This situation happened to someone I know a few years ago. He had drawn a doe permit, and being primarily a meat hunter he had decided to take a doe if given the opportunity. While he was still-hunting along a thick cedar swamp, movement caught his eye and he turned to see a nice doe standing broadside to him. He quickly raised his rifle and fired, and the deer dissapeared into the thicket. He walked over to where the deer had been, and there it was lying dead on the ground. He then saw another doe leaning up against a tree, obviously wounded. He was a bit confused until he realized that his bullet must have gone through the first doe and struck the other one which he never saw. Not wanting to see the animal suffer, he finished it with a shot to the head. He was only allowed one deer, so what he did was technically illegal. He was very shook up - being a law-abiding hunter he was extremely guilt stricken, but at the same time thought what he had done was best. I honestly think I would have done the same.......what would you have done?

1st law of pulling the trigger, Identify your Target....

Now, unfortunately, a second doe was wounded. Yes, he did the right thing by dispatching the second doe and not letting her go off wounded....but wouldn' t the right thing then be to turn it in....

Owning an outfitting business, I have to keep my nose very clean which I' ve been raised in the hunting industry to do anyway...yes, finishing the second illegally shot doe was the right answer, turning it in would have been the next step.

Shouldn' t that read; Identify your target and beyond? It could just as easy of been a hunter beyond, watching the doe he just passed on, walk by.

It should be made clear that he did indeed identify the target, and it was not possible for him to see the deer standing directly behind the other. This was in the thick Maine woods, in a cedar/spruce thicket to be exact. It is often not possible to see more than 20-30 yards in this kind of hunting situation.

As far as turning the deer over to wildlife officials afterwards, yes that would maybe be the " right" thing to do, but it would be a gamble as to whether the warden(s) would be understanding or not. He may have been lucky and had a down-to-earth warden just take the illegal deer and give it to a needy family or homeless shelter and tell him to be on his way. On the other hand, he may have had one who goes strictly by the book take both deer and his hunting license and his gun. They could even take his vehicle by state law if they wanted to. These are the things he had to consider when deciding his course of action. Of course, if he had gotten caught trying to hide the illegal animal it would have made the consequences that much worse.

Would any of you have done what the law says you should do and leave the animal there to suffer while you left and tried to find a game warden? I think it' s really tough to say if anything would have been the " right" thing to do in this situation, but I' d love to hear some more opinions.

You might have been further ahead to not post this question on here. you are going to get all kinds of answers on what you should have done, but in reality, most of us would have done what your buddie did. taking a chance with a game warden these days leaves a lot to be desired. i have shot two deer with one shot at least five times, one time the buck was running and i got it and one behind it, another time there were 12 deer standing together, i shot the buck and got a doe also. i knew what i was shooting at, but could not see the one behind when i shot. that is the price you pay for ammo that passes through an animal. the only difference between your friends story and mine, is i was hunting with four other guys at the time, we were not restricted on bucks or does, and someone else tagged the animal.

Well I realized it was a touchy subject when I posted, so I kind of expected some people to say he never should have shot and so on and so on. I also notice a lot of people tend to think in terms of their own hunting situations, which can be drastically different from others. That is understandable, and I think we are all guilty of this at one time or another.

I' d still love to hear some more replies - try to put yourself in that situation and think " What would I do?" Be honest now

Lee,


I don' t want to start a fight with you, one time I can see, 2 maybe, but 5 times! If you' re hunting with a firearm it is your responsibility to be sure there is a clear area behind your target.



You are coming onto a public site and admitting to violating a cardinal rule of hunting safety not once but 5 times. You couldn' t see what was within several yards of these deer, do you have any idea what was in the distance behind them?

Split-Hoof, Your friend did the right thing by finishing the job. Everyone makes mistakes and sometimes things happen but the ethical thing to do is inform the game warden. Hopefully he learns from this.


Travis

FFTJ, not only did he learn from it, but it completely changed his whole perspective on hunting. He was and is a very ethical and responsible hunter, and having to kill two deer made him very emotional. He still does hunt, but only to get out in the woods and enjoy nature. He has not killed a deer since then, and this was over 10 years ago. Killing a deer was never his main reason for hunting, but now it almost seems he tries to avoid shooting one at all. He loves to watch the wildlife and just enjoy his time in the woods. I actually learned a lot from his experiences, and have a great amount of respect for him. If only more hunters shared his views, the woods wood be much safer and enjoyable for all I believe.

Split Hoof Is this the reply you wanted to hear? Tag the first Doe, on your way to the check station drop it off home unless stopped , then take the tag for the doe and go back and use it on the second doe only this one you take to the check station. One thing for sure the meat should never be wasted. Glad he learned his lesson as Some people evidently don' t.

jersey - I wasn' t looking for any certain reply, just honest answers, but yes that maybe would have been a good way to go about it. Of course the most honest thing to do would have been taking the deer to the wildlife officials, but as I said before that would have also involved much risk.

I' m starting to think I really shouldn' t have posted this......it seems many of you are looking at it like he did something wrong, when in fact it was an honest mistake that could have happened to anyone.