Who's Elk?

[Gumbo]

Either way I'd concede the elk to the other person. It isn't worth the drama for one thing. Second, I wouldn't be too excited to tag an animal gimped by another hunter although I would just to put it down for good. Third, I wouldn't want to tag an animal someone else had to finish off for me.

 

[OHDeerHunter]

Like others have stated, family comes first and is an elk or any other game that important to fight over. I'd let the other person tag it and just keep hunting.

 

[danarnold]

Uncle’s are supposed to be someone you look up to and learn from... life’s too short to hunt with a ahole uncle
It’s easy to judge from here but I share meat with whoever I hunt with but I’ve become really picky about who that is

 

[elkstabber]

The uncle must be a badass. He shoots the bull twice, trails it presumably on foot. And he's barely behind the bull when the nephew shot it. It seems important to me that the nephew had to ride a horse for an hour to kill the bull that the uncle was trailing.

A lot of who's bull it is depends on their relationship before this hunting trip. Maybe they didn't like each other and for some reason they had to hunt together? If they regularly hunted together they simply would have considered it a victory for the team.

 

[BrentLaBere]

I would say there isn't enough information from the original post. A conversation should have been had after the original shot, making a hypothetical situation here. If everyone was involved with the first shot, they all saw the hits and should have assessed the situation. I find it unlikely the guide would take off with the nephew (with horses) to finish off the bull if there was any good hits put on the elk. How does the guide benefit from the nephew tagging the bull and not the uncle?

I wonder if the nephew didnt put the elk down and they werent able to find the bull, would the uncle notch his tag?

 

[FURMAN]

I guess it just goes to show you choose you hunting partners carefully. If someone in my hunting party wounded and animal. I would ask if they would be offended if I put the animal down if I had the chance. I would expect them to say no. In any case I would expect the guy who drew blood to get the animal.

 

[Jqualls]

I personally couldn't imagine tagging a bull over one of my nephews no matter how it went down. I also haven't hunted with anyone that I wouldn't be just as happy for them to tag a bull as myself.

My first year I was legal to hunt big game in Colorado was right around when they lowered the legal hunting age from 14. I shot a bull above timberline with my dad and one of his hunting buddies. I shot him on a quartering away shot. He went down into a depression out if sight where another hunter from Texas shot him. He was down within 100yds of where I shot him and both lethal shots were found. The other pair of hunters were bent on claiming him as their bull. We where packed a long ways in so I took a picture with him and let them pack him out.

 

[5MilesBack]

Years ago my Son & I both shot the same bull, till this day we speak of that bull as Ours! Blood is thicker than water! They should share the meat & the memories of that hunt as one!

ElkNut/Paul

Absolutely! But if they must decide........then it goes to the nephew. But on the other hand, if I was the nephew and my uncle was on his last hunts, I'd let him have it........as long as he willed the mount back to me. If I was the uncle, I'd want my nephew to have it.

 

[strugglesticks]

If the shot the uncle made wasn’t fatal I say it’s the nephews bull. Should have been pretty easy to see what vital organs were hit with the first shot.


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I agree with this.

 

[BeastOfTheTrees]

Uncle should be a damn man and let his nephew have it cause you take what you kill..... uncle shot bad he should own it..... could possibly ruin a generational tradition by makes my his nephew have a bad time might have ruined hunting for him...... who knows

 

[jaximus]

replies were a lot different than i expected...

theres a lot missing to this story to give any real conclusion. ive never hunted with a guide, but it seems weird to me that the guide would leave the scene of a shot unless A. it was clearly a poor hit or B. there were other elk with it and he figured this one was going down and they had a chance at the others. i wouldnt like the guide if i were the uncle if it were option A. why wouldnt he take the uncle to finish what he started?

ive always been a first blood guy. years of wisconsin whitetail drives has engrained that in me. did the uncle follow a blood trail or was it snow? did the nephew miss out on other elk (option B above) and just put this one down? how old is the nephew?

 

[FLAK]

Nephews Elk. He killed it.

 

[SWOHTR]

If I shoot an animal and wound it this year...and you shoot it next year and kill it, is it mine because I drew first blood?


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[jaximus]

If I shoot an animal and wound it this year...and you shoot it next year and kill it, is it mine because I drew first blood?


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thats pretty foolish to say... a year passed, clearly non lethal, in the case posed, it was an hour, still the same outing from camp

uncle never gave up on that animal, he was still tracking, and tracking well, he found it...

he never gave up and went back to camp

 

[Tick]

Actively tracking a wounded animal it belongs to original shooter. Been in this situation with friends on whitetail hunts and it was not even a question.

Curious on what the WY game laws say?

 

[HookUp]

did it have 3 bullet holes?

If the nephew was another hunter (not a relative) it would not be the uncles, not even close and this conversation would not be happening. The bull is tagged where it lays and if it didn't fall to your rifle it is not yours.

If it was me hunting and it was my uncle i would give the elk up if it was wounded. If it looked like it wasn't injured I would say uncle missed and tag it. There is some other had to be there variables but the uncle should be happy for the nephew as it obviously got away.

 

[cnelk]

I'll weigh in.

Ive witnessed both situations. Hunter that drew first blood tags it. Hunter that kills it tags.

I dont think there is a right/wrong answer.
But it does show what people are made of when it comes down to brass tacks.

I do favor its the nephew's elk. And the uncle should man up, shake the nephews hand and say "thanks for being on the team".

In this original scenario, I wouldnt blame the nephew to not hunt with uncle again.

 

[tntrker]

After setting up on a bull with a friend, I was set up about 40 yrds to his left and told to shoot it if it didn't drop, to keep it from heading off wounded into a ravine. While there waiting and watching, the guide says, " you realize if you do shoot, this will be your bull. The last person who shoots it HAS to tag it." I let my friend do his thing, as this was NOT MY bull. It all worked out and my friend got his bull.

 

[Btaylor]

Guides should have taken it and told the 2 knuckleheads they would split the meat for them but they were keeping the rack for camp decoration.

 

[Swede]

In a law library years ago I read about a case like this. It was determined that the elk belongs to the first person that made a fatal shot on the elk, if was reasonable they would have recovered it. I do not know if the uncle made a fatal shot on the elk but he was still on it.