If more than one hunter shoots a deer, whom does the deer belong to?

A friend of mine heart shot a deer, and I have no reason to doubt him on that. The deer ran over a ridge, and my friend followed the deer. He came over the ridge, and the deer was down in the woods, struggling to stay on its feet. A guy who was on the next ridge opened up on it with a semiatuomatic something or other, hitting it in the ham and guts. The deer fell over. My friend went over to the deer and a conversation ensued. My friend pointed out that he had delivered the fatal heart shot, but the other guy insisted it was his shot that dropped the deer. The conclusion of the argument was the guy with the semiauto (who beat my friend to the deer and was sitting on it) picking his gun up meaningfully and saying "it's my deer".

(For all of you who own private farms, there is an unsavory side to hunting public land, and a there is a good reason sometimes to use follow-up shots on a deer that you want to eat.)

Anyway, who did that deer belong to? What is the rule?

H. C.

Every state has a different look on this. Some say ownership belongs to the person who drew first blood. Others, it belongs to whomever hit it in a vital area. And others say it belongs to the person that finished it off if it was wounded. Check with your local Wildlife Officials to get a ruling for your area. But please keep in mind that a confrontation in the woods with an armed individual is not conducive to a healthy outcome. If I were placed in this situation, I'd be pissed, but I'd walk away after discreetly trying to get the licence number of the jerk that ripped me off, then report it to the authorities.

I am unaware of any rules or laws, maybe someone can share....

It works quite well when the above situation is played out and the 2 hunters are gentlemen. In my experience, he who draws first blood gets the deer.

When one of the hunters is a lout, what else can be done? The gentleman concedes, and hunts on.

As a rule around here it is the guy who puts the deer down to stay. That said it depends more on the honor of the hunters. I have been in this situation on several sides. I once gut shot a deer and it kept getting up and falling down. The bullet opened her up like a zipper. The guts were hanging out of her and she was not going far. However in my youth I panicked and missed with the remainder of my ammo. Yes not pretty and I am not proud of it but it happens. At any rate the farmer renting the land I was on came over and shot the deer. He then proceeded to gut it and drag it off to his barn. Mind you I was walking beside the deer deciding if I should try to cut its throat or club it with my rifle when he walked up. How he could take a deer from a kid is beyond me. Granted I was a teenager but a kid just the same. I could never have done that. My brother in law hit a deer once but it got backup, I hit it in the hind quarter. It was a shot I would not have taken had the deer not been hit already. That shot put it down but it got back up and walked right toward me. Now I had a perfect front on chest shot but waited as I felt the deer would drop. It did and we discovered my brother in laws shot was a good chest shot. He kept the deer. Had I shot it again in the chest I would have claimed it. With no arguement from him. On several occasions I have shot deer that had been poorly hit and the guys who hit them first conceeded I made the kill. This topic is one reason I like to use a big gun now and hunt alone.

I see you hunt public land also...

Difficult question, I would tend to side on the person who made the first deadly shot. Just because an animal doesn't drop immediately doesn't mean it isn't dead (it just doesn't know it yet). That being said I wouldn't confront a person and risk my life over a deer. I've met and hunted with folks who say the last person to knock it down gets the deer, I don't always agree with that.

Bob

I had it go both ways I given deer to the guy who first hit more then once if the shot was any good at all then I have shot and tagged deer that were shot 3 or for times by some one else none that were killing shots. If you can't kill it with 3 or 4 should it be yours. A lot depends on who your hunting with ect. If a complete stanger comes up after I shot a deer and says it's mine and I see a good blood trail from him and a shot the could of findly killed it from him I'll give it to him. If he had just shot a leg off and would could have been chaseing it for hrs I tend not to be so kind.

If it where a trophy fee, whoever is paying the fee has it, and that would be first blood.

i'll concur that arguing with a lout over venision is a bad idea, leading to lead poisioning. Call your game warden, and ask. In my NOT so humble opinion on this, it's the first shooters deer. The guy that "finished" it may have inperilled the stalkign hunter.

but, in texas, we dont really HAVE that kind of public lands.

jeffe

we have run in to that so many times where i hunt because you have to use shotguns and sometimes the deer run aways after being shot and you just have to put it down on your stand if it makes it to the next stand its your loss, but say if it was my best friend or anyone else and he shoots a nice buck and it comes stumbling along and falls down i am not going to haul ass over there and pump three rounds in it while it is kicking, a deer is nothing to argue over there are so many to go around and besides hunters need to stick together because anti's want have to fight hard if we are fighting amongst each other

I don't know about laws, but I guess if I had to hunt public land and some wanna-be be hunter shot my deer in the ass and the guts I would be glad to let the fool have it and get another one. Pet peeve, I hate shot up deer, no excuse for it.

"Draw blood" and "gentlemen" . . .

Please . . . How about the first red-neck who can sit his ass on the carcass?

How about hunting in an area that doesn't look like a super market parking lot?

My post was in bad tatse and judgement.

[ 07-16-2002, 18:40: Message edited by: rws2 ]

I would think that thos would be a case of ethics.

it is a good argument for making sure you shoot straight and well.

I think that for my part, there are two question that would need to be answered, How big was the rack on the deer and how far it was to drag the animal to the truck

I have heard similar stories. But in general unless the deer is the next world record, I don't think that there is a point arguing. Politely tell him that you were trailing the deer and if there is a big argument, walk away.

If it was another member of my hunting party, I would get a share of the meat anyway.

If the second hunter has such poor manners and poor ability that he has to steal a deer shot by someone else, let him have the deer, it might be his first.

take it as a lesson and next time be sure of your shooting and drop the deer where it stands.

In my circle of hunters, it's the first guy to deliver a FATAL hit (whether immediate or not). "First blood" doesn't mean anything if the deer wouldn't have died from it. Crease a leg & you're not going to get that deer anyway, so if someone else puts a fatal shot on him, how can the first guy claim any rights?

My question on the original scenario here is in regards to the first "heart shot". I've never seen a deer that was heart shot still be on it's feet long enough for me to walk over a ridge & find it still standing. It's either drop at the shot, or a mad dash of a few seconds till they fall.

I've wounded one deer that was then taken by another hunter. I don't know for sure where it was hit because he was already dressing it when my tracking let me to it. I'm not even sure he shot it, but IMHO he found it first so it was his. I didn't even ask him about it. What's the point?

Here you deer would go to your friend.
The first one to get a fatal shot is the owner. I think this is the general way to do it.

Johan

This is pretty much an issue of honesty and hunter integrity. If you encounter a hunter without such qualities you can either shoot him or walk away. In Henry's case, I'd be glad to give him the deer after he shot it all to hell.

I had a REVERSE scenario of this that sicked me about deer hunting for several years. I came over a ridge behind a couple of hunters just as they jumped FOUR does. They proceeded to shoot them down like dogs. Just literally butchered them with bullets and then they kept walking.

I ran ahead and caught up with them, too dumb to understand what I had just witnessed. "Hey, you guys GOT those deer back there. They went down."

They looked at me like I was the village idiot and said. "We didn't shoot anything."

We argued about it for about 20 minutes and they gave me the song and dance that there were too many deer blaa,blaa,blaa.

The situation ended VERY tense. I told them I was leaving and SURE HOPED I could find a game warden. They informed me it was a long ways back to my camp and an awful hunting accident could occur to me before I got there. I told them they just better make sure their first shot was a good one.

I still get boiling mad about those bastards.

Fact is there are scumballs in every sport. Hunting is sure no exception. And they are never pretty when you encounter one.

Here in Arizona, the law says that he who brings the game to bag does the tag. So, if Joe shoots a deer and it isrunning away, and I bring it down, then legally it is my deer. I'm not so sure ethically, but if I let Joe tag it, after I bring it down and the warden sees this, I get cited and fined.
I went round for round with a game warden at one of the Hunter Ed classes on this.
So, if my wife, who will be hunting for the first time this years wounds a deer, I can only shoot and tag it as mine if she doesn't drop it and I do. Doesn't seem right to me, but they figure that I am actually taking two animals, mine and one from her license, in effect poaching.
Paul B.

In Colorado, the first to tag the animal is the one who owns it. If someone were to tag your downed deer/elk before you can get to it, legally, it is their animal. Ethical, I don't know but it's legal.

Where I grew up in NW Montana, it was the first person to draw blood whether you knew them or not. And local custom held that if you ran into a hunter tracking a wounded deer, you helped him find it. It was a small town and someone violating that code was pretty soon branded. Times have changed, hopefully it has stayed the same there. Here in Washington, the game is often tagged by who got there first.

I knew one guy who got a fairly nice bull elk down about 1/4 mile from his truck. Before he could get to it, some other hunters got to it and put a tag on it. He told them it wasnt theirs and they said it is now.

He went to his vehicle and watched them get gear out of theirs to carry him up the hill. He said he just left but he took 4 little items of theirs with him so they would remember him and their actions. The valve stems from their tires.

First Blood, has ALWAYS been the rule of the hunter, just that some never learned that....but that IS the unwritten rule...

HOWEVER, who would want a gut shot, ham shot, deer anyway...go shoot another one...

I would take a dim view of someone threatening me with a rifle over a deer or for any other reason....I'm afraid it would be his come to taw day to one extent or another.

The incident described is pretty common here in Pa where we have 7 million+ acres of public lands. I have always been told that in Archery, first blood takes the deer. In rifle season, whoever drops it, takes it.

Now, fo my 2 cents. If that was a deer I shot, and some idiot shot it up through the hams and guts, I would be more than happy to let him have it. A field dressed deer weighing in at 150 pounds will only yield about 85 pounds of meat, and a bullet through the hams ruins most of the choice cuts.
Would I be pissed? depends on the idiot. If it was a kid, I would just say nice shot and move on. If the guy was a real asshole... well I hunt with 24 other guys. 4 are LEO's, one is a state politician, and a couple are Local 30B roofers (irish brawlers) that just seem to really enjoy arguments .

[ 07-17-2002, 03:43: Message edited by: Pa.Frank ]

Here in Ohio, it seems like the guy who tags it owns it, it doesn't matter much what's gone before. I hate hunting public land around here. 250,000 people in the woods during the six-day gun season, 25,000 hunters and 225,000 slobs.

I never had a stranger beat me to my deer in Texas, on public or private land - and I never even considered it as a possibility. Every few years I'd see a buddy's wounded or dying deer and put him down. It was always understood that the first blood owned the deer, but I never heard anybody have to say it out loud.

Don

Around here its "first blood" as a general rule. Heck, most people would rather not claim an animal someone had already put a bullet in. But there are jerks here, just like everywhere else...

Don, just noticed you are one post shy of 2K.

Canuck

While hunting alone quite a few years back, I heard a shot in the vicinity and went to investigate. I came across another hunter that told me he had shot a small two point and that it had run off in a particular direction. I offered to help him trail the deer and after trailing the deer for a short ways I was able to tell two things about the situation. One was, that the gentleman had not shot the deer where he had told me, and two was, that he had not done much tracking in his hunting career. After getting into a area that had many deer tracks in it, he was positive that the deer had gone a certain way and I could not convince him other wise. So he headed off the way he thought the deer had gone and I headed off in the direction that I KNEW the deer had gone. I caught up with the buck about 30 min later and put him down for good. When the other fellow heard the shot he came to where I was and I helped him field dress the buck, asked him if he needed any further help, and then left him with "HIS" deer. Not at any time did I think that deer was mine. He had drew first blood and the deer was his. Plain and simple. Do what you r guts tell you is right. They are seldom wrong.

Having grown up dog hunting in the southeast US, it has always been the first person to draw blood. If another person finishes the deer he is entitled to half of the meat but the first shooter gets the horns as well as half the meat. This tradition has carried over to still hunting.

[ 07-17-2002, 20:47: Message edited by: Ralph ]

I learned to hunt deer in coastal South Carolina. The gentleman's rule there was, the hunter that took the deer down also took the trophy and backstrap. The rest of the deer was split up into equal lots, one lot for each hunter. A number was assigned to each lot, and all the hunters drew numbers to see who took which lot. It always seemed like an amiable way of doing things, and every hunter went home with venison for the freezer.

Personaly, under those circumstances. I would give the first shooter the deer. If I was the first shooter, and the guy was an AH, I'd call a conservation officer, and let him decide.

If a guy "handled a semi meaningfully with me" he'd better be prepared to use it cause I aint gonna need more then one shot myself. Tho I wouldnt start a gunfight over a dead deer, unless threatened, but I would call a gamecop "the guy just might be illegal in some way", and because I cant stand a Game Hog.

My own code of ethics is. If a guy makes a hit shot on a animal, and is hot on its trail ; Its his animal. In my opinion that should be everyones code , and another hunter should be glad to help recover a big game animal thats suffering. And to help a fellow hunter!

At one time that was the way it was, back when we knew who our neighbors were. I can remember complete strangers pitching in to help recover a wounded deer. For the sport, for the deer, and for their brother hunter. And somehow plenty of venison made it to the freezers of all who helped. How many damn animals can you make bleed in your life anyway ? What do these game hog AH's have going on in their heads ?...........j

[ 07-17-2002, 22:17: Message edited by: JHook ]

Another good reason to be conservative in your shot placement. Anchor them to the ground with the first shot.

I've never shot a wounded animal someone else had first hit. I have hit one mule deer that managed to top the ridge and get downed about ten minutes later by another hunter.

He wouldn't let me approach the buck. I told him it was his, I just wanted to confirm the wound so I could stop tracking. He told me to stay away. I'm sure it was the one I hit because the blood trail led to the edge of the small meadow where that buck was dropped.

I'm always amazed at people that act like that. I'm convinced that they have such low self-esteem, and such poor hunting skills that they have to claim their "prize" however they can, so that later at home they can be conquering heroes.

I've heard of people on public land having their bucks cut down, and stolen from their camps.

A question for those who say "first blood, regardless"...

If you crease a buck across the brisket, knock off a clump of hair, and he puts down a few drops of blood, then hundreds of yards away (or more), another hunter puts a clean killing shot into the buck, unaware of the first hunter's non-lethal shot, does it still go to the first guy?

Cold Bore,
Yes it does. He doesn't have to know it was wounded or how bad. Most in that situation will argue but the way I was brought up I would surrender it without a thought. Gets tough when you don't see the other wound and tag it.

Here in Alaska there is no stated rule. However, a guide is required to use all legal means to bring an animal wounded to bag. If first blood is not the rule, a guide may well have to exceed his limit since it is generally considered the guide's obligation to shoot an animal wounded by his client when necessary.
I have yet to see an argument over rights to an animal, and I hope it will continue to be that way for me.

I was looking over this thread after hours at work, when a friend wandered by on his way home. We got to talking about the issue, and he told me this story:

An acquaintance of his was out hunting with his teenage son. The son shot a nice deer, which a couple of adult hunters promptly tagged, and ran the teanager off. Dad came on the scene after the adults and deer were gone. He spotted them about 300 yards off, coming around the point of the mountain, riding horses, hauling the deer on a mule. He thought about it for a minute, and shot the mule. His comment: Now you can have it.

I don't think any venison is THAT important, but I guess he did.

I thought I was gonna have to fight a guy on Tndeer.com over this.Anyway if you killed it you can have it,but if I killed it I am taking it.

I have seen it go both ways, but usually in this neck of the woods whoever is standing over the deer owns it.

The person who tags it keeps it. There are those out there who have used up their tags or do not have a license or have it suspended.

Of course if you find a dead deer and the person who comes right over the hill and identifies himself and offers to tag it then the wisdom of Solomon is needed. So you do the right thing and let the person have the deer. But that's a rare case.

Do it with class. But if I shoot a moving animal it's mine when you play in my yard. In Rome I will do as the Romans do.

just another reason I love my 300RUM.I had rather loose 5 pounds of meat than the whole deer just because he ran 50 yards and somebody said ,well he was still moving.

I was sitting in a hardwood forest and a buck walked into view at the limit of visiblity. It was at least 150 yards. I shot it with the .358 Win and it went right down. I got there fast and just as it sucumbed four men came huffing up the steep hill. They surrounded me and said "that's the one" etc. and asked what happened. I gave them the info that I hit it with a 180 Speer and that's what they should use! But this situaton was very tense.

One of them was a very big lean man in his 60's. He looked like a logger. He picked up the buck by the leg with one hand and almost lifted the animal off the ground then threw it down and said. "It's no good anyway, it's all shot up"

I looked and saw the ham's shot up.

I was wondering if I should call my buddy for back up but then it would still be four against two. Instead I reached for my wallet (I had layed my rifle on the ground) and took out the deer tag. When I put the tag in the deer's ear the tension went away like a bell had been rung.

They left and I had a buck which is not that easy to do around there.

The result of that was that that land was posted and I was told to stay off of it.

Legally in Virginia it's the first who "reduces it to possession."

Ethically I can't buy either that or "first blood" 100%.

If I hear a shot on the other side of a ridge 50 yds away and a mortally wounded deer wanders over the top and dies at my feet, followed 5 min. later by a 12-year-old kid on his first hunt, no way I'm tagging it.

If "first blood" is drawn by some knuckleheaded stranger who gutshoots it, gives it up for lost in 5 min., leaves the deer to wander where I finish it off, then stumbles over me field-dressing it and insists it's his because he "drew first blood", why would I go along with that? (Unless he got the drop on me, in which case I'd offer to drag it to his truck to get a good look at the plates. )

John

last year I had tagged out and went with my brother in law. I called in a decent 8 pointer.he shot and it jumped straight up and took off in a dead run.looked like a clasic lung shot.I tracked that deer about 500 yards and heard a shot.when I got to the deer it was dead and 3 guys standing over it.I asked if it was hit and they said no.I trailed that deer to where it was laying and knew it was it.so I started examining it.what I found was a low shoulder hit with no vital organs hit.and a hole in his neck.
they killed the deer,my in laws shot could not have been in the neck.they lied to me about the whole thing like I was gonna take thier deer.
anybody that has ever seen many dead deer can tell which shot killed it.and whoever fired THAT shot should get the deer.nomatter how far it went.