Whose Deer Is sit ?

[Wedgy]

++NOT MY STORY++
Read this on Archery Talk, kind of interesting situation and opinions.
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http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showt...dium=email&utm_campaign=ed92&utm_content=iss2
Who's Deer?
I would like to get your opinion on a situation that occurred last week during Iowa's first shotgun season.

Myself and a good buddy of mine have been hunting down in Southern Iowa for the last 10 years. We have a mutual friend that owns quite a bit of land down there and he only hunts during the gun season when we are in town. This year, both myself and my buddy brought our 14 year old boys along.

Long story short, It was me and my boys turn to participate in the deer drive we were doing on this 40 acre CRP field with a small wooded draw cutting the field in half. The land owner was also on the drive with us and he mentioned that he's been seeing a big 12 point bedding in this draw.

My buddy and his son were blocking on the far end of the field. We started the drive and once I approached the wooded draw, I saw a big buck pop out the opposite side and head over the hill before I could get a shot. I heard my buddies son take a shot at the deer and then shortly after, the deer had turned around and came back over the hill and was trying to sneak out the side.

This presented me with a shot and I drop the buck on the first shot. He then tried to get up and I put another slug in him to finish him off. This deer is a giant. A heavy main frame 10 with matching split brows and matching kickers coming off of his G2s. Very symmetrical dark antlers.

As I walk up to the deer, I see where both of my shots hit right behind the shoulder. Then my buddies son comes running over the hill all excited and asking if "I saw that big buck". He wasn't able to see it laying at my feet in the tall CRP grass until he got right up to me.

Once he sees it, he get very excited and goes "Alright, that's what I call a tag team buck". I told him I heard him shoot and ask if he thought he hit it. He said it was about a 100 yard running shot but it turned around after he shot so he thinks he might have. We then examine the deer and see there is a hole in the buck's back leg. The slug went through the meat, missing any bone and ended up ripping the deer's testicles off.

We knew that was his shot because he was shooting a 20 gauge and I was shooting a 12 gauge. The holes were definitely a different size. Also, my shot was only about 40 yards and I could see where I hit the deer both times.

He is very excited and keeping saying "tag team buck". By now, everyone else in our party comes over and is admiring the giant deer that I was guessing to be around 180". The land owner says "Well who got it?" and my buddies son replied that it was a tag team buck and we both shot it. I wasn't going to raise a stink about the deer because he was so excited and then proceeded to gut the deer. As he is gutting it, I place my tag on the antler to make it legal.

We all snap a few pictures and then go get the truck to load the deer up. As I walk back to my buddies truck with just him and I, I mention where his son hit the deer and then also where I hit the deer hoping he will realize that without my shots, the deer would still be running and not die. He doesn't say anything.

We load the deer up into his truck and then he drops myself, my son and the land owner back off at my truck. We all head to the land owners house but my buddy doesn't show up. I call him to see where he is and he says that they are heading to the locker to drop the deer off. This makes me mad because I am the one who shot the deer and it was a world class whitetail. I tell him that I did not want him to do this and that I was the one who got the deer. He says no and that it was his sons deer and that I had nothing to do with killing this buck. He claims it would have died from his sons shot and that I just finished it off. He then said that they cut my tag off and put his sons tag on it.

This obviously causes an argument and then they decided to head back to northern Iowa where we both live. I try to explain to him that it was my deer but I would be willing to get a replica mount made for his son since he thinks it was a "tag team" effort.

He now will not return my calls and I feel like our friendship is dwindling over this giant deer. I later see his son post a picture of himself and my deer on facebook. The caption says they scored it and that it grossed 191".

Who is the rightful owner of this deer? Is it a tag team effort? Was I right in offering to do a replica if they returned it to me? What are my options? I don't want to ruin a lifelong friendship over a deer but this is a deer of a lifetime and I feel like I am the rightful owner.

Your opinions and advise is much appreciated. Thanks for reading.

 

[trueblue]

There was a thread similar to this one last week, Kill shot takes it home. so if he kids took the first shot and then the Kill shot, the Buck isn't yours bro, am sorry better luck next time.

I am sorry to disagree with you, but that deer does not belong to the young lad.
Shooting a deer in the rear end, not hitting any vitals, is not a kill shot.
The deer belongs to the guy that put 2 shots into him.
And it is not a tag team effort. You can blame the father of the son not standing up and explaining who's deer it is from the beginning.
Maybe you can make a replica for yourself, knowing you were the one to kill the deer, and save your friendship. I would definitely not be happy with him taking my tag off the deer thou, and just sneaking off to the meat locker with it. Very poor taste on his part.

 

[Barrelnut]

This is a tough call. Maybe the landowner will issue some game rules after this incident, as things like this are bound to happen on large drives. Regardless, not so sure your buddy is the friend you believe he is.

 

[JSHKS]

Been to that party years ago. I don't care how organized a deer drive is, I still refuse to participate in them anymore. Bad enough hunting public and some private.

I don't hunt anywhere close to where any one with me is. If a pair of us are together, a shooter and a spotter.

The way I see it, who ever puts the critter down and out, gets the credit. I have seen very poor judgment and shots on deer that are not in a good place, only to have to have a marksman come and put them out of their misery.

 

[mobenzowner]

IMO the deer belongs to the guy who shot twice. But also IMO is a deer(no matter how nice) more important than a friendship? Dad's are protective and usually take their son's side right or wrong. Dad is however setting son up for failure later on, by not explaining it was not son's deer. Two shot guy could have said, fine its son's deer and been the bigger person, all while knowing it was rightfully his. In the case of ego (even if right) vs a father holding up for their son will almost always result in a bad situation for all involved.

 

[longrangehunterII]

The person who placed the killing shot, or shots, and downed the deer is the owner of the deer! This was always a issue in high hunter per square mile areas like Michigan, and Pennsylvania. It expired, and went down because of your two shots, period!

Plus you had legally Tagged it! You should have spoke up on the spot and claimed your prize trophy like a Lion over its Kill!

 

[bigngreen]

Sounds like a sad deal to me, sounds like your buddy has chosen a deer over friendship, you'll have to decide how important the deer is to you now. I know it would have been an easy call for me, my buddy and I hunt with our daughters the same age and there is no way my daughter would be taking that deer in that situation, my kid could be mad at me all they wanted still doesn't change right!!

 

[trueblue]

Well, I do have a point but the kid still put went down to finish the buck, in good spirit, he should hand it over to the kids and find another.

Handing it over and finding another is a ridiculous idea.You don't come across a 190" class deer everyday

 

[yobuck]

OK, so lets assume the 2 kids and their fathers didn't know each other and just happened to be hunting in the same area. Or lets assume there were no kids involved, and the incident happened between 2 total strangers. Does that change anything? And if so then why?
No doubt the deer would have eventually died as a result of the boys shot.
But would the boy have gotten the deer as a result of his shot?
The killing shot is as a rule the determining factor and not the one that may have ultimately been a killing shot.
A friend of mine had a similar situation this year while spotting for a guy he was hunting with. The buck was hit from the rear and it also took off his testicles the same as this incident. But in this case the buck almost immediately laid down and was in obvious discomfort until they finished it off while laying on the ground. So that could also have been a factor here as 2 shoulder shots on a moving deer isn't all that easy to accomplish, and there were no witnesses.
Also the chances are that had it not been a trophy buck, but instead a small buck, we wouldn't even be hearing about the incident?
And again, if not then why not? Does the principles involved change
based on the quality of the deer? Chances are the adult would have
congratulated the kid and shut his mouth.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

In the end it is just a deer. I guess I am old enough now to not get too excited about it. I also do not hunt like that so I don't think it will ever happen to me.

Steve

 

[Plinker147]

Funny greed on both ends makes this interesting.

So if this was a forked horned buck would you have a problem letting the kid have it?

Legally speaking most states laws read the one who reduces the game animal to possession owns the deer. So legally the deer should be yours (your state might have different definition).

Now the right thing to do in my mind the kid hit it first let him have the deer. You need to man up and be satisfied with a picture and a tag team.

You agreed to hunt this style take the bad with the good, not a way i would ever hunt.

Remember the real reason you hunt, a 190 is the icing on a cake but its not the cake......

 

[jpfrog]

Comes on, its a little kids and Christmas is just around the corner. imagine if it were you ?

This makes no sense (to me, anyway)- it's almost suggesting a participation trophy mentality for hunting. The kid's shot went through no vitals, only wounding the deer. The OP placed two shots behind the shoulder in the boiler room, writing in stone the fate of the animal and providing a clean, ethical end to the story. If it were my son, recognizing this very good teaching opportunity, I'd have said something like "This is why you don't rush your shot, and make sure it's a good shot before taking it" while showing him the small wounding result of his error. I'd then book some time at the range to build his confidence back up, and book another hunt to get him another chance at success. The OP should have received the harvest, as he's the reason it happened.

Either way, sad story- I can sit here and think I'd have been understanding and forgiving, but in all honesty, I would probably find a way to always be "busy" the next time the other father/son combo wanted to go hunting with me again.

 

[longrangehunterII]

Many States do not allow Party Hunting when one person kills a Game Animal for another hunter to tag the animal!

The young kid needs to learn the lesson of how hunting works. Had he been hunting by himself, that animal would have been long gone and on the neighbors property or someone else's! A mature White Tail can go for miles with a injury like that! Steers get their nuts cut off too, or tightly rapped rubber bands until they fall off, so that alone would have never killed that buck!

Better luck next time, but I would have explained to that kid when you fling lead in the air and lose the animal, it's like a loose football in the air, whichever person recovers it, it's theirs! Period End of Story!!

 

[7magcreedmoor]

If you were in PA, that deer is yours, you shot it last and it went down from your shots. And I believe the guy who removed your tag would get fined for doing that little trick also...