Steve F.in MD

Alsatian,

You certainly are a good friend to be willing to do all that for the deer wounder. Good luck with whatever you choose to try.

wis_bow_huntr

It's who ever kills it, or even finds it dead and tags it.

Rickmur

It's a no brainer, the 2nd hunter.

NEB.BuckHunter

I agree, definitely the 2nd hunter. We have been in that situation ourselves. My dad shot a respectable buck a few years ago, lethal shot in the lungs and as we all know, they will still go up to a mile like that. The buck crossed the river and went over to a place where we had no permission and after hearing a shot, we knew that the other guy got him. We went out to the road to see what he looked like and it was definitely a nice buck. That situation was a little tougher considering the shot placement by my dad, but he didn't drop it instantly, so final shot = their deer.

Alsatian

Steve F.in MD:

The 1st hunter did me the grace of inviting me to this hunting ground to hunt deer my first deer season and show me around the property, indicating good places to hunt. Additionally, he is my niece's husband. So, I feel some obligations and family connection to him. I would no doubt make other use of this trip of 250 miles other than to visit the rifle range with him -- visit my in-laws, visit some old friends, maybe do some advance scouting on the hunting ground, so I would not be doing such a pure act of altruism as it might have seemed. Also, to the extent the 1st hunter would actually learn and grow from the trip to the range, this would be satisfying to me. I'm 49 years old and a father of three. Much of my satisfaction in life now comes from passing on my knowledge to younger people and teaching them some of the nuggets of understanding I have acquired through my life. In the case of this 1st hunter, I think he has some ill-founded ideas about shooting, such as that it is an attribute of one's character. Either you can shoot or you can't shoot, and you can't do anything about it if youj can't shoot. Well, it certainly isn't my experience that it is a matter of genetics but rather of proper technique and practice. Additionally, I don't think he has any appreciation for the random variation involved in shooting -- from one cartridge to another, from one manufacturer's loading to another, and just shooting in the same rifle there is some variation -- and hence the way to evaluate one's shooting is by firing groups.

Anyway, I would like to help the guy out if I can, and especially I would feel better if he wounded fewer animals.

jrbsr

It is clear to me that the buck is the second hunters deer.
The first hunter shot the deer but didn't kill it.
It was only wounded and not on the ground.
If the second hunter hadn't killed it the deer would still be alive.

So to me it is clearly the second hunters deer.

JMHO

Michelles_Taxidermy

Hunter #2

Thats like saying just because hunter #1 shot the deer and the following year hunter # 2 shoots and kills it the following year.

WV Hunter

No doubt, 2nd hunters deer. It would be different if they were all trailing the deer and they jumped it and the other guy put the finishing shot on it. Based on what you said, that deer was no where near mortally wounded. We have had this exact scenario at our camp several times, although not at what I would consider a monster buck. It has always worked out for the hunter that deserved the deer.

If I were you I would do as you said, try and help him improve his shooting. Also I would send him the link to this thread and let him read what the overwhelming majority opinion is, as to whose deer it should be and why. Maybe he will understand, and let the rightful owner have the deer. Tell him to put himself in the other guys shoes....other guy barely wounds him and he puts the finishing shot on him a day later. Whose would he think it is then? Of course, some folks would think it was theirs either way. Good luck.

TomFromTheShade

Its been my experience in the woods, mostly when running rabbits and coming across dead deer, that deer hit almost anywhere with a high powered rifle eventually die. I have seen them hit really far back in the guts and they die. I have seen them hit in the hams and they usually get crippled up and die. I have seen them shot in the neck with a wound that eventually killed them. I have probably seen a few hundred deer hanging on the pole and I haven't ever seen any with high powered rifle wounds (like a 25-06 on up) that were taken on before the hunter harvested the animal. This deer was probably shot very low or shot very shallow on a bad quartering shot. In any event, I believe that the deer belongs to the hunter that put him down...the second hunter!

Jimmy S

Hunter #1 definitely gets the deer, because he gave Hunter #2 permission to hunt the area. If he hadn't, Hunter #2 would not have been hunting those woods and never would have made that fatal shot...(huh?)

I call this the "Trickle down hunter affect".....[:-]

Now, if Hunter #1's mother had remained a virgin, then Hunter #1 would never have been here to begin with and Hunter #2 would neverhavemetHunter #1to get permission. Besides, if Hunter #1 wasn't here because of "virginism", then how would he even get that first ugly shot?..

Think this is complicated (I do) and don't agree?....then believe Hunter #2 gets the deer......