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Thread: ethics question: taking someone else's spooked animal

  1. #1
    Boolit Master

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    ethics question: taking someone else's spooked animal

    Here's one for you. You are sitting quietly in the woods, listening to someone 200-300 yards away making a racket (absolute racket) with a game call. 10 minutes later, the game you are hunting comes tearing through the woods and runs right past you, away from the sound of the racket.

    Do you believe it's ethical to shoot it on its way by?

    Would it make a difference who was doing the calling? Would you feel bad if it were some guy? what about a young new hunter? What if it were a father-son team? And there you are off killing the game they were (poorly) trying to pursue....

    What do you say? fair game, or let him run away and let the other hunters chase him off even farther away?

    Technically, this is a hypothetical question. Technically. Hypothetically, I technically did not shoot. Now I am questioning if I missed out on meat in the freezer.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
    dk17hmr's Avatar
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    Public lands public animals.

    Even if I was on someone's land I really wouldn't even worry about it....if it is a good safe shot at a legal animal I wanted I would shoot.
    Doug
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  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    I agree completely with DK. They obviously blew it, regardless of who it was, so no reason for you to miss out. I mean, it sounds like if anything, they were going to scare away anything in hearing range, so that means they were going to ruin your hunting too.
    I passed my last psych eval, how bout you?

  4. #4
    Boolit Master 35 shooter's Avatar
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    If it was running away from the sound and came by you, i'd say you missed your chance. I might even offer the noise makers part of the meat for unknowingly helping me out.

    On more than a few occasions i've taken deer pushed by me by bird hunters or even rabbit hunters with dogs that i might otherwise not have gotten a shot at that day.

    Lol i do a lot of hit and run deer hunting with grunt calls and rattling horns during the long seasons here in the south.
    I've had deer come right to me and other times come in and "hang up" at a distance, then turn and ease away.
    I've also had someone else kill the buck or doe that was coming to the rattling horns before it got to me....lol i didn't get too upset as they were just in the right place at the right time and it was public land.

    On the other hand(and this is just me) i would not shoot a deer that was obviously heading toward someone rattling if i felt they had good odds of seeing the deer they were calling.
    In that case, i'd rather sit back and watch the show unfold!!

    Deer moving away from other hunters....whole nuther ball game!

  5. #5
    Boolit Bub
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    I'd be more scared knowing I was sitting that close to someone in the woods with a rifle. I might of shot it, but then again, deer that have been running tend to taste a bit bad, in my opinion.

  6. #6
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by dk17hmr View Post
    Public lands public animals.

    Even if I was on someone's land I really wouldn't even worry about it....if it is a good safe shot at a legal animal I wanted I would shoot.
    Yep what he said
    you never know the circumstances why the animal fled
    200 yds is kinda close don't you think?
    I agree with Beaver that a scared animal kinda have a
    different flavor than a calm one.
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  7. #7
    Boolit Master




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    Last deer I killed was a 10 point that walked off the neighbor's land and onto my brother's land. The neighbor's son spooked it filling up the timed feeder. I shot it and then gutted it and then the neighbor and his son came down saying I just shot "their" deer. Said they had been feeding it and watching it for weeks and were getting ready to kill it themselves. Too bad. I would shoot if I were you.
    You can miss fast & you can miss a lot, but only hits count.

  8. #8
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by Beaver Scout View Post
    I'd be more scared knowing I was sitting that close to someone in the woods with a rifle. I might of shot it, but then again, deer that have been running tend to taste a bit bad, in my opinion.
    Lactic acid builds up in muscles being heavily exerted. It eventually clears out unless the animal dies of course. The same can happen in fish that are played too long.

    I would say it depends on who was there first if it was public land if the animal was heading toward a "hunter/caller." If it was heading away from them and they had no shot, I would not see any breach of etiquette.

  9. #9
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    your area, your shot.
    you were sitting there waiting for the animal to walk by in the first place, otherwise you wouldn't have had a rifle and a tag with you.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    In the public land where I hunt after the rut the bigger bucks will become nearly nocturnal. They will be bedded in a grown up clear cut by daylight and won't get up until dark. Unless someone spooks them up. The guy who walks them up may never know it but the guy on the next ridge may get a shot.

    I take them as they come to me. I don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
    Some people live and learn but I mostly just live

  11. #11
    Boolit Grand Master



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    If it was going to the call or rattling I would not shot. Running from the call or rattling I would shot.

  12. #12
    Boolit Master

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    I would have shot. I don't see anything at all wrong or unethical with taking the animal.

    Runfiverun has said it best, "Your area, your shot."
    Maker of Silver Boolits for Werewolf hunting

  13. #13
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    All in the woods are for the animal hunted. If I did something to bring deer to a friend or neighbor I would feel good. To say a deer BELONGS TO US no matter what is against all law. Deer belong to the state.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    I try to avoid hunting the same area as other hunters but while hunting public land it is hard to avoid some times, one morning I headed out at what I thought was early enough to find a decent place to park and get a good distance into the woods before sun up, but as I got out into the woods every single place clear enough to pull a car off the side of the road was occupied so I kept driving farther and farther and farther until I finally found an unoccupied spot to park and start my hunt that was far enough away from where others where hunting, I slipped off into the woods and started hiking pausing from time to time to watch clearings, I was somewhat frustrated because day break was upon me before I had even gotten parked, but decided to make the most of the day, I covered many miles that day over the course of several hours and then the heavens opened up soaking me to the bone and temps where in the mid 30s I was freezing and hadnt seen any game that day and decided it was about time to loop back to the truck, on my way back I herd shooting and kinda meandered in that direction in hopes that I may get a chance shot at a deer some one had missed but no luck... what I did find was some one gutting a deer they had shot 50 yards away from my parked truck and 3 other vehicles parked with mine one of which was blocking me in my parking spot keeping me from leaving until they where done with their hunt. Not sure where I was going with this rant but I guess what Im trying to say is any thing goes while hunting public land! there are no ethics, you can try to be as polite and respectful to others as you would like others to be to you and in the end the *** hat road hunting and drinking beer and checking his zero on road signs will fill his tag and you will be eating tag soup trying to be respectful to others and pass on game you feel some one else may have worked harder for... but in the end what ever will allow you to sleep at night is the right answer.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    There is no moral or ethical dilemma here. You are a predator if the noise is from another hunter who is not versed in hunting skills then why not?


    Now in this scenario; Deer comes running by obviously wounded do you shoot and if you drop the deer and the hunter who wounded it comes walking up ...... what would you do?

    See that is an ethics question. In your scenario the "calling" Hunter has no claim or even an encounter with the game animal as they were oblivious to the existence of that animal.

    Enjoy the meat!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  16. #16
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    In your scenario anyone calling ducks already has them in their legal bag. I would not like to be hunting withing 2-300 yards of someone else but would have taken the shot.
    [The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by EMC45 View Post
    Last deer I killed was a 10 point that walked off the neighbor's land and onto my brother's land. The neighbor's son spooked it filling up the timed feeder. I shot it and then gutted it and then the neighbor and his son came down saying I just shot "their" deer. Said they had been feeding it and watching it for weeks and were getting ready to kill it themselves. Too bad. I would shoot if I were you.
    I don't think you could go far wrong in answering them the way a calm and temperate person would your saying they had done the same with "your" deer.

    For the OP there would be an ethical question, though one not certain of answer, if they had been calling or rattling well, and the deer was cooperating. As it was, it was unlikely they would ever have seen it. Anything letting you know there were other hunters in the area demands care in the shot, though.

    The nearest I have come to the American whitetail deer was seeing Errol Flynn carrying one into Nottingham Castle. If they are like other species, though, I doubt if they would run hard or long from a bad call. Maybe if the individual animal associated it with a worse experience in the past.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ramjet-SS View Post
    There is no moral or ethical dilemma here. You are a predator if the noise is from another hunter who is not versed in hunting skills then why not?


    Now in this scenario; Deer comes running by obviously wounded do you shoot and if you drop the deer and the hunter who wounded it comes walking up ...... what would you do?

    See that is an ethics question. In your scenario the "calling" Hunter has no claim or even an encounter with the game animal as they were oblivious to the existence of that animal.

    Enjoy the meat!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    I have done it and wait for the hunter. It is the right thing to do. I have found a fresh kill many times and went to find the hunter. I have even gutted a few first.
    One hunter I know shot a deer I was tracking and called my name. I tried to give him the deer but he refused it. We think the same here. It is nothing more then help to recover a deer.
    Public areas are bad and if you track a good hit, chances are some jerk will be stealing it.
    Once in PA I shot a nice archery doe and hung it next to the tent. I tied string to a leg, into the tent and to a pile of pans and silverware. In the middle of the night it fell over and we heard footsteps running. Then all the stories of deer stolen from camp cabin porches or deer stolen at gun point.
    You will have stories told about you if you stop your hunt to help an old fella drag his deer out. Help gut it too.

  19. #19
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    Take the shot IF it is an ethical shot. Under the circumstances, THIS is the only ethics question that needs addressing.

    Hunters move through the woods, they drive game toward other hunters, it's the way of the woods. We can't run dogs west of the Blue Ridge, but it doesn't say nothing about man drives pushing game out of the thickets and into hunters' sights. Ethics say to divide the deer or at least offer the drivers whatever meat they want if you take a deer they drove out into your shooting lane.
    Got a .22 .30 .32 .357 .38 .40 .41 .44 .45 .480 or .500 S&W cylinder that needs throats honed? 9mm, 10mm/40S&W, 45 ACP pistol barrel that won't "plunk" your handloads? 480 Ruger or 475 Linebaugh cylinder that needs the "step" reamed to 6° 30min chamfer? Click here to send me a PM You can also find me on Facebook Click Here.

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master

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    Put yourself in the shoes of the guy doing the "calling". If the dude is trying to learn what and what not to do in the woods, there's nothing like gunfire that is not his own to teach him the lesson quickly. If he's smart, he'll wise up and learn. If he's not, he'll offer himself up as the definition of insanity.

    Now personally, in the situation where a hunter's badly shot deer comes by and you smack it down, I say legally, the deer belongs to the guy that put it down, but the gentlemanly thing to do is to surrender it to the guy who shot first depending on his attitude. If he's humble he gets the deer. If he's a jerk about it, he can pound sand.
    Thats the way I see it.
    Precision in the wrong place is only a placebo.

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