Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting I killed someone else's buck

Guy at deer camp in western ME shot one early AM. Small crew tracked, kept jumping it, thought it was gutshot, but never really saw it. Brother and I came in for lunch and heard about it. They were looking for help, so we volunteered to sit at particular spots. At a fork in the trail, brother went left, I went right. About one hour later the deer walked right to me. Facing me, and coming up a rise, but could see it had a broken rear leg. Put a 180 where it should go and ended the affair. Nice deer, 199# dressed. Offered the deer to the shooter, but he insisted it was mine. So I tagged it. Doubt it would have made it through a ME winter. Happy ending.

Gear adrift is a gift.

I’m one of them.I’m not about to venture if I wasn’t positive of a decent shot. But if obviously hit hard then ending it will be the goal if permission isn’t easily obtained.

Doc, yes the gun used was one in the same.

Hey Region, maybe you should move along and not say anything at all, instead you choose to be an a$$.

The point of this post was to show a beautiful deer did not have to suffer any longer and glad I was in a position to end it's misery. Also, to show the neighbor and his son respected my property.

You can keep your congratulations.

Congrats. This could go either way.

My dad and I have each lost a deer in a similar situation. Both were 8 points. Back in the late 90s dad shot an 8pt in the guts. While he was tracking it another fellow across the hollow shot it. Dad tracked up to the guy and the guy claimed thw deer.


Later in about 2006 or 7 I was hunting with a buddy. I shot an 8pt with a .223 it dropped and was behind a log with its head up. I was trying to decide on a finishing headshot when the deer jumped and bolted. It made it about 150 yards and a guy up behind us shot it.
We exchanged some words. He said.. I thought you were shooting does... when I asked why I ran to the buck with the bloodtrail he said that was his blood. I told him to f off and left him.

I believe the "rule" in PA is the last one actually kill the deer is the one who gets it.

It comes down to ethics and doing what's right.

Good on you sir.

Roundoak, your story reminds me of my son, High Brass. When he lived in NC he hunted the Croatan NF. He was in a tree stand and heard a shotgun go off. He listened and waited and heard a deer running and the falling several times. When he saw the deer it was gut shot so he finished it. He got down and walked over to the deer and directly two men and a boy came up. The boy said, "Daddy, that's my deer!". His father said, "Not anymore boy, you screwed up." Chad asked the father if it was the boy's first deer and he said yes. So Chad let the boy have it and the father told him he didn't have to. Chad told him he remembered his first deer and he was going home to WV to hunt for a week. Chad even showed the boy how to gut the deer with the boy helping. The two adults were amazed someone would do that. The father asked if Chad was one of the Marines here and he said yes sir. A lot of good came out of it.

Roundoak, congrats on being a good guy and a good sport. A guy I know shot a nice buck with a bow and it ran onto another adjoining property. The shooter went to the neighbor's house to obtain permission to recover the buck. The neighbor flat refused and told him he'd call the Sheriffs office if he stepped on his land. He even went as far as to post his sons on ATVs on the line to watch for him. That's what I call being a Dik!

Ron

Your a good neighbor!!

I'm one too and it wouldn't bother me in the least of someone did the same. Still, good of the hunters to do so and glad the deer was put to rest.

Reading Roundoak's first post about there being a hole in the front shoulder and exit on the back off side shoulder speaks volumes to me about using the wrong too hard a bullet for deer hunting. I'm going to have that conversation with my #2 son when he tells me about losing his wounded deer that they couldn't find this year. Lots of you guys anguish over losing a few pounds of shoulder meat. Just blow a big enough hole in the animal with a softer bullet and you will get the whole deer.

I've tracked down other people's deer, but they were not looking for them. I split the meat with a guy in our camp that gave up on an 11 point that he'd hit badly, but I knew the back story on that one.

Roundoak, did I read that wrong that the kid shot the deer twice, or was that your finishing shoulder shot and the kid just hit the deer high on the front leg? Good job giving them the deer in either case. That first one always makes a memory.

Unless it gets up and runs, then what have you got? A mess.

Sounds like you did a nice job of putting a humane end to an oops, also sounds like you're letting them claim the buck. Nothing but good from both perspectives. I'm in NY, the fights over things like this are unbelievable, "my deer, his deer" makes rivals out of neighbors, sad really. You sound like a very cool guy.

[quote=roundoak]It was the first day of the Wisconsin gun deer season and I am in a tree stand on a side hill of a deep hollow. The hollow is a funnel that deer move through frequently, especially during the rut. It was in the 40s and windy. Before noon several deer came thru within range, a couple of nice bucks I would have shot if it was last day of season.

About 1:00 PM I detected movement on the opposite hillside and up went the binoculars, it was a good looking buck, moving slowly. I had ranged a rock outcropping earlier that the buck was near. 325 yards. No way to put a bullet thru that swimming pool of brush and Red Cedar trees. He disappeared into a small draw, but I did not see him come out of it until about 30 minutes later. If he continued on the hillside he would eventually run out of heavy brush and tree cover. Oh, oh as he kept moving he laid down twice. That buck was hurt.

Watching, watching then it was time to send a .257 87 gr Speer HotCor. Placed the 99-A gripped in my left hand on the tree stand front bar and the crack of the 250-3000 echoed thru the hollows. The sight picture was a high shoulder shot. Buck down and he rolled sideways a couple of times. Range was 145 yards. Got to the buck and looked him over to find a bullet hole high and back of the front leg and one hole in the front shoulder and exit on back of the oft side shoulder. Blood had weeped out of the side of the deer and along the rear part of the belly and lower rear leg. Out of curiosity I went to the area where I saw him lay down the last time and there was evidence of blood loss but not extreme.

Returned to the buck and as I put my drag rope on him, i received a text message from my wife saying a neighbor and his son are here at the farm and want permission to follow up on a wounded buck that crossed over onto our place. I told her to tell that them I killed a wounded buck, but I have two hours of shooting time left and I am going back to my stand. Will work out the logistics later. Drug the buck about 75 yards down the hill, took a picture and went hunting.
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excellent way to keep things the way it should be amongst hunters and neighbors way to go. here is one that will make you laugh i own 200 acres of prime hunting land 70 acres are Tamarac swamp the friend to the south has 600 acres we get along great ,now the owners adult kids to the north were in stands on 300 acres of bare plowed black dirt because they had pictures of this giant buck that scores around 201 B.C. non-typical my son was hunting that line on our side but myself i was back in the nasty Tamarac swamp stand and that big old buck at 9 A.M. got shot with one shot by me on my land 1/4 mile from those hunting the black dirt land. now the friend to the south who was hunting also with 600 acres was happy i got this buck as was my son. the neighbors to the north were pissed at me and still are and my 30 year old son talk to one of the adult son`s of the owner`s black dirt land and said his brother was still pissed my son gave him some solid nice remarks that son understood. but since then we have killed a few more nice bucks included my son`s giant 8 pt. this fall 2021 in rifle season. what really gets me is i payed for this land myself working lots of overtime as a power linemen that`s hard long workhours they get to hunt Daddy`s land for nothing and don`t even pay any taxes and Daddy put up a nice cabin for them too. i have a old run down farm house . its just funny how some people are who get everything handed to them .

☝🏼☝🏼☝🏼☝🏼

Around here the hunter can call the sheriff or a conservation agent to get onto other property if the landowner doesn't give permission.

Last year a small group of caribou cows, some with calves came by and I let them pass. A mile up valley they got cut down on by some bozo shooting at what I guessed to be 800 yards or so (distances are highly deceiving in alpine!). All the caribou came running back, one cow limping.

My 260 dropped her at 294 ranged yards. She had a bullet chippd hoof.

Does that count as "first blood" ? If so,, the first shooter was SOL. (But that's a good rule of thumb).

Next day I killed an orphaned calf, using up my second tag. - she wasn't gonna make it anyway, hanging around her mother's gut pile like that. I was not the one that killed her mother the evening before (I heard the shot right at dark).

Previous year, I shot a medium decent bull caribou. In dragging it down to a flatter spot for dressing, I noticed a bullet wound that just cut the hide above his hock.

'Twas why he went limping off the day before, using the leg, but limping, after I took a shot without ranging him first. Knocked him down with first shot and was feeling good until he got back up. Totally missed the next 3 going away shots. My eyeball estimate of range was off by a factor of two or more. Don't do that!

Sort of why I could estimate the bozo shot... it was the same location. .

Sure made me feel good taking him after botching that shot the day before. He was no longer limping.

Years ago a friend neck-shot a bull moose, knocked it down. It jumped up and boogied. He trailed until dark/lost track. Next year he shot a "similar" bull at near location, and found a bullet in it's neck when butchering it.

That's doing it the hard way!

In Missouri I don't think the Sheriff's or the Conservation Agent can legally force a landowner to allow trespass on their land by a hunter to recover a wounded deer.

Would have to actually check. What I have heard and what has worked for those I know.

I am just glad I haven't had to deal with it knowing some of the landowners adjacent to places I have hunted.