I need as many responses as possible. When group hunting and somebody wounds a deer, the rest of the group helps to track the deer and somebody else in the group kills the wounded deer. WHOS deer is it????

The person that wounded it.

Hunting in a group, which I did when younger a few times, it was the person who wounded it, from what I have seen in group hunting a lot of deer get wounded because the feeling is "well there are 10 of us so I can take an iffy shot and the rest of us will find it and finish it off" I hunt by myself or possibly with someone else in a totally seperate stand. This ensures that any shot I take will be a good one.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

That depends. Does your group have a policy in place that all deer taken are shared with the entire group or do individuals keep their own deer? If everyone shares, your question is answered. If not, there is an unwritten rule among hunters concerning wounded deer. If the deer is still on it's feet when the killing shot is made, whoever made the killing shot gets the animal. Of course, you have to take the word of the person who made the killing shot if the deer was on it's feet or not when they pulled the trigger.
I would sit down with your group before the season starts and set out some ground rules concerning this exact thing.

ALWAYS CALL YOUR SHOT.

id say depends where it was hit....if it wasnt going to die because it wasnt a good hit id call the deer mine if it poped up and i shot and killed it...really i wouldnt shoot it if i knew who wounded it and say hey guys it went this way i just seen it...but if my bullet drops the deer i am calling it mine...all depends on the situation really...but when i shoot and the deer falls or runs off and dies and i find it and know its the deer i just shot thats my deer in my eyes...if its wounded good and it pops up and u finish it and dont need the deer because you got more than they did alreayd or are waiting i would gladly finish one for them if i had the chance and i knew it was that wounded deer....hard situation....

We party hunt, and split all meat between the group equally. If its a case of who gets the antlers, the person who puts the final shot into the animal gets them. This said, we have only had to chase 1 animal down, and this was because the guy who wounded it unloaded on a group of running deer, he has never hunted with us since then!

Our group always went with, if the shot would have made it hard for the deer to survive from then that person gets the deer. Example if it is through the body cavity, takes a leg out, or ect. If it is a minor wound then the person killing it gets the deer. The only argument we have had with that is when a minor wound bleeds and allows the group to track using the blood when they may not have got the animal otherwise. The arguments usually only happen over the antlers because we share all the meat with the whole group.

If we are trailing a wounded deer, usually only the original shooter and maybe one more bothers to carry a gun. If you find the deer it is usually incapacitated and the gun is just something else to carry while dragging the deer out. First shooter gets the deer, the whole deer.

If I were voluntarily helping someone track a deer, then I'd say its their deer!

First person to illicit trackable blood gets the deer. Even if we do have to help track, find and finish the deer. It's ok though, because we will get to help EAT the deer too.



I'll take good luck over skill any day!