Indiana lawdoes not allow for recovery without permission.

Where I hunt I am surrounded by owners that have refused me permission to hunt. I have never needed to ask for recovery permission. One I feel confindent in approaching. Another I won't bother, but I will recover the animal. Nobody has permission to hunt there, and there is such a miniscule chance of ever encountering anyone. I won't have a gun along though.

There's more to it than that. I already had a hunting buddy encounter someone this year on private land who claimed to be there tracking a wounded deer (without permission). When asked where the last spot of blood had been, it was of course back on his property....200+ yards away, supposedly.

Basically, it gives someone free reign to trespass during hunting seasons under the guise of following a wounded animal and forces the burden of proof that they are not doing that onto the rightful landowner. You can't just boot a trespasser from your land, you have to get the DNR involved and by then they get to do whatever it was they wanted to do there.

I believe in doing everything possible to recover game (I tracked the last deer I wounded for about 3-4 miles before finally recovering it), but I would not want an Iowa-type law in my state unless the hunter had to call the DNR first, verify that they were tracking an animal, and then the DNR inform the landowner before they ever set foot.

In Va, a hunter may not track wounded game onto unposted property without permission from the landowner. And, if the property is posted,one must obtain WRITTEN permission.

Here in MO we have a purple paint law which means if you see purple paint it means no trepass and will hold up in a court of law. We cannot trespass to get downed game and there are no laws that get conservation involved in tracking game. It would be up to us to make a good decision,I would find the landowner and get permission first and if they say no I might then bargin for a trade of some sort and insure that I would not gut it on their property or disturb their property and be sure to let them know when you find the animal and leaving their property. Just be courteous and most folks will let you go and get the animal.

A couple of the problems that lead to needing a pursuit law are that:

1. A lot of land isn't owner occupied. It's just private woodlands and there's no easy way to identify or contactthe private landowner. Here that would involve going to the town hall and examining parcels on a land map. The town clerk'soffice closes early too. A single landowner granting permission to hunt can have dozens ofadjacant property owners and nopractical way toidentify and contactthem.
Some of thenorthern New England statesallow trespassing for hunting without any permission needed.So game recovery is secondary and not an issue. Even the landowners want to follow up on game so the law insures a minimum level of cooperation.

2. Try finding a C.O. when one is needed. If calling a C.O. for personal assistancewas required during hunting season to obtain trespass rights for every wounded deer, there wouldn't be enough hours in a day or C.O.'s to provide that assistance.
A common sense law requiring that the party be unarmed seems to go a long way toward legitimizing the trespass. Plus most states have blaze orange requirements that should exclude anyone who isn't wearing blaze orange from pursuing wounded gameduring any gun seasons for example.
Although I realize that in some states (Idaho is it?) it's legal to shoot simple trespasserson sight, but most folks wouldn't even consider shooting a stray dog on sight.
That's why these are state lawswhich are enactedby therepresentatives ofeachindividual state, and should be tailor made for each state.
Ionlywish that my statehadeasier options fortrackingwounded game. So much of the land is vacant that surrounds our state forests, out of town hunters have no easy way to seek permission totrackwounded game.

Ever shoot a deer and need to drag it 3 times farther in the other direction just to avoid taking it out across private property to get to the nearest road?
Totally a medical waiver situation! Most folks would just dowhat needs to be doneas discreetly as possible.

While reading all the responses I take to heart what some said and some I disagree with.First of all I had about 35 minutes of legal shooting light left and it was cloudy with no sun as rain was coming in next day.It was extremely thick with overgrowth and pine and oaks very close.When the deer came in I had a total of 60 seconds of time to make my decision and my shot as he was right up on me and walking in fast.So I picked the best shooting lane possible and put it behind the shoulder.This is Virginia river bottom not Texas where you watch for 20 minutes.All Virginia boys know what our mountain hunting here his like in the bottoms.Like I said I had about 60 seconds to judge the deer and pick a spot.I do believe the XTP bullet did pass completely through as he was dropping blood about every 5 feet and when he stopped I found about three places where it was over a foot in diameter of blood when he stopped and he was very easy to track by the blood using a flashlight.Once he crossed that river I had to make a decision and it was hard I I knew he was down but I am not going to trespass as the landowners house was only 200 yards on top of hill and I did not want them to see a flashlight moving around on his property.I have been hunting this private owned 57 acres for 10 years and was not willing to risk him calling the landowner I hunt on and losing my permission for future hunting rights.Believe me it was a hard decision decision but the right one so I continue to hunt there in the future as I need a place to take my son and this is close by.This guy has his property posted every 25 yards and I did not need the hassle as to many are after the hunting community as it is and I respect the landowner I hunt on to much to give them any hassels also.And Chap is right as I know a 300 grain barnes might have been a better choice but I know the XTP did pass through.Like they say this is hunting and I am not sitting in a box tower but up against a oak sitting on my tail shooting and I still wont trade that feeling for anything when this time of year rolls around!And going back the next day was not an option as I had obligations the next day but for my future hunting there I made the right decision as the Lord gives us a new day every day to start over! Mike

Hey Vaslugger, give us old guys with bi-focals a break and please use a larger font size.

another story, i had huge buck come out to me at dark in archery.

he was at 33 yds with wind blowing.

i left him go because of darkness and wind .

not knocking you in any way, but if its getting dark, you better make a good shot which is behind shoulder,if not, you have to pass on deer.

if he crossed the river, most likely he was hit in the tummy area.

how do i know,BEEN THERE DONE THAT

VASLUGGER, all said please make your font bigger as my eyes hurt reading that small stuff inb the fading light.

Steve +1 I did that once same result-never again

Charlie