Where I hunt they give tags away like water. Lots of deer and they want as many taken as possible. I think it is the right thing to do, let them know you killed one and ask for another so you can get some meat. Much better than leaving it in the woods. And doesn' t have to be a bad hit, I know of perfect double lungers ripped apart overnight.

Like I said, leave the decision up to the DEC, they make the laws, they know the herd status, they run the show. I see nothing wrong with asking, I think it is the right thing to do.

Of Course I will still hunt if I do not recover a lethal hit deer. I will search for Days, I can assure you of that - and I mean days not just a few hours. Its Hunting, sometimes the worst happens. We learn, we live, we move on.

Why would anyone take an intentionally poor shot?

FWIW, I don' t necessarily think that I am entitled to another tag, but it would be worth asking for to me anyway.

Like Rack Attack has said, I have also had the occasion of leaving a lunged deer overnight. Luckily nothing happened to it.

So FFTJ, what would you do, I' m kind of interested in knowing your answers to your questions.

You shoot it, you bust ass to find it, you tag it! My opinion.

But what if you shoot it, draw blood and then never find it?

On the property that ajoins ours 9 guys own 500 acres together. Thier rule is if you draw blood on a buck, you' re done. They all paid a lot of money for this prime WI hunting land and they feel that each guy is allowed 1 archery and 1 gun buck per year.

BUT what if you' re on public land? or on a big $$ trip? HMMMMMM

well, it would be easy to drag out.

Buying another tag is different than what it sounded like RA was saying. By all means if there are more tags available I would buy more. Where I hunt you are only allowed one buck tag. If the deer in the example is a buck I consider it filled if I made a lethal shot whether recovered or not. My whole scenario was based on that single permit. I never implied that each person should only get 1 deer a year. If your state offers multiple tags have at them but don' t go begging to the state just because you didn' t recover the deer before it was eaten by coyotes. Bobco I know of several people who have intentionally taken poor shots at deer, most of them were directly related to the size of the antlers or the experience of the hunter.
TJ

FFTJ,

I have no problem with the way you do things

But even if I had only one tag (and I have) If I shot a deer and it was eaten by something, I would still make an attempt to ask DEC for another tag. If they see fit to allow me another tag, and I recieve it legally - I do not see how you can call that un-ethical. And I have never begged for anything.......well almost anything

And more power to you for ripping up that buck tag on the third day of a 2 month season because you failed to recover your buck(with the proper effort to find it), even though you can legally still hunt.

I have no problem with killing as many deer as the state will allow and I don' t suffer too much if I don' t get all my tags filled . Now imagine I fill all of them twice. Now imagine the dishonest people who walk into the office and say they lost an animal when in reality they didn' t, they just want another tag but the state has set precedence that if you say you lost an animal they' ll give you another. What really suffers is the herd. I understand your point on if the state gives the tags you are legal to kill them but there has got to be a line drawn somewhere. They attempt to do that by setting a limit on the number of tags an individual can purchase. If they let you have an extra they have to let everyone have one if they claim that' s what happened. What happens to the resource then?
We both know ethics and legality are two separate things. I would look for that deer all season while hunting to fill my antlerless permits.
TJ

Im with Rack-attack here!!!!

Im with Rack-Attack, tag it. I saw that show also and I commend Ralph Ciancurulo for doing what he did, that showed a good sportsmans ethics.

You will always feel better about yourself by doing the right thing. You killed it, you tag it.