The "DRT Cartridges" article by Craig Boddington in the January G&A got me thinking about how it works where you hunt if you hit a deer and it runs a ways?
Hunting where I do in the National Forest hasn't been an issue, but back in NE WI. where I have hunted in a more crowded woods, it could have been. Have you ever had a dispute over whose deer it was or how do you think you would resolve it if you did?

As far as I'm concerned the deer belongs to the person that put the first lethal bullet in. The fact that the deer ran is irrelevant

I had one over a cow elk.

The guy already had punched his tag so I let him have it.

Ended up eating tag soup that year.

It wasn’t the standard:

Ok lady it’s you’re elk…….

But can I get my saddle off of it?

I tend to agree with this. My definition of lethal being a bullet through the vitals. A gut shot may be fatal after many days but the person shouldn't be rewarded for it.


I heard a story (could've been on this forum,can't remember) about two people arguing over an animal. The person in the wrong just would not give up their claim, so the other guy walked over to the animal and put a bullet into each quarter and said "Now you can have it" and walked off.

If things got too heated, I'd just walk away. No sense getting shot over a dead critter.

I guess you could always call the game warden and let him decide.

Shot a big doe in the front shoulder with a 7 x 57 with a 175 grain power point at about 40 yards back when I was 13 or 14. Seen hair explode, watched her stumble, almost go down, then stagger up onto the bench above me. I waited 5 minutes, went to where she stood, found hair, blood, chunks of shoulder blade. I picked up a big piece of shoulder bone and put it in my pocket. I snuck up to that bench…no deer. Trailed her the length of the ridge, jumped her 3 times but no shot. At the far point of the ridge, about 100 yards from me there was a shot. Trailed on out, there’s a goofy dude from neighbor’s group(who had permission to hunt out there) standing over MY doe. He had shot her straight across the hind quarters to put her down. I told him I hit her about 30 minutes ago and trailed her out to him. He said, “ya musta shot her in the ass, because I just shot her in the shoulder. I said I’m glad you got her. I wasn’t, but I said it. I’m thinking that was a mess to skin and butcher. I was young and stupid and did a lot of things wrong that morning, but that was one thing I did right. Should have shot her again when she was stumbling, should have left her lay and not pushed her. In our family/hunting group it’s who puts it down that counts…unless you’re anchoring or finishing off a wounded one for a junior or senior hunter. May not work for some and might be wrong, but that’s the way we do it.

Among fowl the bird goes to the person that brings it to the ground. Among big game the person that puts it down. Wounded and fleeing animals are still available for the taking.

If one is on a guided hunt, do clarify policy. With many outfits, if one draws blood the hunt is over.

Never personally had an issue.

Laws and locations vary, but ...

Reduction to possession

Edited to add:

Which is to say, know your laws, because if you come upon “your” game animal, and someone else has reduced it to possession already, there is a better than average chance that the other party has LEGAL rights to that downed animal ... hunter’s ethics aside.

When I was around 16 or 17, I was sitting on my stand when I heard a single rifle shot quite a ways off. About 20 minutes later, a buck came running down the fence line in front of me about 150 yards out. It was going hard, but it had been hit in the front left leg. I put one 6mm rem in the boiler maker and down it went. Let it sit for about 10 min then walked over to the fence line to get it. Just as I got to it, a man and his 10-11 year old son walked up on me. The dad didn’t have a gun and the son had a brand new marlin 336 30-30. The man said his son had shot the deer about a mile away and they had been driving around looking for it. He was honest and said he knew it wasn’t a lethal shot. But he asked if his son could tag it. I didn’t care, so I said yes and started walking back to my stand. The dad stopped me and asked, “what do we do now?” I said, I usually gut it and I started walking again. He asked, can you show us how? I was in a little disbelief at the time, but I did it and they both watched with intent. It was clear neither one of them could have done it. That was over 35 years ago and to this day, I wonder what the hell they would have done if I hadn’t bee there. I was happy to help that kid tag his first deer but when he thinks about it, he has to wonder why I was so helpful.

A quick anecdote on this. Opening morning about 2 1/2 miles into wilderness, I heard a muffled shot, sounded funny...kinda like a shotgun, just a minute or two later here comes a 3 pt at a pretty good lope, steeper than a cows face, I donged him (at an awesome 30 yds) and he piled up another 60 yds down the bluff. Gutted him, went back up to get my rifle and daypack, here comes a guy about my age packing a Remington 1863 replica. We conferred, yes he fired at a buck 30 minutes ago, yes I fired and killed one, yadda yadda. The guy was about to leave and I told him he got first blood and his buck was 60 yards down the hill, gutted...he was very grateful, he offered it back, but finally relented. Six or seven hours later I returned to the pickup and the trailhead, skunked, he had packed that buck all that way and put it in the bed of my pickup with a note. That stranger and I have been good friends, hunted, fished and camped for 30 years now.

When I was a young teenager 13 years old at the time. I was taught by my grandfather and uncles, If deer is moving by on all four's its fair game, wounded or not. If its stumbling and falling down, finish it off for the guy who shot it. Its his deer. I am now 65 years old. I have never had to deal with this situation. But I think If saw a deer that was obviously hit I would shoot it and give it to the guy that shot it first.

My Great Uncle told me that back in the 60s and 70s in PENN that often two or more hunters would be shooting at the same deer. Often there was a question of who the deer belonged to after it dropped. If one of the hunters was a kid, the other hunter would congratulate him and walk away. If both hunters were grown men, a simply coin toss would decide who the deer belonged to. Of course in the age we live in now, Im sure there would be a fist fight or worse over a dead deer........

I’ve never had a hillside dispute but I’ve left carcasses on the mountain several times. An old cowboy told me to leave a coin under the eyelid and that’s what I do.

If someone else put a reasonable shot into it (anything even close to reasonable if it’s a kid or senior) then down it goes, shake their hand and help gut/drag their game if it’s needed.

Don’t want someone else game just because I put it down.

In fact just this year I had a cow elk tag and was working towards some hidden meadows that I knew were holding elk when i heard a shot from the road up above the meadow. Walked into the meadow and found a well hit but not yet dead cow (would have died shortly) Put her down and walked back to the trail head about a mile and 1/2 back out where we were met by a busted up old timer with a disabled tag. Me and a buddy grabbed the dragging gear and his tag and told him we would be back with his elk in a few hours.

Got a cold beer and a thank you for the effort and I was good with that.

Hmmmm, so it can pay the ferryman? Penny for it’s thoughts? Down payment in a post mortem cataract removal? I give up 🤔

coin would be left on the dead animal, and if someone happens on it, and claims it, then runs into coin owner…it’d be tough to explain for thief😜

I've gave a bunch of deer away and one bull. When you party hunt off air boats, swamp buggies and use dogs it gets confusing who actually killed the deer. Hunting and fishing has always came easy for me, and when everything is said and done, it's only a deer or a fish.

If a deer or elk comes by me and is obviously hit , I will try to put it down and wait for the original shooter. I have never been in a situation where two hunters are actively shooting at the same animal so can't say there. I'd say whoever puts it down is the owner.

If I shoot and it goes it goes off a short distance and another hunter tires to claim it and has not fired a shot.There will be a discussion.If it ends up being a rather long tracking job and at the end another hunter found it, I would tend to let him/her have it, as I might not have found it and would feel relieved that they did.

Years ago I came up on a kill sight. 3 dead cows gutted and tagged. Over in the brush I found another cow, not tagged,not gutted. I gutted it out , waited awhile then tagged the elk. I explained the situation and he says they didn't know they shot the other one and tanks me for talking care of it.

They could have known about the 4th cow and were going to pack the other three out and come back and tag it with one of their three original tags..

I have come up on lone hunters just finding their elk and have helped them process it and the thought never entered my mind of trying to claim it. I have let a few youth hunters claim elk that I obviously shot and they thought they did.

What if you don't know if the wounded animal was what they were shooting at? I only had a bull tag and I heard a volley of shots off to my right, then out came a cow elk with a newly broken front leg. It haunted me to not put it down and could only hope that someone with a cow tag didn't waste it.

On a drive one of our guys hit an 11 point low just in front of the hind quarter. Only a few drops of blood and he didn't look for it very far. Snow on the ground, so I did. Half a mile and a trout stream crossing later I cracked him running out of that stream bottom. I kept the antlers, but split the meat with the other guy.

Six days into our deer season I was still hunting and found a deer bed with some blood in it and a buck looking track leaving. That late in the season that was the only game in town and took up the track. If sweat equity counted for anything, it took me two days to run that 8 point out of blood from a front leg shot. I'm not sure how I would have felt if someone shot "my" buck up ahead.

I didn't shoot or tag this one, but if it had been wounded and ran by me, I'd have probably let it go.

This happened to us when I was in high school. Hunting in northern MN with my buddy and his dad.

We heard Jim (buddy's dad) shoot and went over in his direction. He was standing on a stump at the edge of a clear cut and a buck came loping towards him. It got close enough to shoot and dropped at Jim's shot. By the time we got there he had it gutted and told us it was wounded. Probably about 15 minutes had passed from the shot to when we got to him.

After talking for a few minuets a guy came across the cut the same direction as the buck. He came over to us and said he'd been tracking it for some time. It was clearly hit by the other guy. Jim gave him the deer. We BS'd for a few minutes and he asked where we stayed. We were in a camper about a mile from where we were standing, at the beginning of the logging road. The guy shook our hands and went on his way with the buck.

Later that night he pulled into camp and gave Jim a backstrap from that buck.

Plenty of deer to go around. Not worth arguing over one. Even a big one.

The only issue I've ever had was about 40 years ago in Maine on Diamond Match property in back of my buddies parents farm in Larone. 2nd morning of our hunt I was on stand with a couple other guys spread out along a ridge. A nice forkhorn came by and I took a shot through an opening as it was walking with my 270. I could tell it was hit but it made it up over a little hill and I figured I'd give it some time before I went looking for it. About 15 minutes later a shot rings out close, right over the hill where my deer disappeared. So I go over to see what happened and there is my deer about 50 yards from where I last saw him and this kid who was probably 4 or 5 years younger than me is standing over him all excited. Before I said anything he starts telling me how the deer was feeding with his head down and he shot him in the neck. So I pointed to the hole in the back of it's ribcage and said that's where I shot him a half hour ago. I wasn't sure what to do but I suggested we unload our guns which we did. Then I gutted the deer while he keeps telling me how the deer was standing up. I finished up and said we should drag the deer out. I was trying to avoid arguing about it but unsure how it was going to get resolved. So we started dragging and finally hit the main trail and met up with my buddies father on his tractor. I explained what happened and he asked the kid his side of the story and he admitted that he and his friend were camped in back of the neighbors barn and saw us walking out that morning and followed us keeping their distance. Then when he heard me shoot he ran up to see what happened and saw the deer which he insisted was standing and shot it. My buddies Dad told him to get lost in some not so nice words. We got the deer back to the house and I took it to the check station and got it registered.

About an hour later a warden shows up with the kid and we went over the whole thing again. Apparently the kid left a few details out of the story he told the warden. Like how they followed us and then ran up where I shot and found the deer dead. I finally opened the barn door and showed him where the deer was hit before he shot him in the neck. The warden asked the kid "are you still going to tell me this deer was standing up feeding"? The kid didn't say anything and that was the end of it.

Exactly.

Whoever takes it off it's feet. I jumped a buck last week and got off a quick shot with my 30-30. I hit low it turned out but had good bright red blood for 150 yards then it petered out. My son and I split up to scour the area. A few minutes later he jumped it and knocked it down for keeps. I told him it was his buck

Dad taught me as a kid that the one who puts it down is the winner. That said, I've never shot anything that was wounded.
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PA law, as I was taught, was whomever put the last bullet in it while it was on its feet. I have never had a confrontation but have put down two gut shot deer. I stayed until the initial shooters showed up then told them to come get their deer. I wanted the deer out of its misery but did not want to tag them. I had just the opposite happen to me a few years ago. I was squeezing the trigger on a good buck and just as it was to go off, a doe jumped in front. I pulled the shot into the flesh of the bucks shoulder. I trailed it for about 300 yards when I heard a shot in the direction the deer went. I kept following the trail and came upon 2 hunters gutting it. They were defensive at first but I made it clear that it was their deer and I just wanted to look at it. They were nice after that.

This for sure. Though a good sportsman sometimes sees it best to relinquish his claim for another’s benefit.

Statistically 96% of animals shot, die. When may vary. You want your tag on it make the shot count!

Damn glad a deer is so precise in your area

In AZ I believe the rule is he who puts it down has rights. However, when hunting with friends and family we go by first to hit.

If timing is not a factor, then the number is 100%, since we're talking statistically. Same for those that are not shot.

I can't imagine needing a deer so badly that I'd argue over it with someone.

Back in the day when I hunted public land in Ohio and their was a hunter sitting on every ridge tossing slugs at running deer the custom was whoever knocked the deer down. All the other places I have hunted were not crowded so never became or becomes an issue.

Thats my attitude as well.

Was hunting a friends place when I heard a shot a long ways off. Then I heard dogs barking. 15 minutes later a bleeding doe comes by with a dog on its tail. I put the doe down and the shot scares the dog away. I sit and wait for the guy to show up. He tells me how he shot the deer and has been following it. I said fine, its yours, but next time I shoot the dog. (dog hunting illegal in that area). He turned white as a sheet. He was obviously using dogs to jump them up.

One year that I was sheep hunting on one of Montana's Unlimited tag bighorn sheep units there was an Outfitter with a guided sheep hunter that was camped about 1/4 mile from my camp. My eye doctor was staying in the outfitter's camp, but not hunting with a guide, and I had met the outfitter.

On the second day of the season I knew that the guide was going to take his hunter up the mountain by our camps, so went around the mountain and went up the back side. About half way up the mountain, I found sheep tracks and followed them to two legal rams. I had killed a full curl ram the year before in another unit so I decided to pass on these rams. They were close enough to me that I picked up a golf ball size rock and threw it, underhanded, and hit one of the rams. They both ran up the hill.

A few minuted later I heard a shot from the mountain above me. Then both rams came running down the mountain and one of them had been gut shot and he was dragging his small intestines on the ground, like a rope. The rams split when they saw me (and my dog) with one running south and the wounded one running north.

I didn't like to see the wounded ram suffer, so I went after him and found him standing in the next avalanche chute where I shot and killed him.

I then went up the mountain and found the outfitter, his guide, and their hunter. They had followed the healthy ram out across another wide avalanche chute in the opposite direction that the wounded ram went. I then took them to the fallen sheep and said "Here's your ram."

I then helped them to dress, quarter and pack the ram over the mountain and down to their camp. That was the 9th year that that outfitter had been hunting sheep in that unit and this was the first ram that any of his hunters had shot.

He was so happy that one of his hunters had finally got a ram that he invited me to his camp for dinner that night where he gave me his biggest Porterhouse steak and made sure that my dog got plenty of the steak bones.

As a side note, I went back into that area the next year, by myself and my dog, and shot the other ram.

What I'm reading is that there a lot of question at least ethically. Most of us have shot so many deer that it wouldn't matter much one way or another, but I do wonder if legally it would help settle an argument if it was addressed in the state's game laws. Then I suppose it could be left up to an individual to give it away in those "it depends" situations. I try to hunt an area where I'll never see another hunter in the woods for the entire season. The deer are less pressured and moving naturally.

Nice gesture Buffybr and a great picture. Sheep hunting with a dog seems kind of unusual to this flatlander though.

I had this issue come up years ago. I see a few problems with some statements.

As to the 1st hunter to, ‘put a lethal shot into the animal’? Who is the arbitrator of what a lethal shot is? Not so clear out in the woods. Will this shot prove lethal in one hour? What if the animal may live for days?

This deer came by with a grazing shot across the back, our party killed it. The 1st shooter followed tracks in the snow for a mile, then came to us. We gave him the deer, didn’t have to. He later told some others we were ‘trying to take his deer’. My 1st inclination was to wrap his rifle across a tree, 3v1. Later when he came back on this private property the owner said he was no longer welcomed.

I later called a game warden about such issues, his answer was succinct, but still a little room for adjustment. He said the deer belongs to who killed it, then tagged it. He left it at that.

There is room for common sense, problem is, some one may deal with may not have any sense.

Its really not that hard folks.

Who took it off its feet - if its still running it ain't yours yet. From there you can determine if you want to be amicable with the other party or not.


Also note, most "told the other guy go ahead and take it" stories are does or baskets. Not too many guys giving up a gut shot 180" some shmuck has been pushing for 1/4 mile...

Yeah, that falls under the "it depends" part.

Need? Not at all. Still, I can imagine a fellow getting pretty worked up if somebody tried to scam or steal a deer from him.

I don't know that it's actually addressed by PA law....but my understanding is the last shooter is the winner....





I let a buck walk several rifle openers back. I had the entire season to hunt and he wasn't anything special. One last look to make sure I didn't wanna take the last opportunity, I noticed a piece of his guts hanging out. No thought about it. Boom. That buck was absolutely going to die a slow miserable death and not be recovered. I sat with him till almost dark. Noone came so I gutted him and tagged him with my only buck tag.



Couple years later....very last evening of our rifle season. Buddy and I were still hunting a ridge side by side 100-200yds apart. I cut a fresh set of buck tracks on the edge of the laurel I was working. I knew I'd never see that buck so I circled down below and sent him past my buddy. He got 2 shots off. I got to him and 1 shot was definitely in stomach. It looked like a grenade went off. Green and red all over the snow. Other shot was probably liver and a lung... Looked down the trail and it was a mess..blood spraying and pouring...green stomach matter.

Boom! Shot rings out from the road. Well...I sure hope that was at the doe....this buck can't be on his feet.

We followed the carnage 75yds and there was the buck piled up just over the knoll of the hill. Another hunter standing on the road saw us and quickly started towards the buck. N O way!


He claimed the buck was standing there and he shot it and he had no idea he was hit. The evidence in the snow told me otherwise. That buck was absolutely dead when he shot it. Maybe taking its last kicks but definitely on the ground and it was very evident it was hit twice by my buddy.

My buddy is older than I and he wasn't about to get worked up over it. He hauled me away and that was that.

Guy was in the right place at the right time walking down the road.....I have no doubt that buck was on the ground when he shot. Even if it was alive....those 2 hits and whatever ballistic missle my buddy was shooting...it wasn't getting away from us. In that case I'd say the ethical thing would be that goes to my buddy.

Not sure how it would be interpreted here, but in my mind it would be first blood unless other hunter was youth or really wanted the deer.

I have a slightly different view. If I shoot it and it doesn't go down and I track it and someone else shoots it and drops it, it's theirs if they want it. If a wounded one comes by and I shoot and drop it and they come walking up tracking it, as far as I'm concerned, it's theirs if they want it.

Years ago while setting up a drive my uncle who was a blocker had a huge buck approach him from behind in a creek bottom. He made a poor shot in the lower left front leg that was basically superficial but he and my father tried tracking in good fresh snow for a couple hours. After they gave up I took up the track and discovered the beast to be hiding behind our neighbors barn in a deep thick draw. I was barely able to convince them to try again but ultimately they agreed and I was able use my fathers human scent to flush the buck out the bottom of the draw against the wind. I killed him when he tried to exit. My uncle came over, shot the dead deer twice and tagged his 170” buck without so much as saying thank you. My take is that without the paper cut wound and deep fresh snow, I simply would not have tagged the animal myself.
Another time I shot a good 150” 10 point but hit the deer back just behind the lungs in the liver area. The buck crossed two properties over the next day before expiring. When I found him on a neighbor’s property, the neighbor had just discovered the deer and returned with a saw to remove the antlers. When I approached the neighbor, he went completely nuts on me, professed that I had poached the animal out of season and told me it was his. I told him if he wanted it that bad, it was his. Next time I bumped into him, he was friendly and acted like nothing had happened. My position is a deer is rarely going to be worth a fight or losing a friendship over.

Always prepare for someone to be an ahole when it comes to possession of a dead deer. I've seen arguments over a deer that was moving in someone else's direction when it got killed. I've seen track meets break out when a big deer goes down in sight of multiple people.

Good onya bud. That kid and his father will remember your kindness and hopefully carry it forward.

Same here.

i try to use a rifle big enough that the animal either goes right down or does go down close , i have lost a couple of animals that i killed and some butt head found it laying down and tag the animal. one was a 6 pt. bull elk in Wyoming that i put a Zwickey Broadhead thru the lungs ,plus thru both sides at 15 yds. and the local taxidermist walk up to this dieing bull elk in bull`s death bed shot an arrow thru his neck . many hunters have ethics but some are thieves of the truth as this taxidermist was and is.

If its a good hit and I just finish it off, it's the other fella's. If it was a poor shot, I'll wait to tag and see if someone comes a lookin'. If not, it's mine. It's SHAMEFUL how many folk don't follow up on a shot. You don't always find blood/ hair.
If it was a kid shooting, I don't care if it's a Booner, it goes to the kid.
Giving up a deer to a kid feels GOOD. Once had a broke leg doe come by. I dropped her and walked over. About the same time ,here comes Dad and a kid. The kid looked crushed and Dad had that " Oh no" look.
I said " Good shot kid!" " Can't believe that close and I hit it the leg".
I think the boy peed a little he was so excited. Just gave Dad a wink and walked off.
The LORD sent me a whopper doe the next day.
Even though possession is 10/10ths of the law in the woods, IT'S ONLY A CRITTER. Be nice about it and maybe ya make a new friend?

Where's the "like" button?

i don't know about PA law either, but it always been the guy who shot it last gets the animal.

my ex-wife shot a beautiful 10pt behind the shoulder and it ran about 80 yards and it fell down and then a guy shot it on it's stomach and went out the hindquarter. by the time we tracked the buck, the guy was busy gutting it. i decided it was a waste of a tag because he got only one hindquarter and one shoulder (my ex's exit wound took out the shoulder). he had a 10pt antler soup, while we ended up with 2 bucks (4 hindquarters, 3 shoulders, 4 backstraps and 2 necks).

THis

I can’t speak for other states, but in Montana, the killing shot is the one who is supposed to tag the animal…

I will double that like. Muddly, you are a good man. 👍👍