Shoot? Or Don't Shoot? What would you do?
 

This is just a hypothetical question for everyone and I want your opinions.

You are hunting a stand of mature hardwoods in the early part of deer season with a high power rifle. It is mid-morning and you are sitting in a stand right along the edge of a river crossing. The river is also the property line. No fence or posted signs. A hefty 8 point appears on the other side, but does not apper to be crossing. He is checking a scrape line that runs parallel to the river, and is headed towards a bedding area. It is an old overgrown clear cut just 60 yards past the river. You have never seen or met anyone that hunts the other side, nor seen any stands. But you do hear the occasional ATV over there.

Would you take the shot ?

Would you tell your friends if you did?

Please be honest folks. We all know what the right thing to do is.
But that's not necessarily what we always do... including myself.
I would have a really hard time not taking that shot.

If you are a poacher then shoot. If you are a hunter that abides by the game laws then keep watching your legal hunting property. Later on you can find out who is the owner of the property across the river and seek legal permission to hunt there.

Three years ago I had a herd of elk that were within a hundred yards of me for hours. They finanlly moved on and bedded down about 500 yards from me. We could not shoot them because they were over the fence line. This one is a no brainer. You either have ethics and abide by the law or you or a criminal and a poacher and you don't. It's black and white.

I would shoot.I don't mean to imply the lack of posted signs is somehow a welcome one and all from the owner but there's a difference between shooting a deer on the line of un posted property and hunting all over the property as if it were your own.If the land is posted elsewhere-say along road frontage I would not shoot any deer anywhere as the owners intent on trespass is clearly known to me regardless of the lack of signs on the back/sides.

But the question was "Would YOU take the shot?" .


As stated before, we all know what is the right thing to do. I just want an idea of how alike some of us are.

Ethics. How about Hunter Ethics. Suppose you have ONE tag left and shoot a VERY nice 8 pointer. Your best deer ever. Before you can climb down from the stand, a HUGE 12 pointer walks up and stands over the downed 8 point. You know that this buck will make B&C. Do you shoot???

You only had 1 tag. If you shoot, what do you do with the "other" deer? You now have an illegal deer. Do you then lie to B&C to have it entered?

I know that my example was different than yours, but it still boils down to ETHICS !!! The true test of a man is "what he will do when no one is watching and he knows that no one will ever know but HIMSELF" !!!

well i know according to michigan law you can go onto unmarked private land you just if asked you have to tell the property owners who you are and leave if asked to leave so i guess according to michigans trespassing law you could take the shot

If I knew <as in your scenerio> the deer was not on the side of the river he/she's suppose to be on for me to legally shoot it, I would not shoot it. I believe that's what I would do, even if I was the only one to know.

I feel like this...

If I take the dirty shot once, what will stop me from taking another, even dirtier shot next time I'm out? I don't want to find out, even if I walk out of the woods empty handed.

I know I'm new to this sport and don't have the experience others here have but when I decided I wanted to hunt, being ethical was one of the first things the instructors taught me just last weekend. You don't shoot if it's possible the deer will die on private property and if it does, you call the game commision. That's your responsibility to the game, the private land owners and the sport.

That's my honest answer. :s4:

I would qualify you as a dumb hunter that set his stand up in a location that effectivly limits the amount of ground you are able to actually hunt. There are situations that maybe hungting a fence line is the only way you can hunt (my situation) but you said you were hunting a mature satnd of timber. In my opinion if a hunter puts his stand in a position where shooting on other property is an option when the hunter had other areas he could have put the stand that would not cause the situation to arise, then he willl most likely intends to take a shot if it is the right deer. You may not like the answer but that is my veiw of human nature.

Ethics and sportsmanship play a key role in what type of hunter or person you are. Taking the shot is just plain wrong.