If they only had doe tags left and a 20 inch ten pointer ran by then at 15 yards? My buddy killed 2 bucks earlier in the season and was saving one for the big one. Well last week he shot what he thought was a doe that ended up being a 4 point. That left him with only doe left to kill. The last day of the season he was in his stand and 11 deer took off out of the woods heading right towards him. He could see the big buck near the rear of the pack of deer so at 100 yards he stood up to try and turn the buck towards the guy next ot him. The buck and the rest of the deer ran right at him and past by him at 15 yards. He did not shoot and most of the guys at the club told him that he did good not to shoot. There were ar few that said he should have shot the buck and they would have covered for him. I agree with the way he did it, he will be bigger next year, do not risk getting in trouble with the law and the club.

A poacher. Plain and simple.

Absolutly NO! That is what the law calls POACHING! He went by the rules, he was correct.

In ohio it is unlawfull to tag a deer someone else shot. I think in other states it is ok. If your state is like ohio(most likley)it would be illegal.

I would have done just what he did and dreamt about him the rest of the year.

In WI, with gun, group hunting is allowed under certain conditions. That is, it is legal for you to shoot a deer for another hunter's tag. The other hunter has to be hunting with you at the time.Of course, the rule is stretched past the limit by many. Bottom line, you have to work it out ahead of time with the other members of your group. If you haven't had the discussion, you can't shoot.

You couldn't legally take the deer, so why shoot it?

Just like everyone else said. You don't have a buck tag, don't shoot a buck. I'd question the ethics of the ones in your club that said he should have shot the buck.

Yeah, it was some of the younger sons of the members. They were just showing off to the other young guys around the fire barrel.

Don't break the law. It is a simple principle of action. I guess I'm more a stickler for the bigger issues -- shooting a buck without a tag -- than about smaller issues -- shooting at ducks 5 minutes before official shooting light, but pretty much the best policy is to follow the letter of the law to the full extent of your understanding. I think sometimes we may be in violation without really understanding it on some of the small niggling details.

For example . . . I figured out from a close reading of Colorado hunting regulations that it would be a violation to be hiking in with a loaded rifle, in the dark, with your headlamp on. The way I read the regulations, this would be viewed by the authorities as hunting for big game with a light and outside of legal shooting hours -- spot lighting game. I do this in Oklahoma while hunting deer all the time -- load up the rifle at the truck, including chambering a round; hiking into my chosen ambush spot in the dark, probably 50 minutes before legal shooting light using a head lamp; and then sitting quietly and motionlessly until legal shooting light. Nothing so explicit in the Oklahoma regulations that forbids this.

I don't think there will be one, single reply here for anyone that says they would shoot that buck.
That question was asked witha known answer.

Who would ever say..."I would shoot it, I would break the law"?

And most folks here would be absolutely right beause they are law-abiding, ethicalhunters.