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wounded game
Posted by twodux on Oct 25 2005
I wouldn't bet the farm that hunting restrictions don't matter when looking for wounded game. If that was the case, then all you'd have to do when you were arrested by a trooper for illegal hunting would be to plead you were looking for a wounded animal. It would be way too hard to enforce the law with a loophole that big. I think that's one of those "urban legends". Maybe Burton could comment on this.
Unfortunately, wounding animals can happen to anyone who hunts. The ethical thing to do is to take all precautions not to let it happen, and if it does, give a recovery effort that suits the circumstances and terrain. Practice regularly at the range. Don't take those 400 to 500 yard shots.(I have a personal range when hunting of 150 yards unless it's to try to stop an animal I already know is wounded.) Take a good rest if it's possible. Wait for the animal to give you a good angle.
Last year I wounded a deer that got away. I found bone that I knew to be leg bone, but had a blood trail that only went about 100 yards then seemed to end. crawing around on my hands and knees I managed to find a few more drops that led about 50 more yards to the thick windswept spruce and hemlocks that cover the ridgetops on the islands in the sound. As hard as I could look, I found no more sign of him, but I was sure he hadn't gone too far as hard as he was hit. I did circles through the brush for a couple hours hoping to find him, but with no luck. I even passed up a huge buck that I jumped while searching. Finally, daylight was fading so I headed back to my boat. I felt very bad, and knew that deer didn't have much chance to make it, so I climbed back up that mountain the next day and searched again. When I didn't find him the second day, I knew I had given as good an effort as I could and from then on finding him would be a matter of luck. I'm not saying that that amount of effort is neccesary, but I really thought there was a good chance to locate that deer, so I had to put in the effort.
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