royalkangaroo

Hey all, brand new to the forum. I've been hunting in Vermont for 7 years now, taken two deer over that time. This past weekend during our muzzleloader season, I was hunting a distant relative's property for the first time. One other gentleman was hunting there as well whom I actually bumped into on my way through the woods.

Around 8:30am, I had a line of doe come through and I placed a shot on the largest one I saw. About 60 seconds later I heard a shot presumably from the other hunter. As I got up to track the doe, I came upon him standing with the deer down about 50 yards from where I had shot.

My shot was a little far back, puncturing the diaphram and grazed the stomach from what I could tell. (Maybe a bit of lung? There was a pretty heavy bright blood trail) His shot was on the spine at the base of the neck.

We were both unsure what to do next. After a friendly conversation, dressing the deer together, and some hem and hawing, I decided to offer up the deer for him to tag.

Seems that this is a coin toss situation. Some people I talk to say first blood should take the harvest (within a reasonable distance), others say kill shot. I'm curious of your folks' input!

rockport

I'd say being your first time on the property you handled it properly.

I'd try to open up some communication the other guy so it don't happen again.

davidg

oh that's your deer.But both being grown men I think y'all can work it out..he should have enough class to admit he was just shortening your tracking job..now..hypothetically if that had been a trophy buck , and I were in your position, we might have an issue

Oldtimr

DavidG the First bullet in a deer doesn't make it yours, if it is still moving through the woods and not down it can still be legally put down by another hunter. The law says the deer belongs to the person who inflicts the mortal wound which allows them to take possession. In this case, it was the 2nd hunter who did that. Now I have no problem with them working it out the way they did but the 2nd guy would have had every right to tag the deer and it wasn't his deer, as you said..

davidg

hi OT..not doubting what you're saying about the law as I know you are affiliated w/ dnr...don't know where you are but in Georgia , it doesn't talk about that in our regs.. and I also know there are laws that aren't in the regs you get over the counter @ wally world.. and I also know it is a whole different world up north .. if you don't do nothin but watch n. woods law on tv u know that

flags

I've never seen it with a deer but have seen it with elk. Probably best to work it out on a case by case basis. After all there is a world of difference between a muscle hit or a gut shot where an animal can cover distance and a lung shot with a 200 yard dash. Like I said, case by case basis but speaking personally I'd have no issue letting the other guy keep it. That just means more hunting time for the Chief.

davidg

great point and I have to say a law like OT said would be a tiebreaker..that's good .. sounds like the op made a lethal shot and I think he should have it , but in other cases we'd have to bring in a veterinary surgeon and diagnose.. hey royal k keep your tag and go get'em...ain't this fun

mrbb

I agree with oldtimr
typically its the last shot in it that gets it
and I agree with Flags, I just get to hunt more then too!
I have been on the other side of this a few times over the yrs
where a guy shot a deer, deer ran, and ended up where I could see it, and laid down
I waited for guy to show up tracking deer,(10+ minutes) and they never came,(one time even seen them just walk the other way,a nd I even yelled to them where the deer was at?)
so I ended up shooting them and using my tag on a deer I really didn;t want,
even did this once on a very expensive hunt in Alberta Canada!, but right thing to do for ME was put the animal down and ends its suffering!!

rockport

Ive been on both sides with nice bucks both times and both times I let the other guy have the deer.

Like I said earlier if you are sharing private property and you are the new guy make sure you are not just 50 yards away from others. It sounds like things went pretty well IMO.

The deer might be legally yours but the last thing you want is to show up for the first time, setup 50 yards from the guy that has been hunting there and have a big stink over a deer.

royalkangaroo

All good points, I agree with each of them. In my defense, this hunter did actually move closer to me than where I originally ran into him. (not sure why)

Each scenario is certainly a case by case basis, especially since there's no regulation that I can find up here in VT. I do believe I would have had no trouble recovering the deer with my first shot, and if my situation and the other hunter's were reversed, I would've had no hesitation giving up the deer as the 2nd shooter.

Regardless, at the end of the day there was no argument and the deer was harvested quickly. It also built a good relationship for the next time I hunt at that location.