Tracking after hours

[orion]

Not wanting to sidetrack another thread so just curious 

 

How do you feel about shooting a deer at night? Yes one that you shot legally during the day and have been tracking.

[grampy]

Not legal. Only during hunting hours. Deer Search can do it.

[Fletch]

Never happen, let deer suffer

Not

[First-light]

Shoot it and get it over with. 

[Buckmaster7600]

yup have to just set down and watch them suffer! Or take the risk of getting hurt trying slit it's throat.

this is one of the many cases where the law makes an honest person an outlaw or a "poacher"

Edited October 22, 2015 by Buckmaster7600

[philoshop]

The law is very clear with regard to hunting deer at night, but I personally don't consider retrieving a wounded animal 'hunting'. It's part of hunting for sure, but it's not the essence of hunting.

There is certainly a gray area here between law and ethics. My moral compass will compel me to find and dispatch a wounded animal as quickly as possible. If that means a follow-up shot in the dead of night, that's what I'll do.

[greensider]

i saw a hunting show last night where they tracked a deer after going home for dinner and headed into the wood to recover the deer with bow in hand and it was way after dark when they went out

[monkeyman2269]

Widdle a spear

Edited October 22, 2015 by monkeyman2269

[BigVal]

Shoot

[deerpassion]

Widdle a spear

Good one , lol

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[NFA-ADK]

Simply put let your morals and ethics take over.  Sometimes braking the law is the right thing to do. 

[crappyice]

Agreed Nfa...I wouldn't go posting videos or stories about doing the right thing though(not suggesting NFA would)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Five Seasons]

Not wanting to sidetrack another thread so just curious

How do you feel about shooting a deer at night? Yes one that you shot legally during the day and have been tracking.

Wouldn't hesitate for a second to put a deer out of its misery.

[wolc123]

I have killed (2) with knives, by slitting their throats, after I found them lying on the roadside with their eyes shut.  One was a big doe a few years back, that came to and sprung to her feet after I stopped to cut off her tail.   I jumped on her back and slit her throat with a tiny, but extremely sharp knife.  She landed a hoof against my lower leg, but the swelling soon went down and I recovered fully.   My freezer was full already so I gave that one to a buddy who dropped her off at a butcher, after stopping at the police station to get a road-kill tag.  The butcher said she was the cleanest deer he cut up that year, without a mark on her body.  Apparently she must have just hit her head on a car, knocking herself out.

 

The second was a button-buck on the last day of ML season last winter.   That time I used a much bigger knife but it was very dull, and it took a lot longer to get the jugular.   His hoofs were flying as I was jabbing, but he never connected and I got away unharmed. That was due to my earlier experience and improved hoof-dodging ability.  That little buck must have been struck by a car broadside, knocking the wind out of him, for there was considerable bruising on front and rear shoulders on his port side.   The other side, tenderloins, backstraps, heart and liver were great however.

 

If and when I ever have to track one after dark, I would not hesitate to go in with just a knife.  I will definitely be sure it is extremely sharp.  I am looking forward to a nighttime track, mostly because I want to try the CSI type "bloodglow" I bought last fall to see if it lives up the the hype.  Not so much that I would intentionally "botch" a shot however.  Both bucks I shot since getting it have expired within 40 yards, so I have not got to try it yet.   It has added considerable "prime-time" to my afternoon hunts, since I am no longer afraid to stay in the stands until legal sunset.  "Bloodglow" supposedly lets you follow the trail by the light of the moon and stars only.                 

Edited October 22, 2015 by wolc123

[Hock3y24]

I couldn't let an animal suffer like that. Do what you think is right. But don't advertise it if you do break the law.

[hunterdan44]

Dispatch the animal as quickly and humanely as possible, not even a thought about waiting till light.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[grampy]

I would lose less sleep breaking the law in this situation. Than I would if I knowingly left a deer to suffer.

[jjb4900]

so, you do what is considered by most to be the right thing, and kill the buck after dark.....which, as we all know is illegal, but we get past that because an animal was put out of its suffering asap, and we all agree that is the Noble thing to do.............really not a tough decision to live with afterwards. Fast forward to the next day and you realize the buck is eligible for Pope & Young, except for that one minor detail of it being killed illegally, what does one do with that decision?????? 

[Buckmaster7600]

so, you do what is considered by most to be the right thing, and kill the buck after dark.....which, as we all know is illegal, but we get past that because an animal was put out of its suffering asap, and we all agree that is the Noble thing to do.............really not a tough decision to live with afterwards. Fast forward to the next day and you realize the buck is eligible for Pope & Young, except for that one minor detail of it being killed illegally, what does one do with that decision??????

Are you saying it's worth letting the deer suffer "X" hrs to get your name in a book??

Edited October 23, 2015 by Buckmaster7600

[jjb4900]

Are you saying it's worth letting the deer suffer "X" hrs to get your name in a book??

me personally? I could care less about a book..... I was just curious if some would do the right thing and kill the suffering animal and then look past that and keep quiet and enter it into that book, would it "feel right" doing that, after all it does violate the rules, does it not?......I'm saying kill it, and forget about the book.

Edited October 23, 2015 by jjb4900

[grampy]

No buck I ever killed or will ever kill, will be entered in any book. My own memory of the hunt and maybe antlers on the wall is all the "recognition" I need.

[Buckmaster7600]

me personally? I could care less about a book..... I was just curious if some would do the right thing and kill the suffering animal and then look past that and keep quiet and enter it into that book, would it "feel right" doing that, after all it does violate the rules, does it not?......I'm saying kill it, and forget about the book.

I'm killing the animal as it is my duty.

I could care less about my name in a book!

[outdoorstom]

I'm fortunate that my leashed tracking dog license allows me to carry a firearm at night to finish a deer off if necessary. If anybody local need some help, give a shout.

[Doc]

It would be interesting to get an ECO's take on this question. Would he write you up? They still have a lot of leeway on how they enforce the laws.

 

But here is a thought.... You need to do a little after dark tracking, and so there you are on the side hill with a loaded gun, and a light trying to do "the right thing". You lost the blood trail so your attention is focused on the ground. You don't notice that truck pulling over to the side of the road way down in the valley. Next thing you know, you have an ECO standing by your side writing you up for attempted jack-lighting, and he is confiscating your expensive gun, and generally making your life miserable and talking about a super high-dollar fine and maybe loss of hunting privileges. Was it worth it?

 

What would happen if you had called the DEC and explained the dilemma before you started off with the gun and light? Any chance that they might have some less harmful suggestions that wouldn't wind up with all these dire penalties and still allow you to try to recover your deer?

[grampy]

There are some great ECO's working out there. But I don't think they will tell you to break the law. They may however, choose to look the other way, if they know the area that you are tracking. But this is not a given. 

 

While in Deer Search, we must contact the local authorities, State Police and,or ECO before any tracking was to begin. So if someone saw lights and heard a shot on the side of the mountain, they would have the information we were there. I would also leave my tracking licence number and info on the dash of my truck, if parked along the road.