What would you do?...

[Dave]

Yes WNYBow...that is the one that got me to thinking...the tag is in the right ear..according to papers...and as you see there were cam pics of the deers right side...she also passed the buck once at 10yrds...so I question the unknowingly part...I give congrats on a very close kill shot...for buck fever caused me to whiff on a super ten this gun season.... but not nearly as big as that buck....so Kudos for that...I personally would have called the farm after first cam pics that showed tag....Can it even be entered into Boone and Crockett?....I also know that I personally would have a hard time knowing I shot livestock...which is only to say that is how I personally would have felt...on another site most of the comments were congrats and sorta good for sticking it to the farmer...so I was curious on just a NY opinion

Grows even if you called the farmer how would he retrieve the deer. Sucks to lose one like that during hunting season. I think most hunters would shoot him, probably wouldn't see the tag till they approached the deer to gut him out. Especially if the shot was a long one.

[growalot]

I Don't know ..... other than the deer was coming to a feeder for weeks and when livestock costing upwards of 40,000+K... I would think they'd at least try to tranquilize it...Now in the original...my link didn't work but the one in a page 1 of post does....It stated the deer was never reported as lost...and tags were visible in many trail cam pics before the kill....as I said Kudos for her taking the kill...I personally would have tried to contact owners....Now in the state this happened...the Farm could have charged her a trophy fee...according to papers...state law...but they waved the fee...publicity...That may not have happened if the shooter was ...lets say a "hillbilly" looking type...just supposing there...lol

[MuzzyLoader]

Jerry..I remember reading about that in the paper..

As long as the stag was on the owner's land, the animal was considered his property. As soon as it escaped from his land, it was considered an unprotected non native species, just as an escaped wild boar would be, and it was fair game.

Right you are Dan... Same thing would apply here if you ask me.

[nyantler]

Grows even if you called the farmer how would he retrieve the deer. Sucks to lose one like that during hunting season. I think most hunters would shoot him, probably wouldn't see the tag till they approached the deer to gut him out. Especially if the shot was a long one.

I agree most guys wouldn't even see the tag until after and should not feel bad about shooting it... if I knew of the deer and where it came from before hand I woudn't shoot it... although I'm sure the deer was far from tame... it would be similar to the Cornell Buck if I knew about the deer prior... just wouldn't excite me.

Edited January 2, 2012 by nyantler

[landtracdeerhunter]

Ny antler. Totally agree.

[Doc]

I would think that all responsibilities would lie with the farmer. The safe and secure containment of his critters is (or at least should be) his concern. If he does not live up to his responsibilities as caretaker of his livestock ....... oh well. Whatever happens after that should be nobody's problem but his.

[chiefbkt]

Would look good next to the other mounts on my wall.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Edited January 2, 2012 by landtracdeerhunter

[Dave]

Doc, In a perfect world, I would agree. In the real world, their is a risk of escape of farm animals. A few of our neighbors black angus got out a month ago, Neighbors hunting near by all help get them contained. Not one gun shot was fired. Tuned out a car had run a section of the fence down. I realize this circumstance is different due to the type of animal, but still the same principles.

I think that is a stretch, There is no cow season. Deer escape during deer season his misfortune.

[MountainHunter]

If I was aware it was a farm raised buck I wouldnt shoot it. Probably much easier to tell in the archery season versus the rifle season.

[nyantler]

I think that is a stretch, There is no cow season. Deer escape during deer season his misfortune.

Misfortune maybe if you shoot it not knowing its your neighbors deer.. if you know its his deer and see the tag.. I would think it would be a good gesture to at least notify the neighbor that you've seen his deer.. I would even tell him if I shot it by mistake

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Wow some of you guys amaze me!!! I have seen some of the posts from some of you guys that post on here that make it sound like you guys are good and do no wrongs. But then say you would have shot the deer and then had it mounted. Lol.. Thats a joke. I bet you would have told yur friends it was just a wild deer. Did you ever think about doing the right thing...(I see some on here did)

Yes i would have shot the deer and then yes i would have brought it back to the game farm and found out what was going on. With me having deer i still would have shot the deer. Who knows mabey some dipstick cut the guys fence to try and let the deer out. It happened up here one year and 7 bucks escaped. They darted 2 of them that hung around the farm and got them back in and all the others were shot in the wild by hunters. well guess what... 4 of them were returned by the hunters because they knew it was wrong to keep a deer shot in the wild with a tag in its ear... Then the word got out that one guy shot one and did not return it and dec was brought it and it ended being the guy that cut the fence and charges were filed. And yes before you ask the farmer gave the venision to every hunter that shot one and offered the cape and rack(minus the lymph nodes for cwd testing) and they all took the meat and said no thanks to the rack.... Whats that tell ya????

[G-Man]

Bang! the story said this deer traveld several miles from where it escaped. what if the tags were ripped from its ears running through brush? no report of escaped livestock? what about farm raised phesants no one has a problem shooting them or banded turkeys or pheasants? i would of contacted the owner if some id was present on the ear tags. i've seen ear taged bears..are they livestock? unless i was a neighbor of a deer farm and knew the deer i believe i would shoot everytime.

[landtracdeerhunter]

This thread and the answers on it are interesting, to say the least.

[landtracdeerhunter]

All banded wildlife is to be reported to the DEC, right out of the NYS guide. Four Seasons, I'm stunned myself.

Edited January 3, 2012 by landtracdeerhunter

[growalot]

Actually if you read the story and comments....NY is just about par on what others across the country said...with the exception...and this may be because of my opening request to the post....Your not tearing the ppl .....self included..... that said they wouldn't have shot a new one or inferring jealousy....

So Kudos for that...yep reactions have been more interesting than event it's self

[WNYBuckHunter]

Theres a deer farm right up the road from where I hunt. Do I know what the tags they use look like? Nope. I am not usually looking at the deer's ear before I shoot, so I wouldnt realize it had tags in the ears before I shot it. If the tags had some kind of ID on them as to who it belonged to, I would make the effort to try and contact them right before I called the DEC and asked them what to do. Would I mount the deer? Yep, not like I went into the fenced enclosure and shot it.

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Would ya mount the deer if infact after you shot the deer and walked up to it and saw that it had the silver usda farm tags in its ear??

[nyantler]

I have seen the tags on deer farm bucks, they are usually very highly visible... they stick out like a sore thumb because the colors are so unantural to the animal and the tags are usually quite large.. in a bowhunting situation I would think they would be quite visible. But, at longer distances during gun seasons they might not be as easily detected. With a gun I could see killing the buck without knowing it was tagged... then add the elements that the buck traveled a long way from the farm, you didn't know that there was a farm nearby or that a buck had escaped and the chances of it being killed by an unsuspecting hunter gets greater... personally I would tell the farmer if I mistakingly killed his buck and would not mount the buck... it would just seem like too much of a downer to hang a farm buck on my wall .... just my opinion.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Would ya mount the deer if infact after you shot the deer and walked up to it and saw that it had the silver usda farm tags in its ear??

Yep. Like I said, I didnt shoot it on the farm of call it by name, to me, it was a deer that walked by my stand. Would I tell people the story behind it? Yes.

[nyantler]

I might hang the antlers on the front of my camp for a conversation piece or just good decoration... maybe cut it up and have some knife handles made or an antler lamp...

[WNYBuckHunter]

LMAO, I wonder how many will pick up on that one

[nyantler]

LMAO, I wonder how many will pick up on that one

I'm sure a lot... but I was being serious.. thats what I would really do..

[Doc]

Theres a deer farm right up the road from where I hunt. Do I know what the tags they use look like? Nope. I am not usually looking at the deer's ear before I shoot, so I wouldnt realize it had tags in the ears before I shot it. If the tags had some kind of ID on them as to who it belonged to, I would make the effort to try and contact them right before I called the DEC and asked them what to do. Would I mount the deer? Yep, not like I went into the fenced enclosure and shot it.

That's what I was thinking. Even if I did see a tag, am I supposed to be able to read what it is all about at 20 yards (bow), 50 yards (gun). And even if by some miracle, I did notice the tag, I really can't say that it would occur to me that it was a privately owned deer.

I'll admit that I might feel a bit funny about having the thing mounted because there is still the stigma of having shot a "tame" deer even if it was in a wild location. With taxidermy costs being what they are these days, I most likely would pass on the wall mount. But I would have no problem eating it and maybe saving the antlers down in the basement as a conversation piece. I think also that I would be very irritated that some guy even put me in that position. After having thought that I had just harvested a true wild once-in-a-lifetime trophy and then finding out that it was all only because some jerk just couldn't contain his tame deer...... What a disapointment.

I agree, a phone call to the DEC probably would be a good idea just to establish a legal right to it. And if there was some recognizable ID on the tag, I would be notifying the previous owner as to what happened to his critter.

[nyantler]

Where i hunt there are not a lot of deer running around with tags punched in their ears.. so I would probably think something was up... but if I had no prior knowledge of a deer farm in that area or a farm deer on the loose.. I think I might pull then trigger as well and deal with the rest later... hard tellin' not knowin'