So sick of my family hunting practices

[jesse.james]

I'm seriously thinking of disown in my family as far as hunting is concerned. They shoot anything. They shoot 45 lbs deer and then claim they are meat hunters. I point out they can throw it over their shoulder. .. They are not hunting for meat. They are fulfilling their blood lust. If it was just shooting small deer I could understand. But it's combined with poaching and complete lack of respect for the animals we hunt. Beside the 9 pt my dad did not tag 2 weeks ago. My cousin shot a doe in a no dmp zone obviously didn't tag it. Then today my dad, cousin, and friend of the family are standing on a pipeline talking after morning hunt when 2 tiny does walk right to them. They all opened up on these deer like it was a gun fight at the O.K. coral. One doe. .which was actually a button buck was hit 3 times blowing off one of the legs. The other one was gut shot. The button buck was so small it fit behind my cousins seat in the truck and was not tagged. The doe was at least tagged but was able to be lifted up by my dad who is riddled with arthritis. Both pretty much lost their spots and were slaughtered in the most barbaric way! Sorry end of rant. It just makes me so sick to my stomach!

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Edited November 17, 2013 by jesse.james

[BackWoods Hunter]

Wow. That is horrible and I hope it's not true. Being family though, you're in a real tuff spot. Obviously you can't do anything about it except not participate. It sounds like a family tradition and has been going on for a long time so don't expect to change their minds.

The only thing you can do is remove yourself entirely from the hunts and discussions about the hunts. Take the high road. To each their own. Maybe if you lead by example, some of them will come around.

In the meantime, be careful what you say and who you say it to. No one is a anonymous on these forums. People have ways of finding out who you are. Remember, family comes first.

[growalot]

I Think that's what he is hoping.......

[sweet old bill]

I have up the road from me a camp that has brown is down from fawn to anything that walks is fair game. They come up from LI, have lots of there buddies go for doe permits in 40 and then since they are only going to hunt LI they sign the tags over to these guys. Then they have the balls to stop and say, gee not that many deer this year.

 

I guess it takes all type

 

I just hunt for a big buck and let any less than a 8 point walk. I do not any longer need the meat as it is only my wife and I at home. Also at 72 I need help to even get one in. My grandson has gotten deer the last two years and always drops off a pice of the meat for me.

[nybuckboy]

As a hunter we have a job... the job is to kill our quarry with the most ethical shot we can... to let this quarry die quickly and humanely. Anything else is just a botch job.

[boo711]

They may be family. But if you are an ethical hunter you should call the DEC. Taking deer and not tagging is wrong. And against the law. I hunted with a group once who took 2 does one day. Never tagged them. I never said a word, never questioned it. But called the DEC when I got home. They got busted. I never hunted with them again

Edited November 17, 2013 by boo711

[cdmckane]

I wouldn't go as far as turning them in, but I also have family I don't hunt with because I disagree with some of their tactics.  I agree it can be extremely frustrating when you're trying to do the right thing and everybody else just doesn't care. 

[fasteddie]

I would find another place to hunt and if asked why , tell them ...........

[Steve7]

I hunted with many friends throughout many seasons that do things I really don't care for.  That is why I hunt alone so I don't have to subject myself to it and only have to answer to myself.  

[Waldershrek]

Just because they are family doesn't mean they can break the law and hunt with no regard to ethics. I would say normally you give them an ultimatum to either stop the behavior or you'll call the dec. It sounds like this has been going on for a long time though so I doubt you'd have much success. I certainly wouldnt hunt with them and truthfully I'd seriously consider turning them in.

[Five Seasons]

I'm sure you're just venting, but this is a family matter not one for the interwebs...

[bluecoupe]

With a handle of "jesse.james"  I have some reservations about the post but assuming it's legit then turn them in. Period.  Being family doesn't excuse being a--holes.  

 

Edited November 17, 2013 by SteveC

[WNYBuckHunter]

I dont have a huge problem with people that choose to shoot small deer. Ive done it in the past, always by mistake, and just choose not to any longer, but if someone wants to punch their tag on a small one, more power to them. Not tagging the deer is the biggest issue that i read here.

If it was me, id find other people to hunt with.

[the blur]

I'm seriously thinking of disown in my family as far as hunting is concerned. They shoot anything. They shoot 45 lbs deer and then claim they are meat hunters. I point out they can throw it over their shoulder. .. They are not hunting for meat. They are fulfilling their blood lust. If it was just shooting small deer I could understand. But it's combined with poaching and complete lack of respect for the animals we hunt. Beside the 9 pt my dad did not tag 2 weeks ago. My cousin shot a doe in a no dmp zone obviously didn't tag it. Then today my dad, cousin, and friend of the family are standing on a pipeline talking after morning hunt when 2 tiny does walk right to them. They all opened up on these deer like it was a gun fight at the O.K. coral. One doe. .which was actually a button buck was hit 3 times blowing off one of the legs. The other one was gut shot. The button buck was so small it fit behind my cousins seat in the truck and was not tagged. The doe was at least tagged but was able to be lifted up by my dad who is riddled with arthritis. Both pretty much lost their spots and were slaughtered in the most barbaric way! Sorry end of rant. It just makes me so sick to my stomach! Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 2

 

The poaching must be stopped.     Tell them you will not tolerate it.  Threaten them with DEC action.

 

Taking small deer legally, is OK for 1st time hunters.  Or for people who don't have many deer.    Shooting the deer 3 times, I have no problem with that if it's legal.  Tracking a deer is worse than shooting it 3 times.

Edited November 17, 2013 by the blur

[Jeremy K]

They may be family. But if you are an ethical hunter you should call the DEC. Taking deer and not tagging is wrong. And against the law. I hunted with a group once who took 2 does one day. Never tagged them. I never said a word, never questioned it. But called the DEC when I got home. They got busted. I never hunted with them again

 

C-mon ,DEC before family ? Wrong on so many levels .

[bluecoupe]

C-mon ,DEC before family ? Wrong on so many levels .

 

No, abiding by laws before family - big difference. If this were my family I'd be on the phone with LE, and my family would know it.  You want to act like idiots, expect to be treated like an idiot.

[BackWoods Hunter]

You can't pick who your family is. More importantly, people are who they are and you cannot change them. Turning them in will likely just cause you a lot of grief and they'll just continue doing what they do. The best bet , IMO, is to lead by example.

Edited November 17, 2013 by BackWoods Hunter

[skully]

Calling the DEC on your family is ridiculous.  Do what I did.  Get your own spots and set your rules.  Told my father, no more shooting young bucks we are letting them walk and after he shot a year and a half 4 pointer with a 16 inch spread I kicked him out.....................

[ELMER J. FUDD]

Blood is thicker than antlers. Lol.

[bluecoupe]

Everyone has to live with themselves. If "you're" fine knowingly letting your family abuse laws in this fashion, more power to you. In my view, that makes "you" just as guilty as they are. I'd give them one warning and the second time the law would be called. 

 

NOTE:  The "you're" and "you" in this post are targeted towards NO ONE in particular and are used in figurative terms. 

[bubba]

C-mon ,DEC before family ? Wrong on so many levels .

 

This is the type of response I would expect from someone who does the same things.  Not saying you are, just saying I would think that

 

If they shot one of the people in the hunting party with these antics would you condone that too?  Illegal is illegal family friend or enemy.  All the time on here we see all kinds of posts about trespassers poachers and all sorts of things we pretty much all do not condone to include neighbors shooting legally on their property. .  But when it is family we are ok with it.  How do we know that one of the complaints we read on here isn't about them.  The first post that was up about dad taking a nice buck not tagging it and saying he was going to hunt in this guys stand, I said then turn it in.  By not doing so or at least saying next time I will, you condone the behavior.  Man up or move on.  

[growalot]

This is a cry for help...but he needs to give a bit more detail in his profile so that someone can take care of what he can't....Seeing I'm assuming Jesse James from Syracuse..isn't your real name....lol

[hunter]

I sometimes read these outrageous posts and wonder if we are being baited. How many ignorant hunters will agree with or at least condone not reporting the violators.

[bubba]

This is not a cry for help.  He did not ask for help he ranted and moved on same as the first time.  Or I am guessing he did not get first crack at the deer.    

[Jeremy K]

I am all for us hunters patrolling the woods and keeping other hunters in check . You have to admire and give props to the OP for growing up around such behavior and having the intelligence to realize that it is wrong . Certainly we should at least agree that this would really put someone in a real moral dilemma , nobody wants to get their family members in trouble with law and the majority of us don't want the hunting laws put in place to be taken lightly . The list of arguments to support each side could be rather long . Maybe we should start offering the OP some suggestion on correcting the problem at the root of it with out losing his family all together .