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Good thread...hopefully some good came out of it...I am done..MO MAN

Is that you, Koontzy?

Anyone posting here from long enough ago remember Koontzy's epic and how it was eventually resolved after all the bitterness had left the posts and honesty and ethics prevailed?

Like it or not, all of us hunters are in the same boat. What the trip is like is up to you.

Just one opinion.

The problem as I see it is; shooting at another deer before recovering the first. If the intention was to look after lunch, why compound your problems by shooting at more deer? It seems you started tracking way too soon. Especially after jumping the doe out of a bed once. Had the deer been left to bed longer, it would most likely have been found there, expired. There is no indication you intended to look for the deer any further in the first post. Luckily you somehow found the two deer, right?
Sooner, I admire your courage of conviction in defending HighCountry. I don't, however, feel it was deserved. If you see something other than what sounds like a couple guys taking a walk, flinging arrows, point it out to me.
James, I think in Taz's post he proposed that the first deer went down in sight, if memory serves me correctly. That makes a difference when considering taking a second.
I can't imagine shooting at more deer, when I have two already hit and not recovered. Can't imagine it with one hit.

Phil.
"Could you guys be quiet, my dad's trying to shoot."

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Yeah I don't get it. Shoot at a deer....hit a small tree and the arrow hits high. The arrow falls out and the deer runs off. You search and search. The deer starts bleeding out, and the blood trail thins, to almost nothing. What do you do? Start crying and beating yourself up over it? Or do you move on? Oh wait, you guys never make bad shots. Sorry, I guess you don't understand me now do you?

High Country Archery - "Driven to greater heights..."
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Read every reply very carefully! It's not that you shot and hit a branch that resulted in a poor hit!
The point we're trying to make is , after already wounding two deer , you and your buddy kept right on flinging arrows at deer. If myself or any of my hunting buddies wound a deer , the rest of the day is spent trying to find that deer and sometimes the following day if needed. And if you look at your post , you'll notice there was no mention of going back out to look for the deer , in fact you talked about hunting with someone else the rest of the week.
The sarcasm in your last couple posts only says one thing (to me anyway) , you have alot of growing up to do. Hopefully this thread will be a lesson learned.

"Nocked,cocked & ready to rock"

WOW, that 1st story was just pathetic. It is scary that there are people out there like that. How many last posts is HC going to make?

Some things are true whether you believe them or not.

I read the post, and felt a little like most of you did. However, since I've been hunting in WV for almost 20 years...there's a few thing's I've come to understand. This exact scenario was probably repeated dozens of time's the same day around the state. The game laws in WV only allow 1 deer per day....yet dozens, if not more hunters regularly shoot 2 or 3. The club that I hunt in is on a family farm, and mostly family hunting, and we try and keep things to the book....however....I know a ton of folks in the area that would have done the same exact thing, or maybe even worse. You have to understand, that in some areas....that's just how they were raised...unfortunatley. Not pointing a finger at him specifically...just stating a fact.

In the areas that I hunt...we have a huge problem with poaching. There are people that don't even have a job...and they just ride around and hunt all over everyone whenever they want. Even using guns during bow season. Makes me sick. You wouldn't believe the amount of roadkills we've found over the years on our property....and all they take is the horns. <img src=icon_smile_sad.gif border=0 align=middle>

I know of alot of local folks around there, that regularly shoot as many deer as they can, and some of them NEVER check any of them in... and I mean NEVER. It's a joke. As a matter of fact, I know of some guys that have been hunting for over 20 years, and have never checked any deer in. WOW! I'd be too scared to get caught, but I guess living and growing up in VA...I have a differnt perspective. It gives the folks that stick by the book, a sour stomach. There are very few game wardens, and it's even harder to get the ones that are, to do anything. And then, all the people who live there know one another, so even if they do get reported and caught, they get off. I know a guy that got caught shooting EAGLE'S a while back(while awol from the navy, no less)....and he got off(his uncle was the judge). Unbelievable.

I will agree with his statement that there are WAY too many does, and shooting a couple extra is not going to hurt anything population wise, however...if you decide to do that, (even though it is not legal) you should at least find the deer you shot, before shooting another. You still owe it to any animal you shoot...to do your best to find it.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to stereotype everyone in WV, but WV is a different breed, for sure. Maybe it stems from growing up in poor areas, and hunting all the time, for food on the table. I know many folks that if they didn't, growing up, they wouldn't have had much meat on the table. Game laws didn't and still don't mean squat to them. Maybe that mentality is passed on...just a way of life?????? Who knows for sure.

I know alot of great folks there, that are ethical, by the book hunters....but like I said, many of the locals(at least in the areas that I hunt) would have done...and probably HAVE done, the same thing. Until the laws stiffen up, and the DNR gets more resources, and folks start actually following the game laws....it will be the same....(unfortunately).

I'm reading everyones posts about shooting one deer, waiting for it to die and staying in your standing and shooting another one. That's fine but ine West Virginia we can only kill one deer a day and 3 per year with a bow. So I don't care what HC says to try to cover his A$$ when he and his buddy hit thier first deers they should not have kept flinging arrows at whatever they saw until they decided to go looking for the wounded ones.

High Country, I'm glad you are still around reading this. Please read this and don't take it as me thinking I am perfect because I know I am far from it. Anyway, in your friend's case if I missed a deer and could not attribute it to a deflection or a mistake on my part, my first course of action would be to take some practice shots at a leaf or a stump to make sure nothing moved on my set up. I always carry one arrow in my quiver that I have no intetion of shooting at game for this purpose.

Next, if I had hit a branch causing a poor shot on a deer, which happens to us all at one time or another, I would back out and let the deer lay up. If I saw the deer as you did bleeding badly I would keep an eye on it from a distance to see if it would lay down or to at least see what direction it goes and sit down and wait or completely back out.

If I were in a situation like you and your buddy where the deer's vitals were covered I would pass on the shot as you did. You did the right thing, but your buddy took a low percentage shot after already missing a deer.

You have to understand that hunting is under the microscope right now and we have to hold ourselves to a higher standard so that the rest of the world will see that we are responsible in our pursuit of game and not blood thirsty killers. Stories like yours do not make us as a group look good and that is why so many people got upset with you. Yes you had a bad day. We all have bad days, but some of your bad day was your own doing. I hope you have learned something from it and will do better next time.

Mouse, I remember the Koontzy debacle and hope this isn't a repeat.