Call the PGC and get their guidance.
What to do??
This is a real situation that happened to a buddy i know, shot a buck just before shooting hours where up, the buck drops on the spot and rolled down a steep embankment into a creek out of site of the hunter, he hit him high, spine shot and the buck could not get up. Keep in mind this was Saturday Evening. By the time he got packed and down out of his climber stand it was dark so there was no chance at approaching the deer for another shot to finish him. He decides to get out and come back the next morning to recover his deer ( sunday morning ) to his suprise the buck is still alive sunday morning paralized laying in the creek. Surely the deer will die, but its sunday morning and hunting is closed? What do you do?
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By the book post from gsteigeljr but if it were me, the ethical thing to do if you knew you spined the deer, would be to follow-up on it as soon as possible and take my chances with the PGC if someone calls it in. It would be worth the fine and other consequences to me to sleep easy knowing I ended the deer's suffering quickly. I have a headlamp with me in my fanny pack so I would have been able to do the task at hand out in the woods.
that is what I would do also. i would have cut its throat the night that it was shot.jlh42581 said:Id cut his throat
it sure beats the heck out of waiting forever to get so called guidence from the pgc.
What kind of bowhunter would not follow up a spine shot deer with a follow up shot? He doesn't even deserve to be in the woods.
Sounds like the deer was shot just before hours ended. Deer rolled down hill and out of sight from the hunter in stand. Hunter climbs down the tree and approaches the deer and legal shooting hours have passed.VaPa hunter said:What kind of bowhunter would not follow up a spine shot deer with a follow up shot? He doesn't even deserve to be in the woods.
Throwing stones like that one will earn you a spot as the Phillies closer.
Throwing stones?
I'm sorry, but any bowhunter knows when they spine shoot a deer, which ethically, should always require a follow up shot.
I don't know about you, but I know my rear end would have been climbing down out of my stand and following up with a second shot right away to put that deer out of its misery. It not going anywhere, it's paralyzed.
I'm sorry, but any bowhunter knows when they spine shoot a deer, which ethically, should always require a follow up shot.
I don't know about you, but I know my rear end would have been climbing down out of my stand and following up with a second shot right away to put that deer out of its misery. It not going anywhere, it's paralyzed.
Definately would get the Game Commission to help out on this one. Why not slit its throat the night before you left? Just a though.
I missed where the post says he waited in his stand for darkness to come....................oh, wait....VaPa hunter said:Throwing stones?
I'm sorry, but any bowhunter knows when they spine shoot a deer, which ethically, should always require a follow up shot.
I don't know about you, but I know my rear end would have been climbing down out of my stand and following up with a second shot right away to put that deer out of its misery. It not going anywhere, it's paralyzed.
It takes a few minutes to safely climb down a tree with a climber.
I believe the point of the post is what you would do if you were unable to make the follow up shot until after legal hours.
I would have followed up with a kill shot immediately. Bowhunters know when they spine a deer. IMO
When a hunter wounds a deer, particularly a spine shot, he makes sure that deer is dead before leaves the woods. End of story.
Are you saying you would leave a paralyzed deer to suffer in the woods all night?
Are you saying you would leave a paralyzed deer to suffer in the woods all night?
No....what I'm saying is that saying this hunter shouldn't be in the woods is pretty harsh, considering he did everything he is legally permitted to do. I would probably ilegally kill the deer in the dark too. But actually, you and I are the one's that would get slapped on the hand according to the law.
I would of went to the deer and finished him off the chances of you getting caught slim to none. The bow is silent and another arrow up close would of did the job. It would of added less then 10 more minutes from the description we were given. If you got stopped on your way out they would never know, just say took a bit longer to gut and drag then you thought it would.
If you worried about hunting at night, then slice it's neck at that point I would classify that as killing not hunting as it was not stalked. Or drown it in the stream.
That is just me.
If you worried about hunting at night, then slice it's neck at that point I would classify that as killing not hunting as it was not stalked. Or drown it in the stream.
That is just me.
There was just a thread about letting a deer suffer and most hunters on here said that the like a quick death for the critters they shoot. The PGC can shove it, I would end the animals suffering as soon as possible and quit being a little girl about walking the line.
Another for the throat here. No way can I sleep knowing that the deer is suffering all night.
I archery hunt so I know darn well it is so dark fifteen minutes before the end of shooting hours there is no way for anyone to know if they are even shooting at a legal deer that is more then five or ten yards away unless they would be using a light to do so. So, it would be legal to dispatch a deer until the end of shooting hours as long as you don’t need a light to do so.
Anyone out there using a light to track down and kill wildlife, even if previously wounded, is running the risk of some serious game law violations that could cause you to loose the deer, several hundred dollars and your future hunting privileges. Each case will be looked at on its own merits but tracking and killing deer through the use of artificial light can be a very serious violation of the law.
A wise and scrupulous hunter will stop hunting when it gets to the point they don’t have time to recover anything they would shoot within legal hunting hours. If hunters aren’t capable of recovering their game within the legal limits of the law, with these extended hunting hours, then I strongly suggest we go back to shooting hours ending at sunset like it used to be. That way hunters will have about a half hour to track and finish off any wounded deer within legal hours without needing a light to do so.
I hunt a long ways from my vehicle and generally do look for and recover my harvests before I take my bow back to my vehicle, even if I have to use a light to follow the blood trail. But, if that deer jumps up on the trial I quit and take everything back to the vehicle and give it at least a couple hours to lay down and die. I might go back later and pick up the trail again, if it looks like the weather is going to be an issue, but I don’t take my bow or any other weapons with me. If the deer still isn’t dead I leave and come back the next morning with my bow to track it down and finish it off.
Only once in all of my years did I ever have to finish a deer off the next day and I never had to shot one after legal hours to recover it. In short I have been a round both hunting an wildlife law enforcement for a long time and I am not buying all of these what it excuses for people to justify carrying their bows while being out there with lights at night. Each case I encounter will be closely looked at before I decide if they need charged, but rest assured they will be under serious investigation with a potential for serious charges.
Dick Bodenhorn
Anyone out there using a light to track down and kill wildlife, even if previously wounded, is running the risk of some serious game law violations that could cause you to loose the deer, several hundred dollars and your future hunting privileges. Each case will be looked at on its own merits but tracking and killing deer through the use of artificial light can be a very serious violation of the law.
A wise and scrupulous hunter will stop hunting when it gets to the point they don’t have time to recover anything they would shoot within legal hunting hours. If hunters aren’t capable of recovering their game within the legal limits of the law, with these extended hunting hours, then I strongly suggest we go back to shooting hours ending at sunset like it used to be. That way hunters will have about a half hour to track and finish off any wounded deer within legal hours without needing a light to do so.
I hunt a long ways from my vehicle and generally do look for and recover my harvests before I take my bow back to my vehicle, even if I have to use a light to follow the blood trail. But, if that deer jumps up on the trial I quit and take everything back to the vehicle and give it at least a couple hours to lay down and die. I might go back later and pick up the trail again, if it looks like the weather is going to be an issue, but I don’t take my bow or any other weapons with me. If the deer still isn’t dead I leave and come back the next morning with my bow to track it down and finish it off.
Only once in all of my years did I ever have to finish a deer off the next day and I never had to shot one after legal hours to recover it. In short I have been a round both hunting an wildlife law enforcement for a long time and I am not buying all of these what it excuses for people to justify carrying their bows while being out there with lights at night. Each case I encounter will be closely looked at before I decide if they need charged, but rest assured they will be under serious investigation with a potential for serious charges.
Dick Bodenhorn
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