Someone took a Gut Shot! - Then walked off...

[sahunter06]

I still would of put it out of its misery and called the warden to explain the situation. Maybe a warden on here could describe the best way to handle it. I saw a similar deal, but the hunter didn’t know what happen, when I was to young to carry a gun and told myself I would never leave an animal like that. If you hit a deer with your vehicle and its laying there with a broken back, would you just leave it? I wouldn’t. I’m not judging how you handled the shitty situation, that really sucks you guys have to witness it

Reach out @mtwarden and get his advice. I’m sure he’s run into similar situations before and might be able to assist with the best way to handle the situation.

 

[Michael54]

Any update on what the wardens told you?

 

[ManyBullets]

Sounds like some of you need to get more western.

NM sounds like a wonderful blue state. Next thing you know you won't be able to pick up illegals or prostitutes.

 

[go_deep]

We wasted a half day of our antelope this year chasing around a buck with a blown off left front leg, it ended up on private we couldn't hunt. No idea who shot it, just tried to put it out of its misery. We did have buck tags and would have tagged it. Talked to the warden and she kind of knew the landowner, was going to talk to them and see if she could take care of it. No clue if she ever found it.

 

[ColoradoCowboy]

Wow. It amazes me how little respect some people have for animals. Honestly makes me sick to my stomach. Too bad you weren’t in a position to get a license plate number and turn him in.

As far as putting it out of its misery, that’s a tough call. I do think that’s what’s right for the animal but a couple years ago I came across a doe deer that had been hit on the highway and broke both her front legs, couldn’t walk at all. I called the local game warden and he told me I could not put it down and he would take care of it when he was able to. I don’t know if he ever did and every time I think about it I just wish I wouldn’t have called and took care of it. Use the ask for forgiveness tactic instead. I imagine you could get a different answer depending on the game warden.

 

[Rich M]

Likewise, it amazes me how much energy folks will put into chasing game they didn't shoot. Dude gut shoots a critter and suddenly it's your/my responsibility? Why is that? Morals? Ethics?

Do you feel the same way about a prairie dog? If not why not? Not much diff between a PD and an antelope in the cycle of life - they are both protein to something else.

No way I'm gonna travel half way across the country on a hunt (might be hunt of a lifetime) and then burn a $350 tag on a half-dead critter someone else shot 2 days or 2 hours ago.

And if i did put it out of its misery (I'm not totally cold blooded), sure aint gonna be calling the GW to turn myself in. If there were a lot of "hunters" around, i would not put it out of its misery cause too many of you-all are whiney "call the GW" types with big imaginations and I'd rather not deal with the pile of BS that could come with it. It'll die soon enough and something will eat it.

I've only dealt with 1 WY GW and he was top notch. Never got to meet him in person but called and spoke with him twice while planning a DIY hunt. Told me stop thinking about it, just come out, don't corner cross, and have a good time. I'd hunt in his territory any time.

Imagine how much time a GW can spend trying to track down every wounded animal or "illegal tree stand" or guy shot "too far" at an animal and might have hit it but drove off or the dude had squinty eyes - he was up to something that someone reported. They are short handed and surely have other stuff to do.

 

[kpk]

Same for vehicle hit/wounded. Have to leave them to suffer otherwise you'll be in the crap if you shoot it and get caught.

I had this scenario a couple years ago. There was a deer that had been hit and was obviously paralyzed laying on the shoulder of the road thrashing its head around. At the time, I started work about 30 minutes before rush hour. I called both the DNR and state troopers (they knew what I was calling about before I even told them, so that tells you how many calls they got) to see if I could go put her down. Was told NO by both of them. It was just outside the city and morning traffic was about to get heavy, so not exactly somewhere to risk it.

 

[KHNC]

If it had been Wyoming, you could have just told Warden Joe Pickett.

 

[KHNC]

Sounds like some of you need to get more western.

NM sounds like a wonderful blue state. Next thing you know you won't be able to pick up illegals or prostitutes.

Extremely Blue mask wearing mofos.

 

[Brewski]

If I was in that suitation I would strongly consider killing the suffering antelope, don't go near the kill, don't post about it on the internet, and go on about my day. If u happen to run into a warden, tell the story, have the witness tell the story, take the ticket, and plead your case to the judge.

 

[Erict]

Gather facts and make a call promptly if you are the kind who reports potential violations. Let the GW decide whether to investigate. We had a crew here that drove around at night shooting as many deer as they could and leaving them - multiples over several nights. Point is, you may see something that's part of a bigger operation. You can always dial "#67" before the actual number if you want to turn off Caller ID on the other end and remain "anonymous".

Yeah, you may be violating one or more laws when dispatching wounded/injured animals - you to decide the "lesser of the evils". You could always say "I saw a guy shoot and the animal is dead at location X" without implicating yourself. Document your actions with cell phone video. The carcass is potential evidence and/or a responding warden may be able to donate the meat to a needy family.

You can always choose the "if a tree falls in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound" or "SSS" options.

 

[def90]

Likewise, it amazes me how much energy folks will put into chasing game they didn't shoot. Dude gut shoots a critter and suddenly it's your/my responsibility? Why is that? Morals? Ethics?

Do you feel the same way about a prairie dog? If not why not? Not much diff between a PD and an antelope in the cycle of life - they are both protein to something else.

No way I'm gonna travel half way across the country on a hunt (might be hunt of a lifetime) and then burn a $350 tag on a half-dead critter someone else shot 2 days or 2 hours ago.

And if i did put it out of its misery (I'm not totally cold blooded), sure aint gonna be calling the GW to turn myself in. If there were a lot of "hunters" around, i would not put it out of its misery cause too many of you-all are whiney "call the GW" types with big imaginations and I'd rather not deal with the pile of BS that could come with it. It'll die soon enough and something will eat it.

I've only dealt with 1 WY GW and he was top notch. Never got to meet him in person but called and spoke with him twice while planning a DIY hunt. Told me stop thinking about it, just come out, don't corner cross, and have a good time. I'd hunt in his territory any time.

Imagine how much time a GW can spend trying to track down every wounded animal or "illegal tree stand" or guy shot "too far" at an animal and might have hit it but drove off or the dude had squinty eyes - he was up to something that someone reported. They are short handed and surely have other stuff to do.

A fellow member in an archery club I belong to was hunting his unit and ran in to some other guys that mentioned someone having shot a velvet buck that they were never able to find. He tracked it down and harvested it 4 days later.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Long range shooting of game should be illegal. It's fine for targets but anything past 400 is marksmanship not hunting. It's un sportsman like. Especially pronghorn. There a just too many variables in the field. Even if you're a great shot. It's not worth it. I just think it's inappropriate even if you can make the shot.

The distance has nothing to do with what you witnessed. Someone like that is also going to wound animals and walk away while hunting with a bow or muzzleloader too. Bad shots happen all the time, close and far.

I hate comments like this. In my experience, there are way more animals wounded and not recovered during archery and muzzleloader hunts than rifle hunts. After you ban shots past 400 yards, what's next? No bows with more than three pins?

For the record, I hunt with all three weapons and think they should all continue to be legal. Each of us needs to do our best to know our tools and our limits and make good choices in the field.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

The distance has nothing to do with what you witnessed. Someone like that is also going to wound animals and walk away while hunting with a bow or muzzleloader too. Bad shots happen all the time, close and far.

I hate comments like this. In my experience, there are way more animals wounded and not recovered during archery and muzzleloader hunts than rifle hunts. After you ban shots past 400 yards, what's next? No bows with more than three pins?

For the record, I hunt with all three weapons and think they should all continue to be legal. Each of us needs to do our best to know our tools and our limits and make good choices in the field.

I think the distance does have to do with it, guys like that tend to shoot fine at 100 yards, but they get their 143gr ELD-X box and a Strelok app and think they're good to 800 because some guys on the internet said they're good for Elephants at half a mile.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I think the distance does have to do with it, guys like that tend to shoot fine at 100 yards, but they get their 143gr ELD-X box and a Strelok app and think they're good to 800 because some guys on the internet said they're good for Elephants at half a mile.

Guys like that will also take rushed shots at running animals at 100 yards. They'll also grab a bow at Cabela's and take it directly out to the field without any practice at all. Bad hunters are just that. Bad hunters.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Guys like that will also take rushed shots at running animals at 100 yards. They'll also grab a bow at Cabela's and take it directly out to the field without any practice at all. Bad hunters are just that. Bad hunters.

Indeed sir, they are the same types.

 

[svivian]

Guys like that will also take rushed shots at running animals at 100 yards. They'll also grab a bow at Cabela's and take it directly out to the field without any practice at all. Bad hunters are just that. Bad hunters.

Unfortunately youll hear 10 stories of the dudes winging lead out to 1000 at animals for every 1 of a running shot at 100 or buying a new bow day before season. even better youll watch videos of it.

Im not disagreeing with you, just stating its much more popular on the social media scene.

 

[Ucsdryder]

The distance has nothing to do with what you witnessed. Someone like that is also going to wound animals and walk away while hunting with a bow or muzzleloader too. Bad shots happen all the time, close and far.

I hate comments like this. In my experience, there are way more animals wounded and not recovered during archery and muzzleloader hunts than rifle hunts. After you ban shots past 400 yards, what's next? No bows with more than three pins?

For the record, I hunt with all three weapons and think they should all continue to be legal. Each of us needs to do our best to know our tools and our limits and make good choices in the field.

I agree. Here’s a story…

We were cleaning my wife’s antelope this weekend. She made a perfect shot at 235 yards. Over the course of about 20 minutes we heard 5 shots not too far away. About 30 minutes after the last shot a father and son roll up. They start talking to us and pretty soon mention they shot a doe and it was over there in the field. I look up and she’s standing there. The dad says “I’m not sure I can hit her from here”. I grabbed my rifle and dialed the turret for him an asked if he wanted to give mine a try. We got him all set up on a good wood fence post and wham, down she went.

This guy had shot the antelope 2-3 times out of 5 shots at less than 300 yards and it was alive almost an hour after the initial shot was fired.

After limiting range, are you going to require everyone to take a proficiency test?

I’d take my wife shooting at 500 with my setup over that guy shooting at 250 with his.

This fall I shot a 6x6 bull at 29 yards with my bow. I’m still not sure what happened but I got 2-4” of penetration and never saw him again. I can stack arrows in tiny holes at 30 yards.

Distance isn’t always the reason. And everyone is different.


I do agree that at some point technology needs to slow down. In my world as head of CPW in Colorado I would designate primitive areas. Specific GMU where technology was HIGHLY limited on rifle, ML, and archery. Wounding of animals might honestly increase in those areas, but the age class and quality of hunt would skyrocket.

 

[EdP]

I had Eastman Hunting TV on the other day. One of the Eastmans, Ike I think, was hunting a mulie buck. It was bedded 120 yds from him and he got tired of waiting for it to stand so he put a shot in the dirt about 20 yds to one side of the deer, hoping to get it to stand and give him a shot. Instead it jumped up and immediately ran straight away from him. He took 2 shots at the deer going away full speed and put them in the dirt many yards to it's rear. I think it was about the worst sportsmanship I have ever seen on TV, right up there with "let it lie until morning" when its 70 degrees overnight. It really turned me off of the Eastmans. Examples of poor sportsmanship and total disregard for the animal sometimes shown on TV can't help but contribute to the type of behavior the OP observed.

 

[Packmansion]

The distance has nothing to do with what you witnessed. Someone like that is also going to wound animals and walk away while hunting with a bow or muzzleloader too. Bad shots happen all the time, close and far.

I hate comments like this. In my experience, there are way more animals wounded and not recovered during archery and muzzleloader hunts than rifle hunts. After you ban shots past 400 yards, what's next? No bows with more than three pins?

For the record, I hunt with all three weapons and think they should all continue to be legal. Each of us needs to do our best to know our tools and our limits and make good choices in the field.

This is just my opinion. I also don't think it should actually be against the law. Not for unenforceable laws that are based on opinions. I'm not a democrat. I do feel like folks should caution long range shots. Plenty of bad shots at close range, it should be encouraged to practice and work within your abilities. It's also against the law to do what this guy did. You need to do your best to track down an animal that you hit.