized.

Red Hawk · 11-17-2006, 01:11 AM

I shot a pheasant hen once under pretty much the same scenerio as caldoc but i was actually pheasant hunting. Visibitilty wasn't too terrible but just out of reaction, seeing that it was pheasant, i shot it. I realized after it was Hen, which is was kicking my self in the butt for. I was about 16 and the time but didn't call it in. I am field dress it needless to say. Just after that incident, whenever i got pheasant hunting, i make sure it isn't an Hen

outdoorslover · 11-17-2006, 04:39 PM

Yeah, I think I did the best that I could. I'll be more careful and I won't take risky shots. I went there again today and got a rooster. I'm much more more mellow and cautious now. Thanks for the great help guys. I'll Catch you later.

Browningfan369 · 11-19-2006, 04:31 AM

Ahhhh...nevermind........we've all made some kind of hunting mistakes, bad judgements calls and such..so I guess I can't or shouldn't be a judge of others actions

Flairball · 11-20-2006, 03:13 PM

I made a similar mistake grouse hunting once. A grouse flushed with the ussual vigor and commotion common with a Ruffie coming out of thick cover. As it came into an opening I shot and dropped it cold. Problem was it was a spruce grouse, and not a Ruffed Grouse. Had I been 5-6 more miles north in Canada it would've been legal, but not in NH. I felt terrible, and had I encountered a warden would have confessed, and taken my lumps. Having not run across a warden on the way back to camp, I decided to do the only other sensible thing. I ate the evidence. It was delicious too. Needless to say, I pick my shots differently.