Yep, I'd leave it at that and be glad it went that well.

There should have been better communication in the first place between everybody. The landowner, the other guy and yourself but thats over now and it went pretty well so now I'd just initiate better communication from now on. Not just because of shooting the same deer but because its a lot safer when your hunting around other people to have an idea of where they are and them have an idea of where you are.

I saw something about 18/20 years ago that showed me a 16 year old had some good parenting. I used to hunt a property that was a couple hundred acres of woods and Christmas tree farm. It was owned by the folks who own Coleman stove and gas lights. The manager of the property was a deputy at one time so a bunch of game commission folks were invited to hunt there in doe season to knock back the deer population, there usually were about 8 of us. We would do short silent drives alternating drivers and standers. One year their was a 16 yeard old boy hunting with us. We ended a drive and took a break in a christmas tree field along rt 501. While we were standing there talking we saw a doe on the other side of the road in the woods. It was just standing there. The boy and I walked across the road and stood at the gaurd cables looking at the doe that looked wounded by the way it was standing there. I told the boy to go ahead and take the deer and he put it on the ground with a good shot. We walked down to the deer and saw it had been gut shot. The boy was filling out his tag when an elderly man came hurrying down the steep wooded hill towards us and stopped by the deer. He told us he had been tracking the deer for over a quarter mile. The old boy was obviously worn out and over heated from following that deer for quite a while. The boy told the old guy it was his deer and to go ahead and tag the deer and he helped him gut the doe. After we left I told the boy that what he did was very adult for a 16 year old and a nice thing to do. The elderly man never would have caught up to that deer because he was just pushing it further and further away from him. There are not many men let alone 16 year old lads who would have done what he did.

Which is sad because it should be a no brainer.

2 sides to this story
one the BOY shot and killed a deer and didn;t tag it?
so isn't that an illegal kill?
according to the LETTER of the law?

I agree it was the old man's deer, but legally??? that should be an illegal kill NO??

Agree, kill shot gets the meat

But myself, I would have split it with the other hunter

No mrbbb it was not an illegal kill, it was obvious the animal was wounded by the old man. The boy was in the process of filling out his tag When he showed up on the scene and a decision was made by the boy to concede the deer belonged to the old man. They both had a bullet in the deer. The person who tags the deer is the legal possessor of the animal, the old man tagged the deer which made it legally his. Quite frankly I was proud of the boy and I never met him before that day.

I am sorry but I will have to dis agree, and know wardens that will too!
IF someone shoots and KILL a LIVE animal, its a KILL, and HE is supposed to tag it
that is how MANY fathers get arrested in PA for them shooting a deer and using there kids tag(even is said kid is with them
the hunting rules I read do NOT say, who tags the deer gets it, its WHO kills it that is legally responsible to TAG it
I call this a GREY area in life, but legally is legally, and the right thing to do again isn't always the LEGAL thing to do
if deer was alive when the kid shot it and dead afterwards, well KID killed the deer NOT the old guy
granted the deer might have died from old mans shot, but HE didn't kill it
he also tagged a deer he DIDN"T kill
by letter of the law, IF push came to shove

I;'m glad it went the way it did, but laws are laws!

after all the BOY killed the deer NOT knowing the guy was even coming??

Yeah I'd say you are wrong, both hunters shot the deer then the deer died. I think you are way over analyzing.

Based on comments regarding law-enforcement presence during that hunt I'd offer that if anything was amiss it would have been addressed properly. Kudos to that boy.