Please, read your first statement in the above quote and then read the last statement...does this make sense to you? A CO is there to up hold the law, basically to protcet and serve both hunter and game. I am not sure many (unless he's your relative) would just say hey keep on tagging them and go on his merry way. Ignorance is not a defence in a court of law! So don't ever assume!

I also am wondering how many tags you can get where you hunt? As you state one of his farm tags is used. If it is more than one wouldn't it be acceptable to just give him one you shot LEGALLY???? Like I said sometimes their are way to accomplish the same goal without breaking or if you prefer BENDING the law to suit your purpose!

MNdeerman, bringing in grey areas has nothing to do with this post. I mean you could explain to most CO's why you misjudged your arrival at the truck and at very most you may get a warning. However try explaining why you are in the possession of a deer with another mans tag on it that isn't within ear shot? It becomes a case for the CO of guilty untiul proven otherwise!!!!

Like SJ said up here we don't give our CO's any reason to suspect we are doing anything illegal, so I would also take extra precaution to stay within the laws or regulations set forth for that area. Main reason is they are under funded, under staffed and really I think become plain old salty with seeing stuff go they have no control over. They are suppose to protect but often here they have other battles that hamper them from doing their jobs DAILY and I feel we are sometimes a subject of nothing more than their frustration.I won't go into to detail as it has nothing to do with this discussion but just know anytime your breaking the law you have the potential of getting caught no matter how small you may think it is!

The Law and Ethics are 2 separate entities.

I know of several that have done it locally and I would also for a doe only. I think that one has to be a free thinker and do what you feel is correct despite the legality of an issue. As a frame of reference, consider some of the past laws in this country and others that now make no sense.

Locally, our deer herd is in ever expanding numbers and needs more control than what is currently done. Ohio needs to better control the population, at least in areas I am familiar with. The population grows every year.

If you were in an area with a light population, then I disagree.

I can only aquire two tags (one anydeer and a doe tag) so I don't have a whole lot of excess meat between my Grandparents, my immediate family and any gifts of deer sausage given out. By using one of my grandpa's four or five farm tags there is a lot more to go around. And in my case it's not that my Grandpa wouldn't be there, I'm just there to make a clean kill.
So while it is illegal it is illegal for the sake of ethics, where as alot of other people in my county hunt illegally because they can. My CO is a very reasonable person who wouldn't punish someone just for a minor infraction.He knows about most of the illegal hunters in my area and is much more concerned about them than whether someone shoots one deer for their grandparents.

legal no,,ethical in my book yes,,my dad has done this before and we took it to the check station to check it in(before illinois went to this stupid call in system) and the people there never said a word even though it was not his tag.

guys-let's call it like it is--if it isn't legal, it's POACHING! i don't know where you learned ethics, but i was taught to follow the law and not to break it for any reason. that is the sameethics i carry into the Hunter Education classes i teach. i just hope that my students carry away more respect for the law and game than i have seen in this thread. i can't really understand going around the law and trying to justify it because someone needs meat in the freezer. if they are that hard up, give up some of your deer meat or go buy them a load of hamberger and steak. when things like this come out, and they do every year, it just gives the anti's more ammo and give hunters another black eye. i really wonder how hunting will have changed for my grandchildren if laws and ethics continue to be up for intrepretation by those not knowing the meaning of the word. i fear that what i have known as hunting will be just a shadow of what it is now, and they will be the ones to suffer.

krub6b, hey I understand your reasoning. In fact I harvest, cut/wrap and make sausage for abuddy's dad who can longer hunt due to illness each year. Here I have 1 either-sex and 1 doe tag as well forthe areas I hunt. I just chose to give up one of my animals for this individual b/c for me this is the right thing to do legally, ethicallyand personally.

In your case it sounds like grandpa is allocated tags for herd reduction, crop damage or whateveron his land. I wonder if you couldn't get an exception with your grandpa's physical conditon that would allow you to harvest these allocated tags for his property on his behalf.I know here tags issued to landowners can be given out as the please for their property. I also know here exceptions are given for physical conditions. So may be worth a shot and would make you 100% legal.

dudes, cant we all get along? Just think, there are MILLIONS of deer, that 1 deer isnt going to make the rest of them disappear. There are still going to be more deer to take its place. SOWHAT if the farmer just wanted some meat??? Those laws were made to protect the deer population, and as far asI can see there are more than enough deer in most areas. It might be wrong, but so is a lot of other things we all do. Just think, there HAS to be something we have ALL done that has been wrong at one time or another. One of my friends has asked me to get her a deer before, now she is physically incapable of going out there and shooting one, but I have never done it because she has never bought a tag. I would gladly shoot a doe for her. the buck/doe ratio is way off too much anyways.
Theres like 1 buck for every 15 doe here. Its terrible. So if I ever decide to actually go through with it, then it might be illegal, but at the same time Im just helping out the wildlife and possibly someone in a car who could get hurt by that deer crossing the road at night. BUT THATS JUST ME. dont argue with me!!!!! lol

In certain areas of Missouri there are unlimited bonus antlerless only firearms and archery tags. It is perfectly ethical and just as importantly legal for hunter "a" to give hunter "b" the 7 dollars to pruchase a bonus antlerless only tag, and then for hunter "b" to harvest a doe and then take it to the processor in hunter "a's" name.

It's pretty similar to the share the harvest program, already legal and encouraged by many states.


Woody.....

I'm not advocating filling another's legally purchased license. i.e. I don't have time to hunt soI tag a small deer for my buddy so he can keep hunting. I'm talking about a specific situation.


GH

Knifemaker,

In present reality, I am in total agreement with you. I believe if you researched the definition of "ethical behavior" you will find somewhere in the definition that it the behavior must be legal. That said, we live in a society where laws can, and do change. Our country was founded by people looking for changes to be made in the manner by which government regulated their behavior. Although, I do not condone this behavior, and agree with you that it is wrong, I don't think you can come to that conclusion for yourself without separating the legality of it.

For me, I would just assume share my meat with those around me which need/want some rather than harvest an animal for them. I would do this, for a couple reasons... one it's illegal, but two because it would diminish in a way the experience of hunting for me.

I applaud your efforts of educating future hunters and only hope they follow the example you set.

Cheers...

Myself and my hunting partners do share our meat with each other and then we also give some of our share to friends and relatives.We even buy extra antlerless tags in order to have extra meat to give away to people that are unsuccessful or that don't hunt.However when we hunt,we don't use tags that belong to people that are not presentin our party.