Sons valuable lesson learned (me too) and poachers. (long ready sorry)

[raydog]

Very valuable lesson. Good read, thanks for sharing. I hope your son doesn't get discouraged.

As far as Ai stuff, 

[C-Money]

The boy has ethics, His reaction shows the boy knows right from wrong and this was just a tough mistake, legally. Glad that poor little bull didn't suffer, but so sorry that your son did! Really frustrating reading about all the shooting the other "hunters" did. They sure created a mess that was cleaned up and punishment handed out to a kid who would have never shot that bull unless it was in the condition it was. Tough story to digest. Hope the boy didn't lose his hunting privileges. Save that punishment for the people who originally shot up the little bull.

[Timberstalker]

The boy has ethics, His reaction shows the boy knows right from wrong and this was just a tough mistake, legally. Glad that poor little bull didn't suffer, but so sorry that your son did! Really frustrating reading about all the shooting the other "hunters" did. They sure created a mess that was cleaned up and punishment handed out to a kid who would have never shot that bull unless it was in the condition it was. Tough story to digest. Hope the boy didn't lose his hunting privileges. Save that punishment for the people who originally shot up the little bull.

Well said!

[jamesfromseattle]

Some day your son will look back and be proud that you both did the right thing when nobody was watching. And you should be proud of the young man you raised.

Fish and game has discretion on how they handle these situations. I hope they use that discretion wisely. Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone tries to make them right. When people take responsibility for mistakes there needs to be some leniency, otherwise they’ll incentivize the next person to do the opposite.

[Limhangerslayer]

Sorry for the outcome for the OP.  I also hope this doesn’t keep your son from wanting to continue to hunt.  Good lesson learned and that’s what he can do is learn from it and go forward.

[millerwheeler]

Really appreciate the detail and time you put into sharing this. Be proud of your son. He did the right thing

[Rainier10]

Cleaned up.

The OP did a great job of giving all of the details and modifying his story isn’t needed.

[Bob33]

I’m sorry your son had to experience that. I suspect a pretty good chunk of long-term hunters have or have come close to shooting the wrong animal. I have.

It’s a painful lesson that he can learn and grow from.

Best wishes to your son and you.

[JohnVH]

Props for doing the right thing, Ive heard of people that would walk away from it and waste it.

[yakimanoob]

I’m sorry your son had to experience that. I suspect a pretty good chunk of long-term hunters have or have come close to shooting the wrong animal. I have.

It’s a painful lesson that he can learn and grow from.

Best wishes to your son and you.

Thanks for telling the story. Y'all did the right thing and I hope WDFW was as easy on your son as the law allows.

[Chesterdog]

Your story prompted a great discussion of similar experiences from the co-workers in my office today.  The biggest lessons in life often come from bad experiences.  Your kid took home something from that hunt far more valuable than meat.

[Dan-o]

I’m sorry your son had to experience that. I suspect a pretty good chunk of long-term hunters have or have come close to shooting the wrong animal. I have.

It’s a painful lesson that he can learn and grow from.

Best wishes to your son and you.

Thanks for telling the story. Y'all did the right thing and I hope WDFW was as easy on your son as the law allows.

 

Thank you for sharing.

[CackleBird98]

I had something very similar happen to me a couple years ago.  Was deer hunting a 3pt or better unit.  Ran into a group combing the brush on the other side of a small river.  Asked if theyd seen anything, they told me they had shot a nice 4x4 and had blood, but couldnt find the deer.  Me and my 2 buddys who werent hunting offered to help search on our side of the creek in case he crossed, as they didnt habe permission for our side.  In a couple minutes i found where he came out of the creek and started down the blood trail.  Maybe 40 yards out of the creek bottom he came blowing out of a brush pile, ran my buddy down.  As he was running he was stumbling every couple steps, so i waited for him to clear my friend an put 2 bullets through his ribs.  Walked up to him and discovered he was indeed not a 4x4 as they had claimed, but a clean 2x2 with a shattered hind leg.  In the excitement of watching my friend get run over by this thing and it in the back of my mind he was a 4pt, i hadnt even looked at the horns.  So i called the group over to come collect their deer, and sent my buddy off a ways to call it in.  Game wardens showed up, listened to both sides of the story, ended up getting to keep my tag, but not the deer.  Not sure what happened to the other group, but it was noted that their stories were not all lining up with each others.  I guess the point of my rambling is to do your best, and honesty is the best policy.  Glad your son was let off easy, mistakes happen.

[DeerThug]

Experiences like this builds a man with character. One step along the way.  I made a lot of mistakes in my early teens that with guidance made me come out on the other end on the right track.  Let him take his lumps - guide him through it and he will be better for the experience. You handled it well.

And I am glad to see that no one from HW went negative for once. 

[JoeyP]

Thanks for sharing.  Such a hard situation.  Sounds like you handled it well.  Hopefully there will be better opportunities in the future.