OutdoorMissouri.com

Went to hang a stand at my favorite spot this afternoon (I usually do this in September, and stay out until November). I left the truck, and walked up a mowed strip in the CRP at the edge of the timber. I hadn`t gone 100 yards when I jumped a giant buck out of a tree top just inside the woods. It was so windy that the buck had no clue what disturbed it. He went about 25 yards deeper into the woods, and stopped to look around for what had spooked him. When I saw him bust out of the brush pile, I immediately knelt down, and knocked an arrow. Here`s where my mental tug-of-war began. I have a 170"+ buck at 30 yards, he`s broadside, looking the other way, giving me a wide open shot at his ribcage, and he`s standing in a woods that I don`t have permission to hunt (I do have permission to walk through the area to get to my stand on another property). This all happened in a span of about 40 seconds. I was actually relieved when he decided to bug out of there. I have played this over in my mind 138 times so far today. I have convinced myself that I did the right thing by not taking a shot. Hopefully I`ll see him in a week or two from the stand that I hung. It is only a couple hundred yards away from where he was bedded today. The only thing that really bothers me is that I know the landowner would have shot this buck out the truck window, anywhere that he came across him. I don`t know what he would have said, or done, if I had killed this deer on his land. I guess I should discuss this with him for future reference. After the season, of course.



What would you have done?

You did the ethical thing. It will be a much better memory when he comes by your stand for that shot vs. it being in the back of your mind that you didn't get him cleanly/ethicaly.

Think of it this way, the property owner would probably not let you use the area for walking in anymore if you'd have shot him right there.

I couldn't realy have blamed you either way though.

I'm not going to tell you all about the encounter I had last night, until I kill him this weekend.

It's very similiar to yours, 170.

You should have taken the shot. With permission to walk through a deer woods to a stand, not set up a stand, unless the owner explicitly said you could not shoot one, I would have taken the shot. Your landowner would probably say the same. As a landowner I would not have minded that exact thing. Snowy, we don't need anymore of your screwup stories. Tell them to PS.

Rainbow - No screwup here, PS already knows, I told him about it last night. Then I had to endure his stupid deer coughing story.

Snowy, in that case I would like to hear your story. Things do happen in the woods.

Yeah, things happen in the woods. I won't tell you what I did in the woods this weekend. The CCGC berated me for telling them about it.

I would have killed that sombeatch.

I'll go with your first thought.

I wouldn't have shot him, and I'd have to think about whether I'd tell the landowner about it. My first thought is to tell him, but he might kick you out altogether saying that you're spooking deer off his place. OTOH, he might say you should have stuck that deer so it's a sticky situation.

most deer would have drop in its tracks after you shot .ha or ran 100 yards,ha you did the right thing. hope you got permission to go after a hit deer? good luck

You did the right thing. If I have given permission to pass through my ground not hunt it, that means Not Hunt. Last season, I passed on a pretty 7 point that I had under my stand for 30 min opening day. He would have been a corker in another year. 30 min after he left the area I hear a shot that sounded like it was on neighbor...figured he killed him since he is a typical "Kill any horn type". Well Monday afternoon, I found the deer...dead, bloated, intact, on my side of the fence. After that I have taken a zero tolerance policy. I have visited with each neighbor and informed them that I have every intention of prosecuting any tresspass or property violation. And the Game warden is fully aware of the fact all 4 neighbors have basically agreed and will do the same.

Road hunters, tresspassers, and people who have no respect for the property owner are doing more damage to the reputation of hunters than we can imagine.

I would have done the same thing I70 without knowing anything about the land owner you were walking in on...

Go back with a spotlight.

When my children used to ask me this type of question my answer was always the same, " You can't be wrong doing what is right"..

You did the right thing.