# Two hunters one deer



## Scadsobees (Sep 21, 2006)

I understand your frustration. All I can add is that whether it was yours or his at this point is not only debatable, but moot.

In this case, might makes right, you really had no other options. Perhaps he had it tagged already, which further erodes your claims. Possession is 9/10th of the law and all that.

At least you can rest easy knowing somebody will use the deer.


----------



## kisherfisher (Apr 6, 2008)

I have anchored 2 deer on different occasions, that were injured. Let them lay.If the hunter can track it to its location it his his. No question , just a congratulation. No satisfaction in shooting an injured deer. Just an assist !


----------



## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

In Michigan you can't tag a deer you didn't shoot. The best thing to do is to call the DNR. Starting a fight will only get you hurt, dead or in jail none of which appeal to me these days. Back in my bad ptsd days just after I got out of the service it would have been a different story.


----------



## Fishndude (Feb 22, 2003)

This kind of thing has turned very bad in Michigan, in the past. Now you know what the other neighborhood hunters are like. How much is a deer worth?

https://www.amazon.com/Darker-than-Night-Homicide-18-Year/dp/0312936761


----------



## buggs (Jan 21, 2011)

Biggbear said:


> " too bad what are you going to do about it?"
> At 51 I hate to admit what answer that question would have gotten them in my 20's and 30's. They may well have ended up with the deer, but they would have had to earn it. What can I say, I was an idiot. When I look back I can't believe I lived to see 51, no deer is is worth it, you made the right move.


It sucks getting old. Accepting reality as it pertains to this scenario also sucks. Because we're older though, your right, no deer is worth it. At 51 (I'm pushing 57) it would not be smart to tangle with two - armed - 20-30 year olds. The OP you quoted made a wise choice.


----------



## Biggbear (Aug 14, 2001)

buggs said:


> It sucks getting old. Accepting reality as it pertains to this scenario also sucks. Because we're older though, your right, no deer is worth it. At 51 (I'm pushing 57) it would not be smart to tangle with two - armed - 20-30 year olds. The OP you quoted made a wise choice.


My reaction in my 20's would have been stupid, the OP did the right thing no doubt about it. As I've aged I've learned to keep my temper, and my reactions in check. If I were faced with the same situation as the OP at 51 I would do just what he did. 20 something me was a moron who is lucky to have lived this long.


----------



## Chessieman (Dec 8, 2009)

Biggbear said:


> My reaction in my 20's would have been stupid, the OP did the right thing no doubt about it. As I've aged I've learned to keep my temper, and my reactions in check. If I were faced with the same situation as the OP at 51 I would do just what he did. 20 something me was a moron who is lucky to have lived this long.


I don't know about that, when I confront a trespasser I have my gun at field ready. The gun is across my arm with with my thumb on the safety. If some fool tries to outdraw me, lots of luck, a gun is part of my body, they will loose. I am a cranky old 65 that handles a long gun 5 months a year, not including trap. NEVER trust anybody, your life depends on it.


----------



## Macs13 (Apr 24, 2019)

I've been following along, mesmerized at the stories and the self control. I can't let a person disrespect me like that - I nearly floated a guy down the river at homestead this year for trying to push me off of a spot with aggressive casting. I deal with "dirtbags" every day with my job so I usually know how to deal with them. Be firm and assertive without insulting... You'll remind them of the strong father figure that they obviously never had. I've found that lowering to their level is what they're used to, but speak to them with confidence and common courtesy, while being forceful in your point and that is how you control the situation. 

I understand why the OP let it slide. It made sense. Karma will hopefully send him an even more impressive buck for his tag. Just don't put me in the same situation, LOL. Old enough to know better... Young enough to not care...  

Sent from my LG-LS998 using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


----------



## Winterover (Jan 22, 2001)

My "baby" sister shot her first deer; a doe, when she was 18 on an evening hunt. Both dad and I were at work and could not help her track it so I said I would be out in the morning after work to help her. I got on the track about 9:30 in the morning. I would have gone earlier but didn't want to mess up anyone's morning hunt. I found the blood and tracked it (plenty of snow) for about 40 yards to a gut pile. I followed the drag marks onto the neighbors property and followed them almost to the neighbors house where I saw them loading a deer into a car trunk. I didn't want to confront a bunch of ******** (the family was from KY) with guns so I went to the folks house and they called the people who said no, it was not my sisters deer, they had shot it and "tracked it" onto the property we were hunting. I was not a happy camper knowing there was no way they had shot it as the only blood to the gutpile came from where my sister had shot. I was getting worked up and ready to call the law when my sister said "don't worry about it, I'll just shoot another one tonight". Dad took the night off work and was out int he woods hunting with her in a blind about 100 yd's away from her and sure enough, she shot another one that night. Of course I had to hear the I told you so. I guess this was my lesson of some things aren't worth fighting over. Since then she has shot several more deer, (she is now 43) and she plans on bear hunting with me in 2023 when we have enough points built up for the draw we want.


----------



## sourdough44 (Mar 2, 2008)

Had something similar happen years ago, that ‘kill-shot’ talk is just individual ethics and sportsmanship, not really the law.

The DNR usually says, ‘whoever kills the deer then tags it, is the owner’. I realize that has the potential to get gray under field conditions. One guys killing shot is another’s grazing wound.


----------



## JimP (Feb 8, 2002)

Happened to us years back, 2 hunters, same camp. They split the Deer, everyone happy.


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Who the heck wants to keep a deer someone else shot? Dumb


----------



## Scadsobees (Sep 21, 2006)

sureshot006 said:


> Who the heck wants to keep a deer someone else shot? Dumb


I've been given a couple of deer and butchered one roadkill deer (won't do that again!).


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Scadsobees said:


> I've been given a couple of deer and butchered one roadkill deer (won't do that again!).


That's a different story. Similar to being donated. But to be hunting and want to take a deer someone else fatally shot is weird to me. What's the pride in that? How is that an accomplishment? Some people are turds.

My dad hit a deer last year and when they skinned it out the meat was just mush. Ended up throwing it away.


----------



## Joe Archer (Mar 29, 2000)

After reading through this thread, I cannot dispute the claim of the hunter who tagged the deer.
OP took a quartering toward shot and waited about an hour to track. The deer made it a good 250 yards from his original hit indicating to me that it was at best a one-lung hit deer. It could have been one-lung and liver, or one-lung gut... not enough info.
From my experience with one-lung hit deer, I'd say the odds were 50-50 for the OP to have found this deer or to have pushed it into the next county and not recovered it at all. 
Who knows? None of us know. 
All we know for sure is that the person who put the killing shot on the deer tagged the deer. Unfortunately for the OP, that is all we have to go on.
<----<<<


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Joe Archer said:


> All we know for sure is that the person who put the killing shot on the deer tagged the deer. Unfortunately for the OP, that is all we have to go on.
> <----<<<


Very true. 250 yards (honestly not that crazy if not double lung) and obviously walking or standing there unless the 2nd guy shot it when it was down so who knows if it really would have been recovered. I just cant see myself shooting a deer with a bleeding hole in it and claiming it for myself. Possibly didn't see it. Maybe if it was huge... lol


----------



## Scadsobees (Sep 21, 2006)

sureshot006 said:


> I just cant see myself shooting a deer with a bleeding hole in it and claiming it for myself. Possibly didn't see it. Maybe if it was huge... lol


How would you feel if you didn't see the hole, put it down and then after you rolled it over noticed another wound? That would make it more difficult for me.

And if I did see the wound, my thought was I'd try to put it down. It goes down, what's fair for how long to wait? I don't have all night to sit and watch the deer...an hour? If I wait an hour, get down, tag it, start dressing it and somebody walks up and wants their deer....then what?

I'm not saying it's what happened in this case, but can see some problems happening in any of these cases.


----------



## sureshot006 (Sep 8, 2010)

Scadsobees said:


> How would you feel if you didn't see the hole, put it down and then after you rolled it over noticed another wound? That would make it more difficult for me.
> 
> And if I did see the wound, my thought was I'd try to put it down. It goes down, what's fair for how long to wait? I don't have all night to sit and watch the deer...an hour? If I wait an hour, get down, tag it, start dressing it and somebody walks up and wants their deer....then what?
> 
> I'm not saying it's what happened in this case, but can see some problems happening in any of these cases.


Yeah. Another thing is the 2nd guy has no idea how far the deer has already come to get to his location.

I guess it depends on where the wound was. If it appeared to me it wouldnt have been recovered, I'd have to make a choice. If it looked like it would have been recovered it's the first guys deer.


----------



## Martin Looker (Jul 16, 2015)

I've killed two of them in sixty years of hunting. The first one haf it's lower jaw shot off. The second one was shot thru the lower part of the liver and part of a lung. I have no idea how it was still alive but when I killed him he was chasing a doe. He had been shot the day before by the neighbors and they didn't find him. No I didn't give up the deer he was still on the go and I didn't find out who shot until that note.


----------



## ArrowFlinger (Sep 18, 2000)

That is correct. Many archers will honor first blood, but do not have to.


poz said:


> I believe in Michigan it's whomever put it down, not first blood.


Sent from my SM-G960U using Michigan Sportsman mobile app


----------



## MSUFW07 (Jan 22, 2009)

Dragging (yes some pun is intended) this older thread up because I came across this on MLive. 

https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/12/dnr-settles-dispute-between-2-hunters-who-shot-the-same-deer.html


----------

