RE: deer thief
I believe that the “rule of first blood” has actually been held up in court before – not sure what state or states it was tried in? Problem is that it turns into your word against his.
I pulled this from the NBEF bow hunting book:
Rule of First Blood:
“The First hunter to place an arrow in an animal’s vital area, which draws enough blood to leave a trackable trail, and thus has a good chance of bringing the animal to his or her possession, may claim the animal. Conversely, if the first hunter feels that the wound was superficial in nature and recovery of the animal was not likely, that hunter should give up claim to the game if another hunter brings it to the ground”