I don't think there is a law in NYS defining this. We give the deer to the one who had the first kill shot. Now I am talking in the kill zone. A gut shot deer, or even a single lung shot would not qualify for us as a kill shot. Don't get me wrong, single lung shots will eventualy kill a deer, but sometimes hours later.

My nephew was hunting his first day of shotgun. We were hunting on my brothers friend's land, as we just lost permission to hunt where we always did due to a divorce situation. It waspitch black, not sure where to go, so we sat together. Not long after first light, a beautiful 8 pointer came running by with a doe. I shot at the buck ... nothing. I dropped the doe with my next shot. The buck then ran straight towards us. My gun jammed and my nephew dropped the buck not 10 yards from us.

I wondered how I missed him as I don't normally miss with this gun. When we hung the buck, I noticed 3 holes in him. I had hit him perfectly broadside, entry and exit hole. His shot was right in the front of the chest. In that situation, I did not push the issue because it was my nephew. It was his first buck and would have been my best buck to date. I felt there was no reason to stake my claim in this situation.