I was thinking about our upcoming September hunt, my dad for elk and me for mule deer. Day dreaming at work because there is very little "construction" going on with our current economical situation, I began think of a situation. And I thought I would get your thoughts. Take the following hypothetical for exactly what it is and don't read anything into it, make it as simple as "yes" or "no." Let's say that you are chasing elk with your best friend, he has a tag and you have only a mule deer tag. You call an elk into range and you're set up behind him doing the calling. The bull turns broadside and your buddy sends an arrow hitting the bull way far back in the intestines. The animal takes off to the side and stops inside your effective shooting distance looking down the hill to figure out what just happened. At this time it's fairly apparent that there was no major artery hit and the animal isn't going to fall anytime soon. With the knowledge that elk go a LONG ways on a less than perfect shot would you: A) Do your best to put an arrow in the vitals? or B) Let the animal walk in hopes of finding him later? It's obviously against the law for you to shoot... what do you do? I know my answer... what is yours?
I am going to have to go with "No" As much as I would want to for several reasons the fact is it is still illegal.
Let the animal walk. I've been In a similar situation as this before, the only difference was It wasn't an elk.
Here come the ethics police on me. But sadly.. I don't care cause my buddy means more to me than this minor infraction. He's a dead bull.. and my buddy will loose no sleep this night. My only problem with this Q.. would I even have an arrow nocked? Likely not.
That's a tough one on more than one level. Although it would be against the law I think that elk would deserve to die quickly and humanely as possible, no matter who makes the last shot. I "hypothetically" put myself in that situation and would feel awful if that elk was not found even when a possible lethal shot could have been made. I would also feel bad for my buddy that realizes it was not truly his kill. That is beside the point though. Bottom line IMO, the elk would be better off with a second shot no matter who placed it.
The ethics police can fight me too... I forgot to mention Duke, you're an overly prepared individual and always have an arrow knocked... ya never know when that 200" mule deer could show up.:D
Boy could there be an awful lot of ways to go with this but.......Reading it exactly as it is, and a simple yes or no........I'm shooting. I respect the animal too much to let it suffer for that long.......and if the tails were turned, I would want my buddy to do the same.
You guys are right BUT....if it was me that made the bad shot and my buddy had to help me out then it wouldn't feel like my true kill. If I would have made a lethal shot to begin with then my buddy wouldn't have had to make that 2nd shot. Yes, I'm weird but it just wouldn't feel right. I'd be glad the animal did not suffer and was found but a little sad as well.
What are you going to do Duke? Gut shoot him again? heh heh heh.. With my luck, if I put a second arrow in it, the elk would drop dead at the feet of a game warden who would see two arrows or holes in it. We'd come walking up and get tickets and the elk would be confiscated. I'll just keep my arrows in my quiver if I'm doing the calling sans tag.
Is there such a thing as a simple yes or no? Simple answer, NO, I wouldn't be shooting and my reason is, if I were the first shooter, I would not want my buddy to put an arrow in the bull. Like Finch, I wouldn't feel it was my kill, my find. Since I wouldn't want my friend to do that for me, I wouldn't do that against a friend.
Sorry for the mini hijack Dustin.:d No Finch, your not weird at all that way. We all just look at things different Is all. Here's a situation that happened 3 years ago- My brother hit a doe and caught the tendon between her knee and her foot with one blade on his 3 blade Snuffer. 8 hours later and 6 arrows later, we got that deer. It was still his deer In my eye's and In everyone elses that helped out. We all just helped him out Is all.
Good point, Jeff. You you are correct that it is a lethal shot but how many gutshot animals have you heard of that has been left not found? Let me break it down...maybe I'm wrong but this is how I would feel.... 1st shooter (me in this case) does indeed make a lethal but poor shot (guts) = animal may go undiscovered, lengthy track job, spoiled meat, etc 2nd shooter "helps out" = animal is more likely to be found and in less time I'd have to give my buddy half credit which I wouldn't mind (and I truly would NOT) = not a true kill for me Maybe I'm making a big deal about it. Maybe I'm selfish for the fact I'd like to claim that particular animal as 100% of my own kill. I don't know. Just giving my opinion guys.
I've spent more than a few hours with a flashlight looking for poorly hit deer shot by friends, family, and myself. I'm shooting to put the animal down.
Mini hijack here too D :d I respect that Steve if that was agreed upon ahead of time. I'm a little anal to the fact on "my" animals. I don't want someone else even touching my animal prior to me. I know, I know I've lost my mind but it falls back that it's special to me to be the first human to ever lay hands on that animal, I thank God and then it's fine grab hold and help drag....LOL I won't touch another's until they have as well.
Putting another arrow in it could make for a harder find. The hit was lethal, let time take run it's course, and go find the elk. Hell, I wouldn't even shoot a deer more than once if I saw a lethal hit.
