What would you do?

[NOCK NOCK]

Late archery, driving up a road and pass a vehicle that is parked on side of road in what most would consider an odd spot to park. (had been there for 10 minutes) driver in seat.   You get past the rig by about 100 yards and see a decent buck within your bow range. The buck is limping pretty good and appears to have an issue with a front leg (It is moving along though)
Quick assessment tells you the buck has been hit by a hunter. 

Do you shoot, or carry on your way?
 

I experienced this scenario today and did what I thought was the right thing. Well hindsight is 20/20 and now am thinking I made the wrong call.

Curious how others would handle this?

[Timberstalker]

I think I would’ve went back and asked them if they had shot a buck. Then go from there.

[Boss .300 winmag]

I think I would’ve went back and asked them if they had shot a buck. Then go from there.

 

[addicted1]

I'd probably take the shot or at least make my move, assuming everything is legal and above board.

[Fidelk]

If I had a valid tag and wanted the deer, I would have taken a shot. The regs are clear that the deer belongs to the hunter who puts in the kill shot. What do you think was going on?

[Tbar]

Take the shot.  Sort out the rest later,  deer limp for a lot of reasons.  If they shot it first I'd have zero issue handing the buck over. If not you capitalized on some luck.

[Sakko300wsm]

Put the wounded animal down asap period. If it’s his feel free to give it to him or just take it for yourself. Animal comes first always!

[millerwheeler]

So am I reading this right most of you say shoot it out from under the other guy? What if he is waiting for it to get into range ? I mean seams like a POS move .

[Sakko300wsm]

So am I reading this right most of you say shoot it out from under the other guy? What if he is waiting for it to get into range ? I mean seams like a POS move .

Believe he said the guy way sitting in his truck for 10 mins or so ?? If he was the shooter  - get the *censored* done!

[Encore 280]

Sitting in his truck 100 yards or so away from the animal? Doesn't sound like he was too interested in it if he in fact he knew it was there. 

[Buzzsaw461]

 Exactly

So am I reading this right most of you say shoot it out from under the other guy? What if he is waiting for it to get into range ? I mean seams like a POS move .

Believe he said the guy way sitting in his truck for 10 mins or so ?? If he was the shooter  - get the *censored* done!

[Fidelk]

So am I reading this right most of you say shoot it out from under the other guy? What if he is waiting for it to get into range ? I mean seams like a POS move .

My elk camp group had a spike run through camp and one member put a round through it. When the blood trail was being followed, the guys following it bumped the spike as it was laying down. It jumped up and ran off and was shortly after shot and killed as it crossed a dirt road. The guys who shot and claimed it had driven to the area after hearing the initial gun shot. Not a POS move.......our guys knew the rules and after discussion agreed that the other crew had the right to claim it. Didn't mean that we liked it. Our guys should have waited before following and let it bleed out where it was laying.

[LDennis24]

You should have jumped out and emptied your quiver on it then looked at that other guy and told him to beat it! Held your bow up with one hand and screamed "America!"

[Tbar]

Put the wounded animal down asap period. If it’s his feel free to give it to him or just take it for yourself. Animal comes first always!

I've seen it happen way too many times.  Take the shot when it's there. It's the right thing to do. If it's hit,  congratulate the hunter and move on. If not,  tag it and bring it home.  Wound loss is a real thing and hurts allocation. Not a POS move at all.

[bigmacc]

Put the wounded animal down asap period. If it’s his feel free to give it to him or just take it for yourself. Animal comes first always!

if the animal is moving and wounded and the “other guy” is sitting in his rig watching a different area apparently, I would kill the animal first. I would then walk or drive back to the truck and ask him what was up, if he said something like, oh just taking a snooze, just got back to the rig after a good hike etc then I’d go back and tag the animal. If he said he’d taken a shot and wounded one then I’d let him know the situation. He may say, it’s yours, you put the kill shot in him or he may be “one of those guys”, I’ve experienced both. Both times, in my mind I did the right thing, I put down the wounded animal and I let a hunter know who I thought may have wounded it.

[NOCK NOCK]

Put the wounded animal down asap period. If it’s his feel free to give it to him or just take it for yourself. Animal comes first always!

I've seen it happen way too many times.  Take the shot when it's there. It's the right thing to do. If it's hit,  congratulate the hunter and move on. If not,  tag it and bring it home.  Wound loss is a real thing and hurts allocation. Not a POS move at all.

This is what I should have done in hindsight.  I carried on without shooting. In the past I had guys jump in front of me on a deer I wounded and messed up my stalk. (It was eventually taken by another hunter)
It started to grate on me that I didn't try to put it down, so I went back, looked for 1/2 hour trying to locate it, no luck.   
I learned....
The guy in truck was just watching, not the shooter, who was 1/4 mile away on wrong side of canyon, and fairly certain he had no idea where the buck was/went to.

[Brushcrawler]

Hindsight is 20/20, it sounds like you made what you thought was the right call at the time. I think that is the best anyone can do.

[LDennis24]

Aside from the screaming and acting a fool joke. If it was me and the other guy wasn't reacting to it like he was pursuing it I would do like everyone else is saying and I would shoot it. Then deal with the other guy.   

[blackveltbowhunter]

If an animal is in bow range and one I would like to take, I shoot. The only exception is I KNOW another hunter is setup on said critter.

[Dark2Dark]

I would definitely shoot it and go from there.

If you pass up the chance so the other guy can finish it off, decent chance it wanders off and nobody gets it.

By shooting it you are doing right by the animal and doing the first shooter a favor. If it turns out there is no first shooter or they’ve given up, you’re in look.

In my opinion, even if an injured animal isn’t up to your standards, if it’s legal, the ethical thing is to use your tag on it. Letting it suffer because it’s not big enough is brutal.

[jeffro]

 
If you see a legal animal that is obviously wounded
It is a moral responsibility to take it. Period
Animals deserve that

[NOCK NOCK]

Agree that I should have taken the shot and am very much regretting I didn't. It was just a weird deal with a guy sitting there watching. Something told me not to shoot......don't know why cause normally I would've.
It was very open country, I will be back there on Sunday, so going to spend a couple hours on the glass to see if I can turn it up again. The guy watching it said he thought front leg was most likely broken so it prolly won't go too far (it was getting along and covering ground when I last saw it)


On a different note, earlier in the day I saw one of those bucks your'e pretty sure is legal at first sighting, but because it had some branches camo'ing his antlers was not 100% sure. Instead of nocking an arrow first like I SHOULD do, i put the bino's up, WRONG move.  Was definitely more than legal, just as I drew back on him he started moving and never stopped. UGH   Was a day of wrong choices 

[dilleytech]

I would have got out and shot it. If I killed it I would then determine which arrow really did the job and if the other guy had shot it or not. I wouldn’t mind giving an animal up to someone if my shot was unnecessary but it would be fun to have helped seal the deal for the guy at least.

[highcountry_hunter]

If this deer had been shot in the leg then I’d assume Aram Von Benedikt was hot on its trail


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Fidelk]

I agree with the ethics of putting down a wounded or injured deer. I've tagged one and was hunting with a buddy who also tagged one. Neither deer was what we were after but it was the correct thing to do. Even though we hunt these animals with the intent to kill some of them, I think we care about them and would prefer that they not suffer. Buuuuuuuuuut.........read on.

https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/11/23/mercy-killing-wyoming-big-game-is-illegal-unless-you-have-a-hunting-tag/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&_kx=YQEtCyFNlK5CU6KRoBi7QAv7Im2BIMHZVmCR7mFy-YI%3D.UXPtrV

[hunter399]

I know I'm black sheep ,HW member now.....

But I do have a story I heard from a friend of a friend,co worker deal.
I'll keep this short as possible.

Hunter shoots deer ,tracks deer,unable to recover deer,weak blood trail, private property, whatever.
Recovery hunter finds deer next day dead. Tags deer.
First hunter is still active grid searching.
Both hunters end up talking,the recovery hunter gives the first hunter some BS story. Basically would never tell the truth.
Cause he would never want anyone to know his tag was notched on an already dead deer  .
The recovery hunters leaves the first hunter grid searching for a deer that has been found and tagged.
The deer was only shot one time by the first hunter.

The first hunter was left with nothing, no information where deer was found,grid searching, Stopped searching after talking with the recovery hunter .
Recovery hunter got the deer, will never say a word to anyone.
Look at that deer,remind him that he will never be as good of hunter as the first hunter.



What do you guys think of a whopper story like that .
This story is about ten years old.
It's an old one that always reminds how hunters are never friends among hunters.
I believe the moral of the story,still rings true today.
Even if it is a ten year old story.

[dilleytech]

I know I'm black sheep ,HW member now.....

But I do have a story I heard from a friend of a friend,co worker deal.
I'll keep this short as possible.

Hunter shoots deer ,tracks deer,unable to recover deer,weak blood trail, private property, whatever.
Recovery hunter finds deer next day dead. Tags deer.
First hunter is still active grid searching.
Both hunters end up talking,the recovery hunter gives the first hunter some BS story. Basically would never tell the truth.
Cause he would never want anyone to know his tag was notched on an already dead deer  .
The recovery hunters leaves the first hunter grid searching for a deer that has been found and tagged.
The deer was only shot one time by the first hunter.

The first hunter was left with nothing, no information where deer was found,grid searching, Stopped searching after talking with the recovery hunter .
Recovery hunter got the deer, will never say a word to anyone.
Look at that deer,remind him that he will never be as good of hunter as the first hunter.



What do you guys think of a whopper story like that .
This story is about ten years old.
It's an old one that always reminds how hunters are never friends among hunters.

Sounds like a story and one side of it at that. Maybe it was the first hunters deer, maybe the guy did just throw a tag on a dead deer, regardless you leave a deer on public land that you lost you can’t  be surprised to find out someone else found it. The first guys very easily would have never found it and in that case in this story the second guy is the good guy.

[KNOPHISH]

I’m thinking one guy waiting in truck and watching for it to cross the road while his partner is following up and tracking the deer?

[hunter399]

I know I'm black sheep ,HW member now.....

But I do have a story I heard from a friend of a friend,co worker deal.
I'll keep this short as possible.

Hunter shoots deer ,tracks deer,unable to recover deer,weak blood trail, private property, whatever.
Recovery hunter finds deer next day dead. Tags deer.
First hunter is still active grid searching.
Both hunters end up talking,the recovery hunter gives the first hunter some BS story. Basically would never tell the truth.
Cause he would never want anyone to know his tag was notched on an already dead deer  .
The recovery hunters leaves the first hunter grid searching for a deer that has been found and tagged.
The deer was only shot one time by the first hunter.

The first hunter was left with nothing, no information where deer was found,grid searching, Stopped searching after talking with the recovery hunter .
Recovery hunter got the deer, will never say a word to anyone.
Look at that deer,remind him that he will never be as good of hunter as the first hunter.



What do you guys think of a whopper story like that .
This story is about ten years old.
It's an old one that always reminds how hunters are never friends among hunters.

Sounds like a story and one side of it at that. Maybe it was the first hunters deer, maybe the guy did just throw a tag on a dead deer, regardless you leave a deer on public land that you lost you can’t  be surprised to find out someone else found it. The first guys very easily would have never found it and in that case in this story the second guy is the good guy.

That's the catch to the story.
Is nobody ever knows. Cause no hunter would ever admit they tagged a dead deer or tell a soul where they found it.

I think it's just the moral of the story that still rings true.
Hunters are never friends amongst themselves.
From a very old hunting story.

[Fidelk]

Look at that deer,remind him that he will never be as good of hunter as the first hunter.

Looking at this from another angle. To be a "good hunter", a person would need to be able to enter the hunting area (1), spot the deer (2), position himself for the shot (3), make the shot (4), hike on over to tag the deer (5) and drag the deer out of the hunting area (6).

The first hunter accomplished (1-3) and only partially accomplished (4) resulting in a wounded animal. The hunter who tagged the animal simply skipped steps (1-4) and completed the task via steps (5-6). To me an essential part of being a good hunter is to actually find the animal that you shot at and hit. Emphasis on finding. Neither hunter qualifies as being good in this situation.

Unethical to let people go on searching for something that you know isn't out there when you know where it is, namely in your possession. And who knows if the guy with the horns on the wall experiences shame or pride when he looks at them.

 

[hunter399]

All I know is that's the way it was told to me.
Best part deer didn't get wasted.
Just a story,I'm out.

[dilleytech]

I know I'm black sheep ,HW member now.....

But I do have a story I heard from a friend of a friend,co worker deal.
I'll keep this short as possible.

Hunter shoots deer ,tracks deer,unable to recover deer,weak blood trail, private property, whatever.
Recovery hunter finds deer next day dead. Tags deer.
First hunter is still active grid searching.
Both hunters end up talking,the recovery hunter gives the first hunter some BS story. Basically would never tell the truth.
Cause he would never want anyone to know his tag was notched on an already dead deer  .
The recovery hunters leaves the first hunter grid searching for a deer that has been found and tagged.
The deer was only shot one time by the first hunter.

The first hunter was left with nothing, no information where deer was found,grid searching, Stopped searching after talking with the recovery hunter .
Recovery hunter got the deer, will never say a word to anyone.
Look at that deer,remind him that he will never be as good of hunter as the first hunter.



What do you guys think of a whopper story like that .
This story is about ten years old.
It's an old one that always reminds how hunters are never friends among hunters.

Sounds like a story and one side of it at that. Maybe it was the first hunters deer, maybe the guy did just throw a tag on a dead deer, regardless you leave a deer on public land that you lost you can’t  be surprised to find out someone else found it. The first guys very easily would have never found it and in that case in this story the second guy is the good guy.

That's the catch to the story.
Is nobody ever knows. Cause no hunter would ever admit they tagged a dead deer or tell a soul where they found it.

I think it's just the moral of the story that still rings true.
Hunters are never friends amongst themselves.
From a very old hunting story.

Interesting, I find every hunter I interact with in the woods is in some way a friend of only for a moment.

I would tell people if I tagged a deer someone lost. Specially if it’s a decent animal on the last day and I’m ready to quit hunting just to legally salvage the rack even though the meats bad.

[OutHouse]

Agree that I should have taken the shot and am very much regretting I didn't. It was just a weird deal with a guy sitting there watching. Something told me not to shoot......don't know why cause normally I would've.
It was very open country, I will be back there on Sunday, so going to spend a couple hours on the glass to see if I can turn it up again. The guy watching it said he thought front leg was most likely broken so it prolly won't go too far (it was getting along and covering ground when I last saw it)


On a different note, earlier in the day I saw one of those bucks your'e pretty sure is legal at first sighting, but because it had some branches camo'ing his antlers was not 100% sure. Instead of nocking an arrow first like I SHOULD do, i put the bino's up, WRONG move.  Was definitely more than legal, just as I drew back on him he started moving and never stopped. UGH   Was a day of wrong choices 

There isn't a true right or wrong answer here; thus, nothing wrong with what you did. I would be careful as well with a guy sort of posted up on the deer in his truck like that. I've never had to deal with a two different hunters and one deer down situation, but I would be really hesitant, at least initially, to shoot a deer recently wounded by another hunter who may be in pursuit, simply because of the potential confrontation that could happen over it even if well intended.     

[NOCK NOCK]

Agree that I should have taken the shot and am very much regretting I didn't. It was just a weird deal with a guy sitting there watching. Something told me not to shoot......don't know why cause normally I would've.
It was very open country, I will be back there on Sunday, so going to spend a couple hours on the glass to see if I can turn it up again. The guy watching it said he thought front leg was most likely broken so it prolly won't go too far (it was getting along and covering ground when I last saw it)


On a different note, earlier in the day I saw one of those bucks your'e pretty sure is legal at first sighting, but because it had some branches camo'ing his antlers was not 100% sure. Instead of nocking an arrow first like I SHOULD do, i put the bino's up, WRONG move.  Was definitely more than legal, just as I drew back on him he started moving and never stopped. UGH   Was a day of wrong choices 

There isn't a true right or wrong answer here; thus, nothing wrong with what you did. I would be careful as well with a guy sort of posted up on the deer in his truck like that. I've never had to deal with a two different hunters and one deer down situation, but I would be really hesitant, at least initially, to shoot a deer recently wounded by another hunter who may be in pursuit, simply because of the potential confrontation that could happen over it even if well intended.     

Agreed!  No right or wrong action, and that's a good description of why I didn't shoot because I figured the truck guy was a part of the action. Talked to him when I came back, is when I learned he had nothing to do with the deer, or shooter, he just saw the deer moving/limping and was watching it. He was not hunting.