I would have claimed what was mine. Evaluated the situation to see how the other hunters acted. And ifeverybody looked agreeable, I would have took home my deer. Bottom line. 1 year ago I would have claimed it regardless of how the other hunters acted and what errupted.

This year, if the boy acted crushed or the men got violent, I would try to just smile and walk away and figure the good Lord might bring me another deer.

I am not criticizing at all. You did the right thing. I am going elk hunting with a pal this sat ( I am just helping call) and we will undoubetedly be ready for this scenario. There is no elk worth it. EJ

Never been in that situation so it's hard to say for sure. It is easy to guess at what you would, but it actually happens things usually turn out different. I don't know, if it a camp type thing maybe talk to the kids dad and the others in camp to get thier opinion and maybe sit down and educate him. Not berate him, just let him know how you guys think those situaitions should be handled.

If he was cockey about it I probably would have been a little ticked and there would have been a situation later for sure. There is no reason for a 14 year old to get lippy with an adult in my opinion. If I liked the kid though I might have played it off like he killed it and let him have the moment, especially if it was his first deer.

At this point you probably just let it go though. (did I really just give that advice?).

I hope everything works out for you in the future.

Paul

As it happened, I have a nice eight point and a really nice 10 point whitetail on the wall as well as a 5X5 mulie and didn't really want another $350 taxidermy bill. That particular deer however was far better than the ones I had on the wall but the opportunity for the youngster to come foreward and tell all that he missed it was his decision. He chose not to say anything and can live with the result forever.

I had nothing to gain...confronting a 14 year old just wasn't in the cards. There was to be no winner and the looser was to be me no matter what.....

Maybe next year!!!

Vapo....that is an awesome test....when you threw the 14 year old part in there you really caught me off guard. Since I'm only 16 I prolly would have been anal, analyzed the shot and determind whos deer it was....gotta teach them the right way early.

Well at 14 the young man should have known better than to shoot at a deer that had already been shot. If they were visible to you then they certainly knew that someone had already shot that deer.

I probably would have let him have the deer also but he would leave there knowing that what he did was not the smartest or most sportsman like thing to do. His father, or who ever was the responsible person, would have left there knowing also that teaching this young man to act like he did was certainly not in the best intrest of hunters and the hunting community.

Nip it in the bud. If it isn't corrected early on then he may just continue acting like this and one day it could turn ugly. We have all heard the stories of this very thing turning violent and even deadly.

Do you let your dog or someone elses dog piss on your floor and not correct it? Let it piss once and it will continue pissing on your floor cause it thinks it is ok to do so. But if you correct it from the start it will figure out that it ins't in his best intrest to piss on your floor and perhaps he should quit doing it.

Similar encounter happened to a guy in our camp a few years back. He shot a small buck and seconds later another shot rang out. The deer was already mortally wounded and another hunter ran up to the deer and said it was his !%@?^ deer. Before my buddy could get a word in edgewise he was showered with curses and threats. My buddy just said "take it easy I just like to hunt them, now you can do all the work". That being said it is much easier to to do that with a 5 point than a trophy. I feel that way it is like getting a free tag and I am not starving so no big one.

You did good IMO. This happened once to me and it was settled by a little green tip off the bullet found while field dressing the deer. Two of us shot at the deer but I was the only one using the New at that time Ballistic tip 30-06 bullet. The other guy said "well I quess we know who killed this one" He was dissapointed because it was his last day to hunt. I told him to take it home since we had both shot at it and I had a week yet to hunt. That paid off as the guy sent me a new Buck folding Knife for Xmas.

On the one hand it may seem like the noble thing to do by letting him have the deer, but then there is the law of unforseen consequences. What did he really learn from this? Will he hesitate to do this again in the future and does he understand that he should not shoot at game that was alreadywounded by another hunter? Does he understand that just because he fired the last bullet doesn't mean that he has claim to the kill, miss or not? Did he really become a better hunter/person by being allowed to claim a deer that was not his? I think that this was a squandered opportunity for a lesson in integrity and character, and the lesson he learned through your generosity might have been the wrong one.

Mike

age has nothign to do with it you knew he didn';t hit the deer and for him even shooting after you shot and he rolled he should never of done it and iwould of defintely called him on it. age is not the deal here it is huntign ettiquite and he did it wrong and needed to be taught
rob k