Ethics scenario
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I have no way to confirm that I have killed an animal after a shot unless I find the animal.
You may be quite positive that you made a killing shot and there may be a strong blood trail but if it doesn't eventually lead to a downed animal then you are just guessing that it's indeed dead.
I was shooting out of a stand with a Victorian era Milsurp...they have a tall front sight. Nailed a buck high on his crest... followed him a loooong time. Blood spots every so often...he never died. Saw him weeks later, distinctive horns. He recovered... the season was over.
He passed on his gene's... I never tore the tag.
I sleep fine too.
He passed on his gene's... I never tore the tag.
I sleep fine too.
What I don't understand, is why the OP and his partner "left" the animal??
Did they forget to bring their matches to build a fire??
Were they dressed improperly?
Did they forget to bring a day pack, with an emergency blanket to keep off the dew/rain etc?
Maybe they were afraid of the dark??
I've put several animals on the ground, in all sorts of weather, right at the close of day, without any hope of getting it out until the next morning.
That doesn't mean I was going to leave it for the wolves/bears/coyotes etc.
One Moose that was taken beside the Prophet River, during a mid October hunt, was shot around 6pm, about 20 minutes before dark. We were almost a Klik from the nearest road and maybe three kliks from camp.
Between us, we had two emergencey blankets, a couple of cans of peaches, matches and TEA BAGS.
The very first thing we did was to gut the critter, set aside the liver/heart/tongue.
The second thing we did was get as much reasonably dry firewood as we could gather, before the batteries in our flashlights ran down. Luckily, were were right on the fringe of a two year old clear cut/brush area and there was plenty of wood to burn as well as smaller stuff to use for a shelter frame, ground cover to place one of the emergency blankets over. The other blanket was used as a cover/heat reflector just far enough away from the fire so it wouldn't melt or catch sparks.
Then, around 10pm we sat down to a great dinner of flame roasted liver and heart strips, followed by a desert of canned peaches. Life could be a lot worse.
One thing about the woods up there, they often have a thick carpet of moss. The problem with that moss is it's DAMP. That's why one blanket was ground cover.
The other issue with this moss is that it dries very quickly and when fire gets into it, it starts to burn and won't stop.
That meant one of us had to stay awake to make sure the fire didn't get away on us.
Well it wouldn't have anyway. The temperature dropped from +10C to -10C by 3am and the wind came up, driving heavy snow. By 5am there was over 10cm of wet snow.
Anyone that knows the Prophet River area of BC knows exactly the weather change I'm describing.
Luckily most of the leaves were gone from the trees or it would have been a nasty situation.
No, we weren't snug and warm, but we were dry and not so cold that we were shivering. Luckily, our clothes were layered and we had slickers in our packs. The slickers were used as blankets aroung our legs, up to our coats. We piled moss over the slickers and we were OK.
The wood we had gathered made things much more comfortable.
When daylight came, we got the fire hot enough to to melt snow in the empty peach cans and made Tea.
After that, it was time to take the hide off the moose and debone it. First the hind quarters and back straps, which we loaded onto our pack frames. Then we headed for the road.
Dropped the meat beside the road and made a return trip for the rest of the meat. We deboned the front quarters and took off the tenderloins and put them into our packs, along with the liver/heart.
Before we headed back, we took pics of the kill site and checked out the gut pile, which was appx a hundred meters from our makeshift camp. There weren't any bear tracks but wolf tracks were all over the area and they had eaten a bunch of the guts.
In that country, a rifle shot is as good as ringing a dinner bell for the scavengers/predators. There were dozens of ravens in the trees as well, waiting their turn in the pecking order.
Unless there is a very good reason to leave a kill, stick with it, until morning. That was a golden rule I learned close to 60 year ago and its never let me down.
A good hunter is a prepared hunter. It doesn't take very much to carry enough basics to spend a night in the woods or whatever. Just make sure you know what nature can throw at you and what you can handle.
If you can't bear to spend the night out, or are afraid of the dark, taking an animal that close to dark, is not ethical IMHO.
Did they forget to bring their matches to build a fire??
Were they dressed improperly?
Did they forget to bring a day pack, with an emergency blanket to keep off the dew/rain etc?
Maybe they were afraid of the dark??
I've put several animals on the ground, in all sorts of weather, right at the close of day, without any hope of getting it out until the next morning.
That doesn't mean I was going to leave it for the wolves/bears/coyotes etc.
One Moose that was taken beside the Prophet River, during a mid October hunt, was shot around 6pm, about 20 minutes before dark. We were almost a Klik from the nearest road and maybe three kliks from camp.
Between us, we had two emergencey blankets, a couple of cans of peaches, matches and TEA BAGS.
The very first thing we did was to gut the critter, set aside the liver/heart/tongue.
The second thing we did was get as much reasonably dry firewood as we could gather, before the batteries in our flashlights ran down. Luckily, were were right on the fringe of a two year old clear cut/brush area and there was plenty of wood to burn as well as smaller stuff to use for a shelter frame, ground cover to place one of the emergency blankets over. The other blanket was used as a cover/heat reflector just far enough away from the fire so it wouldn't melt or catch sparks.
Then, around 10pm we sat down to a great dinner of flame roasted liver and heart strips, followed by a desert of canned peaches. Life could be a lot worse.
One thing about the woods up there, they often have a thick carpet of moss. The problem with that moss is it's DAMP. That's why one blanket was ground cover.
The other issue with this moss is that it dries very quickly and when fire gets into it, it starts to burn and won't stop.
That meant one of us had to stay awake to make sure the fire didn't get away on us.
Well it wouldn't have anyway. The temperature dropped from +10C to -10C by 3am and the wind came up, driving heavy snow. By 5am there was over 10cm of wet snow.
Anyone that knows the Prophet River area of BC knows exactly the weather change I'm describing.
Luckily most of the leaves were gone from the trees or it would have been a nasty situation.
No, we weren't snug and warm, but we were dry and not so cold that we were shivering. Luckily, our clothes were layered and we had slickers in our packs. The slickers were used as blankets aroung our legs, up to our coats. We piled moss over the slickers and we were OK.
The wood we had gathered made things much more comfortable.
When daylight came, we got the fire hot enough to to melt snow in the empty peach cans and made Tea.
After that, it was time to take the hide off the moose and debone it. First the hind quarters and back straps, which we loaded onto our pack frames. Then we headed for the road.
Dropped the meat beside the road and made a return trip for the rest of the meat. We deboned the front quarters and took off the tenderloins and put them into our packs, along with the liver/heart.
Before we headed back, we took pics of the kill site and checked out the gut pile, which was appx a hundred meters from our makeshift camp. There weren't any bear tracks but wolf tracks were all over the area and they had eaten a bunch of the guts.
In that country, a rifle shot is as good as ringing a dinner bell for the scavengers/predators. There were dozens of ravens in the trees as well, waiting their turn in the pecking order.
Unless there is a very good reason to leave a kill, stick with it, until morning. That was a golden rule I learned close to 60 year ago and its never let me down.
A good hunter is a prepared hunter. It doesn't take very much to carry enough basics to spend a night in the woods or whatever. Just make sure you know what nature can throw at you and what you can handle.
If you can't bear to spend the night out, or are afraid of the dark, taking an animal that close to dark, is not ethical IMHO.
We have metal tags that must be attached to each quarter here in Newfoundland, so it is impossible to "cancel" a tag here other than simply stop hunting. I would never leave moose out over night. Always pack a bunch of lights and batteries.
1963beretta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vaughan, Ontario
This is simple. Cut the tag.
1963beretta
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Vaughan, Ontario
If the hunter is knowingly finishing off a wounded animal, then he/she is doing the right thing but the animal belongs to the hunter who first shot it. If that first hunter doesn't claim his/her prize, well then hunter 2 scores the win if he/she has a tag for the animal that was shot.
Where this gets complicated is if hunter two doesn’t know he is finishing off a wounded animal. Then its up to the hunters to be mature about it and come to an agreement between the two of them.
I know Ted Nugent was charged in Alaska in just this scenario
He shot a black bear but didn't recover it, he then shot another bear but according to Alaska laws when he shot the first one he was done and he poached the second bear
the dumbass posted all the video so Alaska F&G had all the evidence they needed
He shot a black bear but didn't recover it, he then shot another bear but according to Alaska laws when he shot the first one he was done and he poached the second bear
the dumbass posted all the video so Alaska F&G had all the evidence they needed
The animal belongs to the hunter that actually killed the animal. If hunter #1 shoots the animal in the ass so it runs off and hunter #2 drops it with a lung shot, I would say the animal belongs to hunter #2.
Ok so what do you do when the species requires a compulsory inspection?
CO has your canceled species license but no record of a CI. Now what do you do?
Ethically....
I would NOT stop searching until I lost bloodtrail.
IF I was sure it was a lethal hit and I wasnt under cell coverage I would follow up the blood trail.
IF I had cell coverage I would contact C.O and get permission to continue my hunt.
IF I wasnt sure if it was a fatal shot I would get permission from C.O to continue hunt.
IF you leave without following blood trail or tracks until lost then come back and fond it dead for sure ...HUNT is over.
IF you scour the area, come back for a few days and see if birds or coyotes found carcass or NOT and the animal likely lived.....them carry on hunting.
I would NOT stop searching until I lost bloodtrail.
IF I was sure it was a lethal hit and I wasnt under cell coverage I would follow up the blood trail.
IF I had cell coverage I would contact C.O and get permission to continue my hunt.
IF I wasnt sure if it was a fatal shot I would get permission from C.O to continue hunt.
IF you leave without following blood trail or tracks until lost then come back and fond it dead for sure ...HUNT is over.
IF you scour the area, come back for a few days and see if birds or coyotes found carcass or NOT and the animal likely lived.....them carry on hunting.
Yep, good decision.
WTF does cell coverage have to do with it? If you have blood or can trail you keep looking.
If you have done your due diligence then that is up to your personal ethics. Not his.
This part is worded awkwardly.
But I think you mean if you didn’t follow up, and then found it days later then you would stop hunting. AND if you searched hard, but didn’t find anything then you can presume it lived and you would hunt on. Ethically that is your choice, and you did as best you could.
Fortunately, I have never lost an animal in this scenario. However, if I did, it would be a search until he is found. I would strongly believe if he is never found, chances are that it was a minor wound. A fatal wounded animal can be found the following day if the tracking is called off, just listen for the ravens or crows squabbling or chatting with excitement over their fresh meal.
I ran into a C.O. here in B.C. once while bicycle hunting in an area closed to motor vehicle hunting.
I had my bike leaning on a tree 10 metres away and was looking down the bank with my rifle on my back.
He whipped into the turnout in his truck and was initially really excited because he thought he'd caught a quad guy, but then saw my bike. He asked for my licence and I walked over to the bike and got my wallet out of my daypack in the rear basket.
"You didn't have you licence on you?" he said, in a stern kind of school-marm tone. "You have to have it on you because when you kill an animal you have to cancel your tag immediately."
I had my bike leaning on a tree 10 metres away and was looking down the bank with my rifle on my back.
He whipped into the turnout in his truck and was initially really excited because he thought he'd caught a quad guy, but then saw my bike. He asked for my licence and I walked over to the bike and got my wallet out of my daypack in the rear basket.
"You didn't have you licence on you?" he said, in a stern kind of school-marm tone. "You have to have it on you because when you kill an animal you have to cancel your tag immediately."
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
You only know it’s dead when you walk up to it and recover the animal, which is why the synopsis says “Immediately after the kill and before handling the big game killed.” Which is what others have been saying in this thread, legally in BC tags only get cut once the animal is in you’re possession.
Ethically what you do if you can’t recover it after the shot is a different story and one only the hunter can make, personally I would not cut my tag but I’d stop hunting for that species of animal for the season. That is after I had exhausted all efforts available to me to find it. If I found it the next day and it had been eaten by wolves or ravens I’d cut the tag and try and salvage anything if possible from the critter and learn what I could from the experience and try to not repeat it the next year.
