Killer_Primate

I guess I should add the reasons I hunt does and bucks;
My first priority for a buck is his antlers, second is the meat.
My first priority for a doe is the meat, followed by managing the herd.

So to support my position above, I've still accomplished one of each of the goals set forth for both does and bucks.

KP

Finch

What I infer from this is, if game is unrecoverable or eaten by predators, then NO tag is required (It did not specify). If its a P/Y then I'll tag it and take the antlers. If its a doe then I'll chalk it up as a loss. Simple as that.

brucelanthier

So you are allowed to shoot the animals and, if you don't move them, then you don't have to tag them? You can shoot 10 deer, let them rotby not moving them and not tag any of them and its not against law? You would only be breaking the law if you took it home (moved it)and did not tag it?

Finch

Lets be reasonable here. The hunter must make every possible effort to find his/her game and tag it. I see your point though but what kind of HUNTER would do such a thing?

BTW, That's exactly how its worded.

statjunk

Is this a hunting forum or a legal advice forum?

Jeeze o petes people.

Do what you think is right.

Tom

Talondale

Had a bowhunter post a similar scenario on another site; He shot a doe and it ran into the swamp. He immediately tracked the deer only to see her walking away inside the mouth of a black bear. Don't think he tagged her. Most states have allowances for predator loss, if there are predators in the area. If the CO doesn't require a tag MY ETHICS would say no.

BTW for the Noah Webster poster
in·teg·ri·ty
(n-tgr-t)
n.
1. Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code

This would qualify. I would be adhering to a strict code: MINE!, not yours.

MountainHunter

Regarding the VA regs, here is what VA says about wounding deer (and it's only required to tag deer killed by the hunter, not deer that are "probably killed" by the hunter or wounded by the hunter and then killed by coyotes, etc.):

"It is unlawful to...kill or cripple and knowingly allow any non-migratory game bird or game animal to be wasted without making a reasonable effort to retrieve the animal and retain it in possession."

All of that said, my ethics are not dictated by what's legal. It was legal to exterminate Jews in Nazi Germany, but that doesn't make it ethical. And, likewise, just because it's illegal doesn't make it unethical. My parents let me drink a small glass of wine with Thanksgiving dinner whenI was technically under the legal drinking age. I don't think that was unethical. Others may disagree, but that's ethics for ya...just like bellybuttons, everyone's got em and each one's unique. I respect just about anyone who takes the time to really think through an ethical issue honestly and then acts according to what they think is right, not just what's convenient/advantageous.

For me, the tag is my exchange and record for bringing something physicallyout of the woods, meat or antlers. If a wild animal ends up getting the meat and I don't get anything, then what happens in the forest stays in the forest! The coyotes got my deer instead of another animal.

Given the number of tags we get in VA, for me it really has nothing to dowith using up a tag. We get two either-sex and four antlerless tags, plus you can get an essentially unlimitednumber of damage tags if you're a farmer, etc., and have a deer problem. I only bow hunt and have never used all of my tags, so that really is not the issue.

HNI Jim

In NY this would be a deer that was not fit for consuming. I think the DEC will come out and tag/give you a new one.


THIS MIGHT BE ONLY WITH CWD BUT MABEY THIS COUNTS TOO.

hoyt slayer

i don't understand what the differance is in ethics with taging or not taging a doe a tag is there to report deers your taking so that police and gamewarden can tell your not poaching now i don't see how not tagging a doe is unethical because the nothing changes about the doe its still going to rot. I think this is more a question of beinglegal

Urban_Redneck

You need call a CO. Happened to a friend of mine, the CO met him at the road, inspected the carcass, and gave him a "road kill" tag to transport and dispose of the remains.