WDFW LE Great Resource for HuntWA - Please Be Respectful

[Bob33]

"You can't shoot the animal after legal shooting hours if you found it alive,  you could expose yourself to a whole bunch of hunting violations  (think spotlighting, poaching..serious stuff)

Technically if you found the animal alive you are legally obligated to let it continue to suffer all night long and shoot it during legal hours the next morning, or call a WDFW officer to seek permission."

I once shot an elk and wounded it right at the end of legal shooting time. I tracked it for over an hour, after legal time, with a fliashlight and rifle. I found it by flashlight and shot it.

Legal or not it was the right thing to do.

[KFhunter]

Don't disagree with you there Bob33,  why I bolded that portion "let the animal suffer all night long".

but a guy should be aware what he's doing, even if it's the right thing ethically and morally.

[Bob33]

Don't disagree with you there Bob33,  why I bolded that portion "let the animal suffer all night long".

but a guy should be aware what he's doing, even if it's the right thing ethically and morally.

I understood the situation and made a decision based on the law and ethics. Apparently like few others on here, I had little concern of being cited for illegal hunting. I was confident that if I were stopped, an officer would understand that my decision was the right one based on that particular situation.

[KFhunter]

Don't disagree with you there Bob33,  why I bolded that portion "let the animal suffer all night long".

but a guy should be aware what he's doing, even if it's the right thing ethically and morally.

I understood the situation and made a decision based on the law and ethics. Apparently like few others on here, I had little concern of being cited for illegal hunting. I was confident that if I were stopped, an officer would understand that my decision was the right one based on that particular situation.

I do not share your confidence in that.   

You're wagering your gun, truck and some serious penlties and court dates that the responding officer believes you - or even cares too.

I'm not knocking our WDFW officers  -we have some really good ones-   but you're hanging your pecker out there and stretching it across a chopping block.

[idahohuntr]

I have been in similar situations...several years ago I was hunting with a guy who shot a bull near dark and broke its back.  Took us an hour to get over to the elk, which was down and could not run...but was very much alive and suffering.  We didn't spend one second considering any other option but finishing off the animal immediately.  It would be impossible to allow for an exception like this (shooting an animal after dark) without making it impossible/difficult to enforce night hunting/spot lighting...but I would hope an officer would exercise good judgement...this is another one I would be happy to take before a judge/jury if it ever came to that.

[Gringo31]

The hard part for me is that it seems the blatent serious poachers and law breakers get a slap but the guy just out hunting has to worry about this kind of crap.