Ethics in hunting, the story of my once in a lifetime Buck....

[JeffRaines]

Rumor is that he was hunting with a vortex LHT and dropped it in the snow for 5”. It lost zero and he shot off his horns. He was so disgusted he couldn’t even tell his grandpa!

Lucky for him the guys at Vortex know a thing or two about warranty claims and will have that scope back to 93% in no time.

 

[twsnow18]

Patience…. I think a couple well known roksliders were there.

 

[Bighorner]

^
That's what she said.

 

[cmahoney]

Unit? Coordinates? I’m thinking about heading out west and I’d settle for a buck in that class.

Thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AZ8]

I remember jumping a huge covey of quail and I shot but they flew 80 yards right to my brother. That SOB ended up killing 2!!! I was so mad!

 

[cjdewese]

Split personality disorder is a real thing.

 

[amassi]

Lucky for him the guys at Vortex know a thing or two about warranty claims and will have that scope back to 93% in no time.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk

 

[Azone]

Did it involve your old hunting buddies invading your honey hole?
While it can be difficult to accept that those assholes would do it, it does happen.

 

[Seeleylakehuntr]

Dick. That was my deer . I shot it fourth . And it was one of them 140 yard I work out and shoot long range type deals. #tradlife

 

[conley417]

Dear Rokslide,

This is my 13th reason why

 

[ColoradoV]

Boys give him a break!!

I got buggered on a lifetime buck and I could not put a sentence together for a week. Just walking around in circles stammering 35”… 200?? Typical…. Heck I could not even spell well enough to write it down for quite a while lol …

Or post traumatic buck disorder is real! My man here is obviously working through some things…. Space and time might be needed..

 

[Travis907]

Boys give him a break!!

I got buggered on a lifetime buck and I could not put a sentence together for a week. Just walking around in circles stammering 35”… 200?? Typical…. Heck I could not even spell well enough to write it down for quite a while lol …

Or post traumatic buck disorder is real! My man here is obviously working through some things…. Space and time might be needed..

He’s had 164 days to collect his thoughts!

 

[southLA]

Dear Diary,

It has now been 165 days since the buck of my dreams was stolen from me. It took all I can to tell my comrades on Rokslide. Still, I must carry on.

P.S. - Mother is doing well today.

 

[svivian]

This thread reminds me of the one posted a month or two about the guy who found someone's deer head or something but wouldn't give any details. Talk about some blue balls man!

 

[OG DramaLlama]

View attachment 372527View attachment 372528View attachment 372529
As of today it has been 164 days since I shot my buck of a lifetime. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work, good friends, and some luck. I couldn’t wait to tell this story to my Grandfather, who introduced me to hunting.

The next morning, I walked up the gut wrenching reality that deer had been harvested by another. Since then it has been a roller coaster of emotions, unfortunately most of them were bad. Only now do I feel some acceptance and comfort to finally tell my story outside my circle of trust.

Selfishly, my hope is that by telling my part of this Bucks story, it will result in my recovery of the deer.

Realistically, my hope is that this story will create a meaningful and impactful conversation amongst the hunting community about the importance of adhering to hunter ethics in the field. The preservation of ethical and legal hunting practices, the promotion of those who abide by them, and the demotion of those who don’t is key to preserving the future of our sport.

In the field we are competitors, we all want to harvest an animal of a lifetime. However, we cannot let that selfish need be our end goal. We need to collectively promote and adhere to a higher standard of ethical and moral behavior in our fight for the preservation of public land and the wild animals that live on it.

Apologize for the lengthy soap box speech on the first post. The consensus is that most just want the facts, which I appreciate…..

• This was a controlled archery hunt in Idaho.
• Spent every weekend but one up scouting. Luckily, I found this buck on my first trip and was able to get a fairly good idea of his patterns.
• Was fortunate to have two friends donate their time, eyes, and expensive optics to help me scout and be with me on opening weekend.
• We were able to turn the buck up mid-morning on the opener, but he was on the move from his waterhole to his bed. Spent multiple hours glassing different angles to try and find the exact location for a spot and stalk.
• Made my way up to an ambush point on the hill we had spotted the buck, it was just underneath where he generally came out to feed and just above the line he took that morning. Originally, I wanted to be above his bedding area so I could account for the change in the thermals, but the prevailing wind was not going to allow this.
• Sat under a tree for two and a half hours waiting for him to come out.
• He emerged right at 230 yards with just under 3 hours of shooting light left.
• He grazed in a wide open flat for about 20 minutes and decided to bed right under a very recognizable dead red tree.
• The prevailing wind had died down and the thermals were starting to swirl. The line he was taking looked to be headed for feeding grounds and not to water, so I opted to leave the ambush spot and make a stalk on him.
• Left the tree and used it as cover as I backed off to the mountain side and loop all the way around to get on the same level as him. Was able to cut the distance to the dead tree that he had bedded under. When I was able to range the tree at just under 100 yards, I stopped at a boulder patch and started to still hunt.
• My two buddies were able to spot and film the deer through my entire stalk.
• I started slowly moving up a boulder patch keeping the wind in my face. After several steps the buck lifted his head and I was able to spot him above me. The buck was feeding and completely unaware of my presence. After he dropped his head, I was able to get a range of 33 yards. I was able to range multiple rocks on the edge of the boulder slide and had a consistent 25-30 yard reading. I knocked an arrow and attached my release to the d-loop to be ready to draw my bow. His vitals were not visible immediately due to the layout of the terrain and the brush. Over a span of 13 minutes, he slowly fed down and around until he was slightly below my position. The buck stepped just behind a large rock that I had ranged earlier at 23 yards. The buck turned broadside and for the first time turned his head away from me, at which point I came to full draw. As I reached my anchor point and settled the pins on his body, he turned full frontal and started feeding towards me with his head down. This did give me time to level my bubble and put my pins level with his vitals to be ready when he presented a shot. After several steps he turned back downhill and presented a quartering shot. Settled pins on the crease behind his front left shoulder. I compensated for the quartering angle by moving the sight pin slightly forward on his shoulder, and I released my arrow.
• I saw the arrow fletching disappear into his body and heard the shot hit his body. The buck turned and ran for 60-70 yards and then slowed to a walk for another 20 - 30 yards and then came to a complete stop. I was able to visually confirm blood at the exit wound on the buck’s right side.
• Both friends below confirmed they saw the deer get hit and the same behavior I witnessed.
• Buck was taking very slow steps with intermittent stops with his head down and looking very sick. It took 6 minutes for him to slowly walk over the saddle out of eyesight.
• After the buck moved out of sight I waited to listen carefully for crashing or any other activity. Then I moved forward slowly, retrieved my arrow, and marked the location with my GPS. The arrow verified bright red blood on fletching but with some evidence of gut on the shaft.
• The angle of the quartering shot and visual evidence of blood at the exit determined it was most likely a single lung hit with exit slightly further back. Lack of consistent blood on the ground was concerning. Worked my way back to the shot location and then decided that it was best to not continue to push forward. I had spent a lot of time in the preseason glassing the backside of the same mountain where the buck bedded. Which is precisely where the buck was headed after I shot him. Believed that if pushed too hard he would disappear into the heavy timber/brush. While confident the shot was lethal, I was worried it was single lung, not double. I made the extremely difficult decision to back out and return at first light with my two friends to assist in the search. Never heard the buck crash, never saw signs of any other hunter, never heard another bow shoot an arrow. I took a photo of the buck’s last position past legal shooting light.
• Returned before first light the next morning. Found the harvested carcass just past from where I last saw the buck.
• IDFG autopsy that was completed that same day confirmed that my arrow was in fact as I described. Hit a single lung, liver, and guts.
• The rest of the story is tied up in an open investigation.

 

[92xj]

wow, that sucks. Do you have an idea who could have taken it?
How does someone investigate the taking of a dead deer found on a mountain?

 

[TheGreek]

Apologize for the lengthy soap box speech on the first post. The consensus is that most just want the facts, which I appreciate…..

• This was a controlled archery hunt in Idaho.
• Spent every weekend but one up scouting. Luckily, I found this buck on my first trip and was able to get a fairly good idea of his patterns.
• Was fortunate to have two friends donate their time, eyes, and expensive optics to help me scout and be with me on opening weekend.
• We were able to turn the buck up mid-morning on the opener, but he was on the move from his waterhole to his bed. Spent multiple hours glassing different angles to try and find the exact location for a spot and stalk.
• Made my way up to an ambush point on the hill we had spotted the buck, it was just underneath where he generally came out to feed and just above the line he took that morning. Originally, I wanted to be above his bedding area so I could account for the change in the thermals, but the prevailing wind was not going to allow this.
• Sat under a tree for two and a half hours waiting for him to come out.
• He emerged right at 230 yards with just under 3 hours of shooting light left.
• He grazed in a wide open flat for about 20 minutes and decided to bed right under a very recognizable dead red tree.
• The prevailing wind had died down and the thermals were starting to swirl. The line he was taking looked to be headed for feeding grounds and not to water, so I opted to leave the ambush spot and make a stalk on him.
• Left the tree and used it as cover as I backed off to the mountain side and loop all the way around to get on the same level as him. Was able to cut the distance to the dead tree that he had bedded under. When I was able to range the tree at just under 100 yards, I stopped at a boulder patch and started to still hunt.
• My two buddies were able to spot and film the deer through my entire stalk.
• I started slowly moving up a boulder patch keeping the wind in my face. After several steps the buck lifted his head and I was able to spot him above me. The buck was feeding and completely unaware of my presence. After he dropped his head, I was able to get a range of 33 yards. I was able to range multiple rocks on the edge of the boulder slide and had a consistent 25-30 yard reading. I knocked an arrow and attached my release to the d-loop to be ready to draw my bow. His vitals were not visible immediately due to the layout of the terrain and the brush. Over a span of 13 minutes, he slowly fed down and around until he was slightly below my position. The buck stepped just behind a large rock that I had ranged earlier at 23 yards. The buck turned broadside and for the first time turned his head away from me, at which point I came to full draw. As I reached my anchor point and settled the pins on his body, he turned full frontal and started feeding towards me with his head down. This did give me time to level my bubble and put my pins level with his vitals to be ready when he presented a shot. After several steps he turned back downhill and presented a quartering shot. Settled pins on the crease behind his front left shoulder. I compensated for the quartering angle by moving the sight pin slightly forward on his shoulder, and I released my arrow.
• I saw the arrow fletching disappear into his body and heard the shot hit his body. The buck turned and ran for 60-70 yards and then slowed to a walk for another 20 - 30 yards and then came to a complete stop. I was able to visually confirm blood at the exit wound on the buck’s right side.
• Both friends below confirmed they saw the deer get hit and the same behavior I witnessed.
• Buck was taking very slow steps with intermittent stops with his head down and looking very sick. It took 6 minutes for him to slowly walk over the saddle out of eyesight.
• After the buck moved out of sight I waited to listen carefully for crashing or any other activity. Then I moved forward slowly, retrieved my arrow, and marked the location with my GPS. The arrow verified bright red blood on fletching but with some evidence of gut on the shaft.
• The angle of the quartering shot and visual evidence of blood at the exit determined it was most likely a single lung hit with exit slightly further back. Lack of consistent blood on the ground was concerning. Worked my way back to the shot location and then decided that it was best to not continue to push forward. I had spent a lot of time in the preseason glassing the backside of the same mountain where the buck bedded. Which is precisely where the buck was headed after I shot him. Believed that if pushed too hard he would disappear into the heavy timber/brush. While confident the shot was lethal, I was worried it was single lung, not double. I made the extremely difficult decision to back out and return at first light with my two friends to assist in the search. Never heard the buck crash, never saw signs of any other hunter, never heard another bow shoot an arrow. I took a photo of the buck’s last position past legal shooting light.
• Returned before first light the next morning. Found the harvested carcass just past from where I last saw the buck.
• IDFG autopsy that was completed that same day confirmed that my arrow was in fact as I described. Hit a single lung, liver, and guts.
• The rest of the story is tied up in an open investigation.

Good on ya for having the balls to follow up after some of the posts over the last three pages. Sucks to hear. Hope they get to the bottom of it.

 

[aftriathlete]

Yeah, what's the investigation process for this entail? Man, sorry to hear it though, that is a bummer.

 

[Rob5589]

Sheeit! That was your buck? Sorry, my bad...

Sucks to lose a beast like that in that way. What's the investigation about?

 

[TxxAgg]

So a person took it in the middle of the night? As in the meat and headgear? Or just the headgear? Not sure what was meant by "harvested carcass". It wasn't a bear or something?