So I have permission to hunt a property with another hunter. It is a small property, about 5 acres, but has tons of deer moving through it because it is a funnel. This property is probably my best chance for a decent buck this year. Last year I shot two nice bucks on this property. Long story short, the other guy shoots a doe and does not find it for 12 hours and by that time foxes or coyotes have eaten the back side. So he asks me what to do with the deer. I tell him to gut it, quarter it, but the quarters in trash bags and throw it away, keep the back straps and front legs if you want - it has been pretty cold so they are probably still good. All this is via text message because I am hunting another property at the time. So when I'm done hunting I call him up to find out more info about where the entrance and exits wounds were - come to find out he just dragged the deer back to within 75 yards of our stands and left it there to rot. He basically just says "the property owner suggested it and the carcass will disappear in under 24 hours". Now I am a little pissed honestly. When he texted me initially to say he shot the doe, before he told me he couldn't find it, I asked him to haul it out and gut it at his house so that I could hunt there in the morning and not worry about a gut pile screwing up the area. So not only did this screw up my morning hunt, now I am wondering how long this is going to screw up my stand. I KNOW an entire 100 lb doe is not going to disappear in 24 hours, I seriously doubt it will disappear in 3 days. I am actually getting more and more aggravated about this the more I think about it. I don't blame him for not wanting to take a risk eating it after foxes or coyotes have been chewing on it, but with an hour of effort he could have at least gotten the carcass out of there. The next 5 to 7 days are going to be the best part of the chasing phase in Virginia, and I know if I hunt out there and get skunked and I am going to think the rotting deer had something to do with it. I probably only get 3 good chasing-phase hunts a year (or less), so wasting one is a BIG DEAL. Am I overreacting? How long would you wait to hunt there? Keep in mind this is a small property, and the two best trees to hunt from are both within 75 yards of this carcass.
Call your Local Game Enforcement Officer and let them decide on the proper action. Otherwise,bag it up and dispose of it properly and go back to hunting. Forget about ever hunting with the guy again. Just my opinion.
Although it sucks, I wouldn't worry. Gutted 2bucks last night and had 25-30 deer within 40 yards of the piles tonight. Not one paid any attention.
Gut piles for the most part do not effect dear movement, and in my experience neither do carcasses. I always dump mine in the same place and there are always deer walking right through the area. It was poor form on his part, but it shouldn't effect much especially from out of bow range. Depending on your predators/scavengers, it won't be there long. However it'll probably be more than 24 hrs.
Deer die all the time. The other deer have no idea how they died. I'd hunt and not worry about the gut pile. Find a new hunting partner.
I've had deer on trail cam sniffing gut piles as they walk by, as well as coyote in the same area as big bucks. It may mess the area up a little but wont ruin it completely.
Dead animals is a part of the game. Cool your ego and keep hunting. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
