RE: What would you have done???
 

By letting the game warden decide you have done the right thing . If you get another tag thats great , if you dont you can still hunt does or wait till next year . It sounds like the guy got a trophy for the wall at least , and thats usealy the reason responceable hunters shoot bucks . If your a meat hunter , does usealy taste better anyway .

RE: What would you have done???
 

I' d claim it as the world record and get a bunch of companies to sponsor me!!!

All kidding aside, I would probably tag it and put the horns on the shed.

RE: What would you have done???
 

Most of you agreed 100% with RA. So what you' re all saying is that if you find that deer 2 weeks later, half eaten by coyotes and full of maggots that you would tag it and drag it out of the woods? That' s not ethical, that' s plain stupid! If it were the next day I would likely tag it and see if the tag could be replaced....buck or doe. But not a week later or even 3 days later. If I' ve made a bad shot, it' s my fault....the deer still died, and it' s my responsibility. However, there is a point were you have to draw the line. I' m not afforded multiple tags here, so maybe I' m being selfish. I did pay for that tag to put on a deer....not a head with scraps of bone, flesh and hide. Bad shots happen and some bad shots are intentional (poor angle, low light, rushed shots, etc). You chose to take the shot, so it was intentional....or at least the risk of wounding was greater and you should have know it!

That' s one of the most absurd comments I' ve ever read! I always thought I was a responsible hunter, but I guess not since I shoot bucks and not solely for the wall.

RE: What would you have done???
 

Jason, Nobody said anything about 2 or 3 weeks later...until now:)

Sure thats a different story, I am not dragging a maggot infested deer also;)

But finding it the NEXT morning....I think its a judgment call. For me I just don' t want to leave a dead deer in the woods, It was found in reasonable time and I consider it a kill - Chewed in half or not.

So I agree, there is a gray area - and there is no clear cut " line" or other magical answer.

RE: What would you have done???
 

I had an *issue* last year that nearly put me in this position.

I lost a critter, & took one the next day. The day after harvesting mine we finally found the one I lost. It had been totally snarfed by the Twolves for a day (we knew they were on him but after the initial ' call in' to the kill they shut up & we couldn' t find them). After the wolves had their fill the ravens took over - they didn' t shut up & I walked right in on the remains.

I would have tagged the lost buck had I found it sooner.

I did take the horns - and what was left of the arrow & broadhead. I made a display & wood burned " never again" in it - I look at it every day in the garage.

RE: What would you have done???
 

RA,

This is what I was referring to...

later posted....

I wasn' t trying to flame you or anyone.:) I was trying to figure out where everyone would draw the line....apparently FFTJ is done even if the " letal shot" LOOKS lethal....when it may be superficial. We all know that often times a good/bad hit did not LOOK that way from our point of view. Not trying to pick on you FFTJ!:) Of course all this talk of lethal and superficial hits is better suited for another thread, but for the point I' m making it is relevant.

This is what I was looking for....

Either that or the ever elusive " magical answer" :D;)

RE: What would you have done???
 

I wasent trying to be absurd but maybe I could have worded that better , more like It wasnt a total loss , the guy did get a trophy . You do get the add bonus of getting to eat some good meat and have a trophy for the wall if you get a nice buck , doe meat does taste better . I was trying to get accross that we should let small bucks walk , guess it did' nt come out that way .

RE: What would you have done???
 

No harm Jason, I don' t know that I would be able to look at myself in the mirror if I knew I killed that deer and just kept hunting. In my opinion if it looked lethal whether in the chest or the guts I cannot assume it was just superficial just because I didn' t recover it. When I shot the arrow it looked lethal, that' s all I have to go on. I would consider that deer killed by my arrow.
TJ

RE: What would you have done???
 

I think its just being a sportsman. You have a tag to kill one deer. The fact that it was eaten by coyotes does not change the fact that you killed that deer, especially since it was a bad shot on the deer that caused you to have to return the next day.

Someone asked where do you draw the line, I' ll tell you where my line is. One year I shot a deer and it was obviously hit. We tracked it for a half mile where we lost sign. My party looked for that deer for nearly a day and it was gone. I don' t know for sure where I hit the deer (thought it was a good hit but who knows) and if it ever expired but I put my tag away for the rest of the hunt. I helped my friends but did no more hunting on that trip. In my eyes I filled the tag but due to a poor shot I had nothing to show for it. I have never not recovered an animal since.

RE: What would you have done???
 

I am with rack and everyone else here who say they would do the same thing that Ralph C. did on the show. I was very impressed with everything that he did concerning this segment on the show. He showed a true hunting situation and the unfortunate outcome that can happen ( i.e. a bad shot, deer eaten by coyotes etc.). I really appreciated the fact that he showed his emotions and how bad he felt about the situation, and then did the right thing by tagging the deer. Alot of shows would have just canned that fottage and used a more successful hunt. I e-mailed Ralph and told him how impressed I was with the whole situation.
Now about asking for another tag. My buddy had a situation a few years ago that I truly believe that he should have recieved another tag from the Ohio DNR and didn' t. Here in Northwest Ohio we get one tag a year, either sex. As he was pulling up to park that morning to hunt he saw a deers eyes out in the field between the road and the woods. The deer was bedded down. He ended up getting in his stand and at first light he saw the deer was still laying out in the field. It was a small doe and he could see that something was wrong. He got down and walked up to her and she tried to get up . He saw that she had been hit by a car and was in pretty bad shape. Both of her front legs were broke and one was cut off at the elbow, and the leg was laying on the road. Her one shoulder was all mangled etc. She was in really bad shape. He nocked an arrow and shot her to put her out of her misery. She still got up and ran on her stumps for about 20 yards and the died. He was really bummed out seeing her suffering that much and not knowing how long she had layed there. Anyhow, he went down the road to a farmers house we know to call the game warden and report it ( this was before he had a cell phone). The game warden said that she would be there as soon as possible. He sat there and waited for about 35 minutes till she got there. He then explained the situation to he and she looked at everything. She said that she could see where the deer had been hit etc. and that he did a good thing by dispatching the deer . Then believe it or not, she told him that he would have to tag the deer since he shot it and killed it. She said that if he would have called her first and waited for he to get there to shoot it thta she would have gave him a roadkill tag, but since he shot it and then called he would have to use his tag. He explained that he couldn' t stand to see it suffer and wanted to end it as soon as possible. He never argued or anything. Long story short, his season was done. I though that it was pretty crummy myself. It was obvious what had happened but it didn' t matter. I really believe in that situation that he should have been given a roadkill tag and been able to hunt with his tag but she didn' t see it that way. just thought that I would tell the story that happened to him and see what others thought about it.