What would you do?
Whitetail Deer
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What would you do in this situation? Cracks me up he called it the “hunt of a lifetime “.
Good story but wouldn’t describe it as “hunt of a lifetime”.
Saw an antler off of the live one and hopefully watch him walk off.
Huh. I'm right there with him. I'd call it a hunt of a lifetime. Won't have that happen again in a lifetime. Which is my definition of the hunt of a lifetime.
As far as shooting vs not I'd shoot if legal. Flame away. We all hunt for our own reasons. If you hunt because you want your kill to happen exactly the way you dreamed it up in your head that's totally fine. I personally just take them however they come. They are wild animals and I like the variability. You're hunting a mature whitetail that rarely slips up and you are waiting for a slip. Guess what - here's your slip laying on a platter. If the same buck came by after 4 days of running does so tired he can hardly stand and following a hot doe and he's got no idea you are in a tree and only thinking about the doe in front of him almost anyone would whack it without a second thought. I guess I'm just too simple to see the ginormous difference. A coyote doesn't care if he runs a deer down or if he comes upon it with a leg stuck in the mud. Shooting a locked buck with a bow is still harder than shooting a deer on a corn field with a rifle and no one's got any ethical issues with that. Seems like hunting today is so far from reality. It's getting to be more of a "sporting" event to many. So far removed from what it once was. I've also got no issue with the guy that wants to free the live animal. That's fine too. If they were bucks I didn't want to shoot I'd prob risk limb to free it as well.
Who knows, maybe if it actually happened to me I'd feel different but I don't think so. My dream is to shoot a great buck or bull while it is fighting with a bow. I just think it would be an epic experience.
Hunt like you're hungry ;)
"My dream is to shoot a great buck or bull while it is fighting with a bow. "
I know what you _mean_ but that conjures up an image ;-)
I would call the game warden and see if there was an option to sedate the live one vs doing my dangest to chainsaw one side off the live buck.I wouldn't even consider shooting the live one,to each his own.
Absolutely a hunt of a lifetime. Hunt of a thousand lifetimes!
No brainer for me. I'd cut him loose somehow and hunt him another day.
Our local game warden carried some 20 gauge slug rounds and when he was called on these he would blow off an antler of one of the bucks, problem over.
I think I’d get close and try and shoot the dead bucks antlers off with the rifle. I would get zero satisfaction shooting a locked up buck. To me that would be no different then driving a boat up to a swimming deer and shooting it point blank.
It’s funny, after thinking about it more I think there is an engrained issue in our minds about shooting a helpless animal. I’d prob have a hard time with it if the thing was plumb wore out. I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t know what I would do lol. Too many factors. All I know is I wouldn’t judge anyone.
And it’s still my dream to shoot a great buck or bull while they are fighting. But in that dream they’re not locked.
“by the book”
Which one? Pretty sure that neither PY not BC recognizes an animal if it’s ability to escape is impaired, such trapped in deep snow or mud or a fence. Not Fair Chase. This is no different.
On the other hand, I have seen video of hunters who have helped animals to get off of a frozen lake, fallen through the ice or out of a mud-hole. It’s usually good PR for hunting when that happens.
It was legal, arguably the “humane” thing to do, but in no way “sporting”. Maybe he would have been able to take one or both in that same year had they not been locked up, but certainly no guarantee.
Not only not the “Hunt of a Lifetime”, not even a hunt. Just a kill.
Killing the live buck wouldn't even enter my mind. I'd do anything possible to try to free the antlers. Easier said than done, though, especially if the live one had recovered some energy. Genesis' idea of tranquilizing the live buck is probably the best idea.
Matt
I’d probably try to free the live one also. The problem with this situation is that many times they are free’d only to go off and die shortly thereafter due to exposure. They’ve drained all their abilities to fight off the elements or hungry coyote
I guess I would need to evaluate the living participants before I made any decision
Shot a mulie buck years ago that was was locked up. Only thing left of the other buck was the head and a strip of hide. He was moving just fine across a CRP field when I first spotted it.
If I saw a so called "target buck" it wouldn;t matter to me whether it was locked up or walking- if I had a tag, I am shooting. But then, I am a simple country boy and very rarely take the time to think philosophically about these sort of things! ;-)
Seriously, with all the scrutiny nowadays even with in the hunting community, If I were to kill a trophy or in this case a locked trophy I would just keep it to myself.
So if you free the animal and the next time it smells your scent and wants to come nuzzle you thanks because you're his hero and you drain an arrow through his lungs how sucky is that. Just playing with his emotions.
Another sucky deal is when you work to let him go and find the carcass later because he didn't have enough left in the tank to make it through. Would have been more ethical to end it so he didn't have to suffer?
Apauls, you mean like pulling a thorn from a Lions paw only to kill him later? Sorry just thought of that story from your first paragraph.
Very situational for me. If it’s those two deer and those are the two biggest deer in hunting then I likely shoot the 8. If I have other big deer to hunt then maybe I go get a saw. It also depends on what I’m doing. Hunting with a bow in hand maybe I shoot the 8. If I’m in my truck driving through the pasture I’d probably get a saw. Don’t blame a hunter either way.
I'd rather free the live buck, and find it dead later, then kill it while locked up and defenseless. It would be a different story, if the live buck had sustained obvious fatal wounds, but the article doesn't mention that. It said the live buck was still dragging the dead one thru the stubble field. But, only God and the hunter knows what the true story is.
Matt
“ I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t know what I would do lol”
Most honest answer yet!
I think Longbeard is right that the buck would be likely to die from the stress, but I think I’m with GG; I suppose I’d just as soon give him the chance. It’s not as if I would feel any greater sense of accomplishment than if I were to put down a deer that had been hit by a car, so given a rifle and an opportunity…
I don’t know if there is a formal policy on this anywhere, but I have always been under the impression that that tranq darts would not be used during or close to a season, just because of the potential for someone eating an animal that had drugs in its system. That’s also a pretty good argument against contraceptive drugs being used in huntable populations.
every animal ever killed was the result of hunter and hunted being in the right place at the right time in the case of the hunter and the wrong place at the wrong time in the case of the animal. Don't make it out to be something other than that.
Corax, my understanding is that (here in MA ) they will not use tranqs if there is any chance the animal might be consumed by hunters. This is from talking with state wildlife biologists.
A bear that needs to be relocated during hunting season in-state (OR if the season is open in a neighboring state) will be destroyed.
Not sure what policy other states follow.
That’s what I was recalling, I think…. Pretty sure it was a young bear that got put down just outside of Denver because it was too close to the season.
But better that DOW gets a salvage.
There is a well known hunting story about an archer who had backed a mountain goat onto a rocky point, and then walked away from shooting it as he believed that it was no longer Fair Chase. As defined by Boone and Crockett..."it is the ethical, sportsman like and lawful pursuit and taking of any free ranging wild game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper or unfair advantage over the game animal."
As we know already know the term "situation ethics", and ethical behavior is colored by perspective, the above comments accurately reflect the cultural "wiggle room" that we have allowed. Take a moment and think about Fair chase and your image of yourself and the image that this story conveys to the nonhunting population.
I would have broken off the live bucks antler and use the carcass tag for the other buck, To me this is no different than finding a dead deer and I would definitely celebrate the animal but I wouldn't call it a hunt. But if it is legal and the guy is happy I wish him well.
If I wanted to shoot a locked up animal and tag it then I would. If I didn’t want to shoot it then I wouldn’t. Pretty simple. I probably wouldn’t even try to free it. It is what it is. As for shooting a defenseless animal. Doesn’t bother me at all. I killed 13 1400lb defenseless animals yesterday in a box.
I know for me it would be a big downer to encounter that situation. Honestly don’t know what I would do. Probably call the game warden and ask about the probability of freeing the live buck and then go from there based on his recommendation.
Woulda…shoulda….coulda…..amazing!!