Shooting someone else's injured buck - etiquette question

[GeoSwan]

My brother and I heard a gunshot and saw a nice injured buck crest over the plateau into a drainage. He had a dangling front leg and no kneecap.. A survivable injury ultimately.

The hunters who shot him appeared at the top of the plateau 15 minutes later and clearly didn't see that the area the buck went into was a mere 100 yards away from them. They gave a feeble attempt at trying to locate the deer and turned around and walked away.
We ended up shooting the deer who had by now dropped a few hundred feet in elevation and was sitting under a cliff. My brother snuck  up to him and put him out of his misery.

I called WDFW to get an actual legal opinion on this and they said what I though: If everything else was legal, which it was, (tag, 3 point min, shooting hours, public land etc.) We were fine from a legal standpoint.

I think I know the answer that most of you will give, which is yeah, go put meat in your freezer because the first shooter was done looking for it, but I just want to see of anyone had any other opinion on this from an etiquette perspective or if anyone has a story of something like this happening to you. I'm curious to hear them. Thanks

[Fidelk]

Your etiquette was perfect......you dispatched a wounded and suffering deer. The law is clear.....the licensed hunter who legally KILLS the animal is entitled to tag and keep the animal. Years ago, a spike elk ran through our camp and was shot. It ran on and a couple of us pursued it too soon for it to bleed out. As they approached, it was lying down but jumped up and ran off. A minute later, it was staggering across a road and was killed by different hunters from a nearby camp who were there after hearing the shot. No arguments from us......they killed it, they got to tag it.

[jamesfromseattle]

Especially if the first shooter gave up, there’s no grey area. You were 100% in the right.

[Gentrys]

You put it down, your deer.  Good that you were there and harvested it.

[Kingofthemountain83]

   Good on you guys...

 Long ago in Cowichie, when it was any buck... My Dad was sitting in a spot he sat often... Shooting started above him... Two different guns... One series of shots... About 8 or so... Then a pause for a few minutes... Then another series of shots... About 6... Then he see's a deer running down ridge past him... My Dad shoots it and drops it... A small forky muley... Lead it too far at 400 yards and blew the neck out quartering away... Was very obvious where my Dad shot it... 7mm Weatherby with 154gr spire points... My Dad starts gutting it then the guys come down ask if he's gutting their deer... My Dad shows them where he shot it and non of them could find a spot where they hit it... They go back up ridge while my Dad deals with the buck... He found one of them actually hit it in the paunch flap wear the rear legs are while it was running but you couldn't tell while the deer was still alive... Through and through flesh wound... Deer would've survived...

 About 20 years ago in Mason GMU I hiked in about a mile to sit on a cut in gated timberland... Some people have keyed access... I heard a rig coming up a road... I spot a deer and glass it up... It's a nice buck... Froze staring toward the road... I get lined up for the shot and squeeze off... I hit the deer good and he kicks up and runs... 228 yards... Then I hear a shot, deer drops, and some yelling... A guy and his son were driving up the road and saw the deer running after I shot it... They got out and the kid shot it while it was in it'd death wobbles... I shot it through the middle of the lungs angled cause I was slightly uphill... Kid blew the spine and back straps out of it... Dropped it... Like 70 yards... I think the kid was like 9... He was very excited... It was a big 4x! I helped them gut it and get it in the truck... Seemed like his Dad didn't know what he was doing... Was a nice guy... Still kind of butt hurt... I hunted that area a lot over the years and never saw them again...

[elkboy]

I'm glad you were there to put it out of its pain.  Although a survivable injury (deer are incredibly tough), that buck was in for suffering. 

You did the right thing, and it is absolutely your deer after you delivered an accurate and effective 'coup de grace'.  If the buck had been mortally wounded by the first shooter, and you saw where the buck had gone, to help the other hunter would have been the right action, in my opinion.     

[NOCK NOCK]

Late archery, talked with a guy sitting in truck. Some dude had arrowed a 3point. I don't know where it was hit but front leg was not being used. Truck guy was not hunting, just watching the deal play out. About 30 yards past the truck I see the buck uphill at 40 yards, an easy shot for me, but decided to not interfere in another's hunt, (had that happen to me once and lost the deer)  At the moment, I felt like I would be a Dbag for doing so, especially with the truck guy watching me. 

Turns out I made the wrong decision to not interfere. A bit further up the road another hunter had talked to the shooter. Shooter had ZERO idea what direction the deer was headed, and I couldn't find shooter to tell him, so I went back and spent hours glassing for the injured buck (very open country) but never turned it up.
I'm positive that buck didn't survive his injury, and still to this day regret not shooting it when I had the chance.

Every 2nd shooter scenario has situations where ethics/morals come into question. I have adjusted mine after that day.

IMHO, the OP did the correct thing.

[CamoDup]

People who shoot a deer that has already been shot by another hunter then claim it for themselves are not morally correct in my opinion. Whatever happened to helping out another hunter and having some morals?

If someone else shoots a deer and you decide to "put it down" before they can deliver the final blow or just wait for the first shot to do its work just doesn't sit right with me. Legal? Yes. But in my opinion it's chicken $hit.

I know there's a million different situations but what I'm saying if the original shooter was on his tail and has a chance to kill it then it's their animal.

I've seen and heard of a ton of different instances where people's bucks have been "stolen". It's happened to me ON A QUALITY DRAW TAG! It happened to my boss last season, it happened to my bosses son this year.

Every situation is different I get that, but I'm saying where the original shooter knows where the animal is and has already put one in him... that's his deer.

 

[HntnFsh]

Agreed, but that wasnt the case in the scenario the OP posted. He did what was right!

[BD1]

 

[hunter399]

If your tag hangs on it ,you killed it .......It's yours..
With that said ,I do believe the days of someone helping another out are gone.
Guys that are coming to the rescue,as soon as they hear a shot.... ridiculous.
Or could yell at someone and point your finger,say hay go that direction,those days are gone.
It's to a point ,that I'm afraid to even leave it ,to grab game cart.

[wafisherman]

If possible, I'd try and help the other hunter locate the shot deer so he can finish it.  But, if I am not able, I would do this as well. Better than letting the deer suffer and possibly be wasted.  Wouldn't feel great about it - but would put meat in the freezer and would be grateful for that.

[HUNTIN4SIX]

These stories always have two sides....OP said after 15min shooter appeared then walk away.  Does that mean he was done?  Depending on the circumstances, the worst thing you can do is shoot a deer and run right up on it.  I think of being in that situation as the hunter who shot the buck.  So I shoot the deer, it runs up over a ridge to another area...I immediately go to ridge to look for running deer.....nothing.  I would disappear too, because I went back to check the spot the deer took the hit and i know the deer will bed and get stoved up at this point I have time on my side. I might call my hunting partner.  As I investigate the scene i would pick apart the spot like a detective, while I wait for the deer to calm down.  So in the hour time (which i commonly wait) my deer gets gutted and taken out from underneath me by the "responsible hunter".  Nothing against the poster, just wanted to throw out a plausible scenario.  I have actually knee capped a deer just like that.  Deer dropped in the tall grass so I couldn't get another shot.  My 1 hour rule of thumb came in handy as i impatiently waited (hardest thing to do).  Hour later i crept up on the deer and it was literally so stoved up it couldn't hardly walk.  The shot grazed the knee cap. 
Two problems I've seen countless times..... Hunters get to excited after the shot and push their deer to the abyss or hunters do a quick search for blood and find very little to none so they give up.  I have always viewed blood as a bonus.  That mindset has allowed me to recover many injured deer i otherwise might not have found.

[Bullkllr]

Granted it is hard to say without actually being there. With the facts available this seems far from a "taking someone's deer" scenario. The guys who winged it took off. Sounds like they may have been clear across a drainage with no way to contact them anyway.  What we don't know is how much much time passed. OP seemed to think the original shooter had cleared out.

And I don't think the days of helping others out are over. This includes putting an injured animal down for a hunter who is still actively looking for it. I've done it twice for strangers. Both times they were grateful the animals weren't lost.

[HillHound]

If you can’t find the other hunter and exhaust all resources available to do so then I would keep it. I had an elk stolen from me, but a much different situation.
 I made a long shot across a draw and hit the elk high. Dropped it and he slid down the hill. Tried to get up and his back half was paralyzed. I sent another at him and missed as he was struggling to get up but just sliding on the steep hillside since he had no use of his back legs. Instead of continuing to shoot from that distance I dropped down out of sight and crossed the draw. On my way up I hear two more shots. Weird I thought, all the elk took off. I get up there as another guy is tagging my elk and his entourage of 5 other dudes and a kid are coming down the hill. I asked why he killed and tagged my paralyzed elk? He said exactly what some have said “doesn’t matter who shoots it, it’s who kills it.” About that time his party showed up and made sure I knew I was outnumbered and their word against mine. I proceeded to tell them what pieces of *censored* they were and glad to know their kid was going to grow up to be a big piece of *censored* just like them since that was what they were teaching him.
Some people aren’t worth the air they breathe.