Ethics question

[fastribs85]

1. yes
2. no
3. no
4. no
5. possibley if it stayed there for like 6 hours and didnt see anyone even come to look for it
6. if its a buck it has to be a nice buck by my rules not antlers that dont go beyond the outside of the ears and 3 points on at least one side anything else if i need some meet for the freezer and late in the year anything without spots let one go early last archery season that had faint marks on its side walked right under me
7. nothin you can do just be there first
8. just stay inbetween and give them some heads up ie signs and if they do somethin stupid do what you have to ie game commis.

[deerhunter]

1  yes    2  no   3 yes     4 yes  5 yes    6  60 lbs

[Wkules]

1) Yes
2) No
3) No
4) No
5) Never leave wounded game, but I would try to find the shooter first.
6) No first year deer.

ROY;
1) Nothing to do but get there first or find a different spot. If your an archer and their good hunters, just hunt, unless they have cut off a trail you hunt.

2) Again not much you can do. In either case I would talk to them and remind them that shooting or tracking an animal across the property line without permission is illegal and will not be tolerated. In talking to them you may even find that they are good people who were unclear of the lines and more than happy to move, It is always better to try to be civil to people you encounter while in the field. Chances are they are decent folks just like us. You may even end up with a couple new hunting partners!

[adkRoy]

Just to let everyone know here is what happened with my two ethics problems. THe first one we found out the guy did not have permission to hunt that property let alone put a tree stand up. We are waiting to see if he will show up this year and if he does we will let our neighbor know he has a tresspasser.
 
As for the second situation, the guy was sitting right nest to our posted signs. These posted signs have a tendency to dissapear. We do patrol the property the best we can but it does get frustrating. I do have a bottle of Skunk oil (smells ten times worse that an skunk) that I will be dispensing the day before rifle season along the stone wall where they like to sit and hunt overlooking our fields.

Over all I have the number of the local game warden programmed on my cell phone. Unfortunately it has to be this way. I am tired of picking up trash, seeing my fields torn up, and having my signs ripped down. My family and I work hard to have our little farm and woods and we put a lot of time into it to improve the habitat.

[devil-man]

Here are some ethics questions that I have heard raised over the years and thought some of the younger hunters might like to hear the opinions on.
1.  Would you shoot a bedded deer?
2.  Would you shoot a duck or goose on the water?
3.  Would you shoot a turkey on its roost?
4.  Would you shoot a pheasant that was on the ground?
5.  If you were in a tree stand in the morning and you hear a shot and a deer came running and fell dead at the base of your tree, would you claim it if no one came tracking it?
6.  How small a deer is too small?
I don't hunt pheasant and rarely hunt geese so I don't know the ethics behind these pursuits so your answers would be interesting to me.

My answers are pretty much the same as a lot of the others.
1- Absolutely
2- Only if it's injured
3- Never!
4- This is the tough one for me.
Where I hunt you usually don't even know they are there until they explode, so I will say probably not.
5- Claim it? No Eat it? Yes
6- My uncle shoots deer the size of a dog, lol.
I personally like them a little bigger, but the younger meat does taste better.
How big? 70-80 #.

Good topic!

[fishboy]

1. absolutely! done it , after a long uncomfortable stalk!
2. Yes, some guys in the finger lakes won't shoot them any other way.  they let them land or"stool" and then shoot them.  I always ground a few each year to smoke them whole and anyone who says they won't has never had a golden browned mallard fresh off the smoker or cracked a tooth on a steel shot pellet, or thrown away a bird cause it was crushed to bits.  Whats better utilizing a ground pounded duck or throwing out a bird taken from the wing with 25 holes in its breast?
3 yes especially in the fall.  I never have in the spring but after 15 or 20 days chasing after the same bird if he messes up or you get lucky bang! I win!  its called Beaufording him! and I've never had to but come mighty close. 20 days once but I got him when he hit the ground on day 20.
4. sure for the same reason as number 2 but I don't hunt pheasants.
5. I would try to find the guy and if I couldn't then I might claim it but would probably call an ECO. Depends on how things are going
6. Small deer won't survive the winter so late drop fawns are ok with me but in general I like freezer fillers.  gimme a big fat doe but I'll take what I can get.  I try real hard not to shoot yearling bucks or button bucks but mistakes happen.

my 2 cents

T

[Fat Boy]

I have 2 ethics question for everyone.

1.) What would you do if someone set up a tree stand 10 yards from the border of your property and it is 50 yards from your stand?

2.) It's opening day of gun season and there are 2 guys just on the other side of your property line siting with a gun over looking your fields, what do you do?

Both of these things have happened to me.

IMO it's not unethical to do either as long as the hunter intends to shoot animals in the property he/she is legal on.  If the animal crosses the fence onto your property they'd better have permission from you to do so.  That is where you have the option to decline.  If you aren't sure what they're intentions are (and I prefer to give folks the benefit of the doubt) then if they do ask permission then I'd ask for them to show me the blood trail leading from their property to yours.  If they can't, then decline. 

Now, if you know or have to a reasonable degree suspicion that the characters in question have been breaking the law and trespassing, then the only thing that you can do is to do what some have suggested above or try to catch them in the act and report them.  It looks like you've had problems in the past though so probably they are guilty...but, like I said, perhaps they really mean no harm at all.  You'll really never know for sure unless you talk to them.  10 yards away, certainly that is close enough to ask and let them know that they are on notice if they do anything wrong.

I have had stands close to property lines when bowhunting and have faced the property too, but my shot will not occur in that direction usually because I'll wait for the deer to pass by me.  This gives me a quartering away shot and more than likely the deer will run in a similar direction that they are already going and probably not the direction that they came.  In now way would I shoot a deer on someone elses property or take a shot where I couldn't legally find the animal.

Now, these folks that do this to you (let's say that they had permission even though the one didn't in your case) if they had approached you ahead of time and let you know what they are doing, or perhaps try to coordinate hunts with you so as to not ruin your hunts, then that would be fine too.

[MoosemanKris]

1.  Would you shoot a bedded deer?     YES
2.  Would you shoot a duck or goose on the water?     NO
3.  Would you shoot a turkey on its roost?     NO
4.  Would you shoot a pheasant that was on the ground?     NO
5.  If you were in a tree stand in the morning and you hear a shot and a deer came running and fell dead at the base of your tree, would you claim it if no one came tracking it?     NO
6.  How small a deer is too small?      Never too small. Meat is meat. Period.

[adkRoy]

New Ethics question: I watched a tresspasser come onto my property right next to one of my posted signs only 30 yards from me. I was wearing blaze camo and he was in a red check jacket and green wool pants. Ithought about firing a round from my gun  into the ground behind me before I yelled at him for tresspassing. I didn't do that but was wondering if you guy think I should have or would you have.

[Pikeguy]

I wouldn't, based solely on the fact that he/she may have thought the round was intended for them, and there's a good chance you could get in big trouble for that. My 2 cents

[SDpheasant]

AGREED! very good point...........also if they think it was intended for them they could shoot at u!

[tucker]

i would not shoot, but if you have a pump gun maybe a good shell racking is in order

[Big_Buck_Hunter]

1. Yes  2. No, unless injured.  3. No  4. No  5. No  6. No yearlings.

If you have a guy trespassing 30 yards from you, a good whistle or holler should get his attention.
If he refuses to leave, go get the DEC officers or State Police. 

[AD]

1.  No
2.  No
3.  No
4.  No
5.  No, Id be more likly to try to track it back to where it came from.   
6.  Weight greatly depends on what area of the US Id be hunting.   Here in Va there are some small deer that are a few years old.     But really I would tend to avoid shooting a button buck or doe of the same age if I could.   I also saw a few young of the years that still had spots on them righ before hunting season, they would be totally out of the question non-shootable deer to me.     

[fowl_hooked]

Here are some ethics questions that I have heard raised over the years and thought some of the younger hunters might like to hear the opinions on.
1.  Would you shoot a bedded deer?
2.  Would you shoot a duck or goose on the water?
3.  Would you shoot a turkey on its roost?
4.  Would you shoot a pheasant that was on the ground?
5.  If you were in a tree stand in the morning and you hear a shot and a deer came running and fell dead at the base of your tree, would you claim it if no one came tracking it?
6.  How small a deer is too small?
I don't hunt pheasant and rarely hunt geese so I don't know the ethics behind these pursuits so your answers would be interesting to me.

1. Yes -- I believe this is completely humane and ethical, not to mention skillful. Shooting at a running deer at 200+ yds happens far more often and is IMO far more unethical.
2. Have and would again.
3. Hell yes. If I can sneak up on one.
4. Only if my dog wasn't in the area. Especially if the bird was wounded, these colorado pheasant can run forever with a broken wing.
5. Depends. I would call the game warden if possible, at least it would not go to waste. If no game warden was around I would unhappily tag it.
6. If it has spots give it another year to enjoy life.