who gets it

Just wanted to hear your thoughts.

A nine point buck runs by a father and son. They shoot at it. They hit it. Its mortally wounded. But jumps the fence onto private property. The land owner on the private property sees the deer. Its wounded. So he " finishes it off." The father and son track the deer over the fence onto private property (which in Wisconsin you do need to have permission to enter anyone's land) and find the landowner over the deer and claiming it. Who's deer is it?

Now the points of law in Wisconsin is clear. You have to have permission from the landowner to enter their property. The father and son did not. So technically, they violated the law. But how do you ask permission when the landowner is not home. He's out hunting.

Next point, the landowner saw that the deer was mortally wounded. But did put the "finishing off" shot into the deer. And by legal right, since its his land, has the right to claim the deer.

Here is how they settled the dispute. They flipped a coin. The son called heads, it landed tails. The landowner got the deer. Is this the right way to settle this or was someone wrong?

Sad things like this happen..I guess a fair coin toss was the best in this deal. I shot a gut shot buck on public land once, as it walked past me I could see corn falling out it side. I dropped it in it's tracks, set two hours waiting to see if anyone was trailing it. Part of the time I was standing in a fire lane asking anyone who walk by if they had gut shot a deer that morning. Nobody showed up tracking so I tagged and field dressed the buck and did the near 1/2 mile drag to the parking lot. When I got there two guys walk up and said that's the buck we shot at this morning so it is ours. I told them heck no, I finished it off, not what I was looking for but I did the work and that's my only buck tag on it. It took a Game Warden to set them straight before it came to blows over a broke rack 8 point.

The worst that happened to me was... it was very early morning. I saw a buck coming through the thicket. I pulled up my 30-06 and the scope was fogged. Why not sure. Maybe my excitement. Wiped it off with my thumb as the buck was moving. Got it in the crosshairs and fired. Down it went. A minute later it jumped back up and took off. So I waited. I figured it would lay back down and die. Finally went after it. Went over a couple hills. Excellent blood trail. Only to find a gut pile and drag marks to a road. Some hunter entering the woods must have watched it drop. He never fired a shot. And where it dropped... I doubt it would have been seen. But he found it, gutted it, and took it. Was I mad? Ya a little. it was a nice buck. And I did everything right to make right, the deer wounded, lay down, and to recover it. But those are the breaks. Shot a different buck that afternoon. I was glad it never became coyote bait.

Yes, I did see the original story. I've had similar stuff go on. In about all cases I give the deer back, but would have no legal requirement to do so.

I talked to a MI DNR Officer in detail about this sort of thing. For this discussion let's say it all happens on public land. He just repeated, "the hunter who kills and tags the deer is the one to claim it". Of course there are any number of gray areas, young shooter, 'killing shot', and the rest.

Just back from an IL hunt and we dealt with a total of 5 wounded bucks. Two were killed and returned to the neighbors, smallish. One 10 point had a slight limp after the neighbor flubbed a 30 yard M-L shot(he stated the details). Our hunter decided to let that one pass, tagged out also.

Another neighbor called to ask about tracking a wounded buck onto our parcel, yes, outcome unknown.

The last was dead from a possible bad bow shot, a 10 pointer.

I let a guy in MI keep a deer that he had only done a graze wound on 1.5 miles prior. Even after bending over backwards and offering him the deer he was bad mouthing us all. To top it off he was on private property, ours. He got a butt chewing at a later date, never to hunt there again. My 1st thought was to wrap his lever 30-30 around a Maple tree.

As one can imagine things could get grey very quick. One person's 'killing shot' may be a graze wound. Also just because you wound or kill a deer isn't permission to go on private to track or recover. I also don't care for deer with more holes than Swiss cheese.

My 2 cents worth. Here in Ohio, it is the person who administers the final killing shot that is entitled to claim and tag the deer no matter how many times it was shot previously. There are times when a wounded deer will die quickly and other times when it could take a while and therefore raise the question of whether or not the deer was mortally wounded. This creates a situation where the game warden might have to be called if the parties involved cannot reach a decision. No deer is worth taking the chance of a possible violent confrontation.

The whole idea of agreeing on 'the final killing shot' can be difficult among many. Then if you throw in a good sized rack it's about hopeless.

I think that's why the warden told me it's 'who kills it and tags it'. Yes, there is room for sportsman like behavior, even when the other party lacks it.

The landowner gets first dibs since he finished it off on his property. IMO, the father and son can ask to take the deer since they believe they put the kill shot on it but if the landowner says no, then they respect that and ask the landowner if he/she needs any help. Now, if it's a father/daughter hunting, this would be the time for the daughter to burst into tears as she grabs a leg to help drag the deer out for the landowner. :wink:


In Iowa, a hunter has a legal right to enter private property without permission to retrieve game, but no firearm/bow can be brought onto the property. If the hunter is asked to leave by the landowner, the hunter should leave and call the DNR.

BuckDoeHunter said:

Now, if it's a father/daughter hunting, this would be the time for the daughter to burst into tears as she grabs a leg to help drag the deer out for the landowner. :wink:

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Now you're thinkin'!

What if this was taking place on public land. Your son shot the deer. The two of you tracked it. And the two of you hear no further shots. But you come on a person gutting the deer and they have already (which is law in many states) tagged the deer. What do you do at this point?

I would be on the phone calling the DNR to investigate the situation. If the hunter decided to leave with the deer before the DNR showed up, I would be taking down a license plate number and calling the Sheriff.

For some of the scenarios, does one expect the DNR Officer to play 'Judge Judy' in the tag alder swamp?

muskrat30 said:

For some of the scenarios, does one expect the DNR Officer to play 'Judge Judy' in the tag alder swamp?

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If it's an illegal activity involving wild game, the DNR should always be called, that's what they are paid for.

I think we should always attempt to resolve these issues ourselves but not everyone see's eye to eye.

I posted this because I liked how a coin toss decided owner ship. In Wisconsin and I now see other states, the land owner could have just told them... too bad. My land, my deer. And that would have been the end of it. But this story interested me with its outcome.

muskrat30 said:

For some of the scenarios, does one expect the DNR Officer to play 'Judge Judy' in the tag alder swamp?

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Until the deer is registered here in Wi. the deer still belongs to the STATE. If you didn't shoot it, and the trackers can prove that they were tracking it, then yes call the DNR and I bet the deer will go to the one's that shot it. The same applies to if you shoot a deer and it goes onto the neighbors land you don't have the right to go get it, and the land owner CAN NOT TAG IT EITHER[/b]in that case the deer becomes property of the STATE and will be given to the food pantry. I know this because years ago I would help one of my buddies that was a warden.

It depends, If one of the guys is 6-6+ with an anger management problem, the scenario could be viewed quite differently. Now If both parties include anger management issues, then It could go to full shenanigans. Unless the opposing party includes a female, she could always smile and flutter affectionately, and negate completely the angry giant factor. Plus you have to consider if the buzzards were circling counter clockwise on that particular day, that brings the swirleyO hypothesis into effect. This is also negated if one party has a olympic sprinter for a dragger. Then he/she could dissapear with the "evidence" while the other two parties are arguing and unaware. And, If the deer crosses a north flowing river, The first person to succesfully complete a double backflip while standing over the kill gets first dibs on the left side. This is known as the carnival exclusion. If none of the above situations exist, then both parties must retreat and return within 74 minutes with a shamen, a rabbi, and an albino porcupine, and institue the Lematts guide. wherin clams are tossed skyward and interpreted by a haitian voodoo priest untill one party decides to concede

Squeeze said:

It depends........

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:lol: :lol: :lol: :applause:

Nice squeeze! !!! :applause:

I think somebody needs to check that boy's water. Or what ever he's drinking... :mrgreen: That was a good one.

A friend of mine took his son on a turkey hunt on some friend's land in Oklahoma. The boy was about 14 years old. The father called in a gobbler. The boy shot it just inside the property line. The turkey flopped in death across the fence. The father and son crossed the fence, and were looking at the turkey, and reliving the hunt when the neighbor came and chew them out for being on his land, and took the turkey away from them.

My friend is a pastor of a church, and didn't argue with the neighbor, but it was a disappointment for the boy.

Squeeze that was a good one.