ethical question about losing an animal

ICHTHYDEMON · 08-29-2005, 11:52 AM

The other post about losing an animal got me thinking. If you shoot an animal and don't recover it,do you consider your tag filled and stop hunting,or do you pass it off and try for another?

I've yet to lose an animal,but we all know it can happen. My own belief is that I've killed the one my tag allows,and I'm done hunting that species for the year.

How do you feel?

waterfowlin101 · 08-29-2005, 11:53 AM

This should get interesting. :lurk: (at least for a while).

Jon

STRUTTIN-1 · 08-29-2005, 12:26 PM

Has not happend to me but I would call it good.I did
wound a turkey last year.After 3 hours of looking the
farmer told me not to worry about it get another one.My
gut was so upset we took off for a while then came back.
The farmer said I will never find the bird.My boy and I started looking again.I said a prayer.Lord if I am unable
to find this bird I quite.My intensions are not to just
wound things.Not worth it to me.2 hours later I came face to face with a bull.Cows and I do not get along.Took 10 steps backwards and walked to my right about 70 yards.Stood
silent for a moment.Let off a quite putt.To my surprise a return putt.Followed the noise.Kept putting.Long story short bird was in a mangled dead manzinita.I recoverd the bird.To this day the most memorable bird I have ever gotton.Farmer gave me kudos for the effert.Said cant believe you found it 1,second couldnt believe I would spend
that much time over a turkey.Well now I am welcome to hunt
his land for deer as well.If I had not of found him YES I
would have considerd that tag filled.Karma?

.We went for a late hunt and my boy was able to harvest a 9 inch Tom.With
a animal it would make me sick not to find him.Thats why I
use a larger than needed cal rifle.I have not bow hunted for this reason.My shots are well placed.I questionable I will wait.I have lost some ducks .I was going to quite and my buddy said that will happen with birds.Dont like it but I
HAVE CONT TO HUNT.
What about you WATERFOWLING.????

waterfowlin101 · 08-29-2005, 12:49 PM

My post meant I'm gonna sit out and watch this one for a while...but...since you are calling me out

...

I have never wounded a big game animal. All of my ~ten kills have been one shot kills. This probably occurs b/c I try my very best to take responsible shots and I know my weapons. This also probably has occured because I haven't killed very many animals. So for big game, I don't know...

With ducks/geese, I make my very best effort to retrieve a downed bird. On one occasion I got down to my chonies and swam accross the clack for a goose :whazzup:. I will do whatever it takes within reason, and again I try to take reasonable shots. With that said, when I can't find a duck or goose, I do not count it. They call it a bag limit, and it's not in my bag.

Jon

oregonoutdoors · 08-29-2005, 12:49 PM

I would keep hunting, somtimes it is just out of your control. You must be profishent with your weapon, only take good shots and make the effort in recovering the animal. If you do this and still can't find the animal then thats just part of the game.

tailchaser · 08-29-2005, 12:57 PM

As I recall last year about this same time we had the same discussion........It gets pretty out of hand and comes down to one thing. Everyone has thier own right to hunt and the circumstances that come with it. There is no right or wrong, just personal preference. So lets leave it at that and not flame a guy who lost a deer.

tc

Ni! · 08-29-2005, 01:04 PM

I would consider the type of hit. If I shaved some hair off its chest I would continue hunting. If I thought it was dead or severely crippled, I'd hang it up for the year.

As tailchaser said, everyone has to make their own decision. Even though we try to minimize the chances, these things can happen.

Ni!

blacktail519 · 08-29-2005, 01:06 PM

I would not consider my hunt over and my tagged filled, unless the quarry is in my posession.

RoscoeP · 08-29-2005, 02:02 PM

Like others have said, it depends on the situation. That being said, and everything else being equal, I would continue to hunt. It's all personal choice.

in 'em · 08-29-2005, 02:55 PM

If you truly put the effort into the hunt, the shot, shot placement, tracking and spent enough time searching and still come up empty handed....I'd keep hunting. It isn't unethical, or illegal for that matter, if you really try hard to not let it happen. Work hard enough to know the animal may still be alive. That would be my mindset.

Now, if you take a bad shot and don't spend enough time trying to find your game, you'll have to make your own decision and live with it.

Radke · 08-29-2005, 03:07 PM

I wish it wasn't true, but over Thanksgiving week in 2003 I put an arrow into a cow in the Wilson river unit, I was sure she was dead on her feet, but she eventually walked off (ran off). I searched for her for 2 days in a downpour, never found her.

After that heart wrenching experience, I couldn't have continued to hunt even though I had an unfilled tag. It wasn't a matter of feeling I had already taken my animal, it was the sense that I had killed an animal that went to waste.

I don't know, she may have lived, but it didn't make my gut feel any better.

RichH · 08-29-2005, 03:35 PM

One thing to keep in mind, nothing in nature goes to waste. You and I may think of it as waste but a dead big game animal will feed lots of other animals. That said, a person should make every effort to make a good shot and collect what they shoot. Sometimes the best laid plans go awry and there is nothing to be done.

STRUTTIN-1 · 08-29-2005, 03:43 PM

Well said RichH

Myles · 08-29-2005, 03:57 PM

I'm the one who lost a deer so I'll give my opinion, some of you won't agree but that's OK.
It was my first archery deer so I'm really dissapointed in not finding the animal, it was a bit under 20 yard shot but I think it nicked a leaf/twig, we did go back and try for several hours the next day. That being said, Blacktail deer aren't on the endangered species list, the ODFW has opened up the archery season in the unit for "any deer", so there seems to be no shortage of deer. Although I really hate losing an animal; if another suicidal deer presents itself broadside I will shoot it.

Myles

baumer · 08-29-2005, 04:55 PM

Anybody that has hunted archery long enough has had this happen to them. Don't beat yourself up over it, as said in a previous post that animal either survives or will feed other animals due to its own demise.

What I think is the most important is to learn from it and take time to realize your limitations. Whether it be picking better shooting lanes or getting a little closer or even practicing a little more to be more accurate. That is what you should take from the loss of a shot animal.

My .02cents

Old Coot · 08-29-2005, 08:28 PM

My personal ethics tell me that I have a tag to kill one animal, whether it is recovered or not.

If I lose an animal, my season is over.

bullslayer · 08-29-2005, 08:46 PM

This is a very true statement. I say this all the time. Hunting is all about life or death. Most hunters try to minimize the suffering, but it will and does happen. I have lost an animal and it does make you sick, but if you play the game there are consequenses that you have to live with. Sooner or later it will happen to you! Yes the meat is wasted for the human benefit, but the scavengers will benefit. I think you should learn from your experience and carry on if you so choose. I choose to hunt. I will and have screwed up, but I'm better for it. Every hunter I know has lost an animal and they all felt horrible. Shoot strait and aim small. Be careful. Kris.

bullslayer · 08-29-2005, 08:51 PM

Myles, I commend you on your honesty and integrity. I feel for your situation. Don't get to down as stated before. At least you took a good ethical shot and it just didn't work out. You gave it your best and that's all you can do. Get back out there and Get 'er done

Take care, Kris.

Swamp Puppy · 08-29-2005, 09:20 PM

first a story...

I hunted with DuckAddik a couple of years ago out on SI. It was the first time I hunted with him and he was a junior in highschool at the time. so, as with all youth hunters, I am especially aware of making sure that we follow all game/safety regs and as many of the abiguous "ethics" rules as possible.

it's getting close to 4pm (which ends shoot time at SI) and we have 13 birds in the bag. Duk whacks a widgeon with about 20 minutes left in our shoot day to close us out.....except the bird is winged and landed in the tall grass behind and to the right of Seal #3 (for those that know where that is..you know what i mean.) we spent 15 minutes looking for that bird..all the while more birds kept working the lake and would have been easy marks if we had been in the blind.

the story ends.. we left with 13 birds. never found the cripple and never shot at another bird.

now, having said that...I wouldn't hesitate to keep hunting if every possible attempt has been made and you still come up empty. we just ran out of time and i knew that bird was there at our feet in that grass. (this was pre-swamp puppy days..so no dog assistance was available)

walk away from a big game tag over a lost animal? never in a million years would i do it and never have i heard of anyone doing it....except on ifish.

baltz526 · 08-30-2005, 06:02 AM

ethics are subjective,if you lose an animal due to a poorly placed shot and the animal gets away or is lost, and you spend time searching for it, you did your hunters obligation. go hunting. it becomes unethical to continue your hunt,without the search for the wounded or lost game.if you give the search your best effort you have done the ethical thing, go hunting.

OdieWon · 08-30-2005, 07:40 AM

I agree with In 'em and Radke. I personally have never lost an animal, but have had a couple of long and arduous searches for ones that members of my party had wounded. If you take the time to make a good shot (rifle, muzzle or bow) and have educated yourself on the habits of wounded animals, and expend every possible method of tracking them down, then I'd say go ahead and continue hunting. However, if one makes a cursory walk around an area and then says "oh well, guess I lost him", that causes me some grief. I had a bunch of guys do that a few years back. I hadn't hunted with them before, and I was very upset that they gave up so easily, then went on to continue hunting the rest of the day. One of them had wounded a forked horn early in the day in an area of fairly heavy reprod. None of them contacted any of the rest of us (we all had radio's) to get some tracking help, and didn't mention it until back at camp for the evening. To make matters worse, the next morning, I veered off my planned hunt to walk through the repord area, just to see if I could find him. I picked up the old blood trail (lots of it, by the way) and eventually walked right up to the dead buck. Or, what was left of him after the coyotes had feasted over the night. I've never hunted with that group since, and never will!
So, let your conscience be your guide. My $.02 worth!