Interesting Situation!!! How Would You React???

[5465]

not sure what everyones deer tag regulations are, but let's just say that everyones is just like ohio. here in ohio we are allowed 3 deer a year: first tag is an either sex, second and third is doe only, so that means only one buck a year. <ul type="square"> SITUATION: you're sitting in your stand on the last day of shotgun season, and things have never looked more promising. you passed up a couple 140 classers, a 150 class, and have seen 3-4 170-180 classers roaming you're hunting area. [/list] <ul type="square"> all during shotgun season you have seen plenty of bucks ranging from 120 to 160, and you were able to get glimpses of the 170-180 class bucks you've been thinking about all year, so seeing bucks has been no problem for you all season [/list] <ul type="square"> so now it is the last day of shotgun season and you know that atleast one of the "booners" in your hunting area, soon you spot him in the distance, too far to shoot. you watch the patch of woods he enters and he seems as if he hasn't been pressured. [/list] <ul type="square"> now that you have located his position and see that he is not being cautious from all the other hunters chasing him, you feel that your chances of a "spot-and-stalk" are a sure thing(even though we all know when it comes to whitetails nothing is a sure thing, just pretend). you climb out of your stand, your standing at the base of your tree getting your bearings, and putting the final touches to hunt before making the 800 yard stalk a success. [/list] <ul type="square"> you start your walk, you have made it 400 yards, you're out of breath, begging for water, pushing yourself for 180 inches of boone and crockett bone. you push yourself a little farther and the glass the patch of woods in which he is bedded. suddenly you spot him in your binoculars, laying there in in all his beauty and glory, he is absolutely clueless as to your whereabouts but still 300 more yards and you have to lose sight of him because you must make a semi-circle around a hill to the final destination, but going around the hill may give him a scent, and going over the top would chance a sighting of your outline. you think you can full him and take the chance of circling hoping the wind(although now swirling) might stay in your favor for just a few more minutes [/list] <ul type="square"> alright you've made it about 100 yards, 200 more to go, when suddenly a buck appears from out of nowhere in the same direction of the "booner". although nothing like the 180 inch "wallhanger", a lesser buck, you guess would score in the 120-130 range. the buck is absolutely clueless you anywhere around, it's in your head that he will pass without noticing you. [/list] <ul type="square"> suddenly as he nears your position coming right at you, he turns broadside at 50 yards. as he turns you notice the deer is in excrutiating pain, panting heavily, somewhat hunched back, fur missing off the hind quarters and neck, wounds standing wide open, rear leg wound has apparently been damaged, not sure what the wounds are from, maybe a run-in with a barbedwire fence, maybe a coyote but he is still up and moving but you can see that he is suffering tremendously, and you think to yourself how important ethical hunters are to you and how important it is to make a perfect shot so the animal does no suffering, yet there is one in front of you that is suffering terribly and you know he will die, the wounds appear very life threatening, it may look like he is about to fall over but there is a chance he may make it 3-4 more weeks and have to live in excrutiating pain for such a long period of time! [/list] <ul type="square"> you think to yourself man that deer needs to be put down but there is a record book buck just around the knull. this injured buck is not something you really want to put your tag on, because you are strictly a mature whitetail hunter due to the one buck tag only regulations. you say to yourself "i only got one tag for the year that leaves me eligible to take a buck, do i want to waste it on this buck or keep up my reputation for killing big whitetails," remeber the buck of a lifetime is just around the corner, you've done your homework, you've put your hole season together and done everything to a T, you have so far outsmarted a very mature whitetail, your feeling on top of the world right now, almost as if you don't deserve for this to happen you've done everything right, just a few more steps and you can take the biggest buck of your career and maybe the only chance to shoot something that the rest of your life, yet standing 50 yards away is a deer suffering beyond belief and who knows this may go on for 3-4 more weeks. WHAT WOULD YOU DO????? [/list]

• just thought i would see what ya'll would do in this situation. kinda makes you stop and think for a second, it sure made me think. i had a similar situation last fall when we were putting together a drive. we had spotted a monster laying in the brush devised a plan and for once i chose to be a stander. i knew for sure there was no way for this monster to slip around me, he would have to funnel right to my location, as the drive began a buck, a desent 8 pointer but young, appeared no more then 30 yards from me that had an injured leg(about the size of a softball at the hoof), foaming at the mouth, out of breath and several exposed wounds(probably a coyote) and appeared to have an old shot wound on his hind quarters. as soon as i seen the deer i knew it wasn't going to be long before it died, but right now it was suffering. but that monster was due to come by any second now. without any other thought i put the suffering 8 pointer down for good, one shot through the heart. at first i was somewhat dissapointed because the monster did come passed me at about 30 yards as i was walking up to the 8 pointer. but it took no time for me to feel proud of myself for doing what i did, even though some other hunter other then me did take the 186 inch 11 point on the property next to mine!
  

 

[Liv4Rut]

Call me greedy, but I would still go after the 180. If I blew that chance I would probably just pick up the trail of the other guy. Or maybe I would call up a buddy to come take down the other deer, who knows what I would do but if a 180 is there Im not gonna shoot a 120-130

 

[Scott]

Nature is a brutal place, animals suffer everyday. Deer are very capable of overcoming some severe injuries that may look life threatening to us. He could make it another year and Im not gonna decide that for him, besides, coyotes gotta eat to.

 

[Shredder]

Re: Interesting Situation!!! How Would You React??

As I read the last few sentences, I was thinking the same as both Liv4Rut and ScottIC. Not a realistice scenario for me anyways...I rarely have 3-4 170-180's in my immediate hunting area...and It would be hard pressed to se me out there with a shotgun as well. But anyways, the 180 would still be in my sights

 

[avidhunter]

First of all, if I had a shotgun in my hand I would be hunting pheasant, or turkey, and not deer

I probably would not have passed on the 150+ buck either, to be honest. But if I had seen several booners in the area, that definitely would have given me pause

I agree with the others, let nature take its course. Afterall, life's a savage garden you know...

 

[IADEERHUNTER]

Here in Iowa party hunting is allowed, I would have tried to take both bucks, of course I would have had to put my tag on the injured deer but the 180" deer would have been on the way to the taxidermist. Ethics are a very important part of hunting in my life, why let an animal suffer if I could do something to help it. Just what my 2 cents are...I guess that you would have to be in the situation first to really say what you would do.

 

[Tall_Tines]

still alot of factors that would play a role in my decision. it is one of those things that you never really know what you will do until the moment has come. either way you would feel terrible. so many questions. i would love to say that i would make the ethical choice, but i cant say for sure i wouldnt go after the bigger one. it is a tough situation that i hope i am never in.

 

[gundog870]

Survival of the fittest. I mean the coyotes gotta eat to. But if you have the "guts" (for lack of a better word) to put your tag on it the more power to ya. You should feel good about doing it but if someone didnt i wouldnt hold it against them either. Congrats on shooting the wounded one though, i'm sure he met just as much to you when the day was through.

 

[jasonswihart]

Reputation, your worried about reputation, you need to do the right thing and put the animal down. that is the problem with this sport alot of guys think they are better than others just because they shoot big deer. That is rediculious. It would never cross my mind that I may damage my reputation cause I didn't get a monster this year. If hunting were about reputation I would say that you should have a bad one cause you didn't shoot the wounded deer. Most hunters were brought up to do the right thing while in the woods and I think that more guys would think your a better hunter and person for shooting the wounded deer.

 

[Fletch]

Tough question, and Im not exactly sure what I would do until I was actually faced with the situation. But with that disclaimer, I would have to say I would probably continue after the B&amp;C after all its hunting not euthanasia. I do respect your decision to take the 8 at the expense of the big boy, though

 

[5465]

i should add that i also rarely see 3-4 180 inchers in my immediate hunting area, that was kinda hypethetically speaking, but i think ya'll caught on and understand what i was trying to get acrossed! thanx for the responses so far!

 

[PAHunter]

If that scenario was to play out,I'd keep the 180 class in my sights.Being I already passed on a couple 140 and 150 class,I'd have to stick to my goal.But if I was actually seeing bucks like that here,it would be more rewarding to arrow one of the 140-150 class bucks,then to gun hunt the 180 class.

 

[Liv4Rut]

right or wrong? That's what I love about these complicating posts, is it right to shoot a wounded deer and give up your dream or is it wrong to not pass up everything you dream of? Well my dream is someday to take a 180 class buck and I will not let that dream down easily. Some folks would think it is ethical to put down a wounded deer and some folks don't it's pure and simple, if everyone shot wounded deer half of us would be tagged out by the first 2 weeks of the season. Let's take this above scenario, lets say I do the supposed right thing, I shoot this buck with hair missing all over it, blood running down it, its panting and just plain looks sick. first thing I think of is, man that thing is nasty, second thing I think of is there is no way im eating that thing. third thing I do is tag the deer, hack of the horns and let the body sit to rot because I do not want whatever disease this deer may have since if it was a bullet wound that would not explain many things such as the loss of hair etc. So then I ask myself, was that the right thing to do? everyone preaches don't shoot what you are not gonna eat, so I blatantly just did that, shot it with no intention of eating it to end its so called suffering. Now is that right or wrong? Or I could pass on this deer, deer are as tough as nails, odds are this deer may come out of it and survive but nobody will know once I end it all. Then I could chase my lifelong dream of shooting a 180 class buck which is way more above a stupid reputation. For me it would be a self satisfying feat, of going out there and hunting a big mature buck 1 on 1 whos odds are in his favor 10:1 against mine, and that grew a rack bigger than most whitetails will ever reach. On this site I have met and talked to alot of different folks with different hunting backgrounds. I have not found one guy or gal that claims to shoot a 180 class buck every year, or for any matter a guy who brags about shooting a 150 class buck every year. which by deductive reasoning would lead me to believe these folks are not worried about their reputation and have to boost their ego by talking about deer they have harvested in the past. Plus I like deer steaks way too much to shoot a deer that may not be fit for consumption

and split g3 thanks for the thinker posts, it's great to see how everyone thinks differently

 

[alaskanwhtail]

My brother shot a small 8 and it had been hit by a car and half of its skull plate was dangling by the skin antler swinging freely and it had gang green all around its wound and begining around its eye. LIV4RUT, that meat tasted just fine, but like you said, he was tagged out. I myself, and had this scenerio, I would put the deer down and fined a tag that wasn't gonna be filled by someone I know. Ethicly its right, but its not legal in some areas, kinda like a proxy.

 

[bowmaker]

I find it very interesting how we justify things just because one set of horns are bigger than the other. The thought of "wasting" a tag on the smaller buck bothers me greatly. Where have we gotten to and how much further a jump is to the place where we shoot one deer and then leave it because we have a chance at a bigger rack? If coyotes have to eat why not let them have the one with the larger rack?
To futher complicate the question what if you had wounded a smaller deer and in tracking it seen the huge one? Would you leave the trail because deer are really tough and can recover or because critters have to eat, or because it is a savage world. I don't mean to anger anyone but I would like you to think about your initional responces and how they would sound to your children or the non-hunting public.

 

[SaskGuy]

I'll side with the guys that say Mother nature can be cruel and let it hobble off. We know it happens to deer out there all of the time. besides I wouldn't want to eat a deer like that and I'm not going to shoot a deer I can't eat. The only thing wrong with this scenario for me is the seeing him bed 800 yards away, that is impossible in Northern Saskatchewan, I'd be lucky spotting one bed 50 yards away where I hunt.

 

[jdavis]

I still can't get over there a 4 or 5 "booners" working on that farm ...I guess I would have to pinch myself so I could wake up!!!!!!!!

 

[muddy]

i'd pop the buck standing there wounded. did it a few years ago with the muzzleloader. buck was dragging its' back leg and was so skinney it's backbone was damn near through the hide. slapped the tag on it, drug it out, skinned it, decided that the green meat wasn't for me. everythign but the horns went into the dumpster. i had no second thoughts on pulling the trigger.

 

[River1]

Putting an animal down that is very sick or injured is always the RIGHT thing to do whether your ego tells you different or not. I doubt you'd find a CO that wouldn't issue you a new tag if you had shot something your not comfortable eating.

My brother shot a turkey a few years ago that had an infection of sorts. The meat was discolored and it looked as if it had been peppered with bird shot prior. The CO issued him a new tag after looking at the bird.

 

[simplesimon]

I would still pursue the 180" monster and hopefully shoot him and if the lame buck is still hanging around I would shoot him and have you tag him for me.

Just kidding.