Make the call - First Blood

[CANOPY SAM]

You did the right thing. Great responses here! It's just a deer. Not worth argueing over. I'd tell your son he'll get a much bigger one next time. A great lesson in shot placement. Gotta make it count!

[Lund79]

You did the right thing. Great responses here! It's just a deer. Not worth argueing over. I'd tell your son he'll get a much bigger one next time. A great lesson in shot placement. Gotta make it count!

I couldn't agree more. Well done folks for saying the OP did the right thing by walking away.

[deerminator]

I agree. Great response and good lesson. I don't buy the first blood theory at all, either. Many "first blood" shot deer are never recovered. It's the way the guy possibly lied about not knowing the doe was wounded and the other kid thinking a neck shot is great that rubs me the wrong way.

[BobT]

I'm not convinced he was lying about that. It's not uncommon for entrance wounds to leave no outside visible damage, expecially from any distance and it could very easily be possible that was the side that was exposed to them when they saw the animal. The only clue to it possibly being wounded could have been that they heard a shot in the vicinity and then saw the deer but that too is not unusual. Any time I hear a shot within close proximity (1/2 mile or less) I'm immediately on guard.

[TruthWalleyes]

If i had shot a wounded deer and the fella that drew first blood came over the hill, i would gladly give them the deer...In most cases.

It would get pretty hairy if I had already tagged the deer, I would accept money for the tag, and rip it up, since i know i won't be needing 5 deer. If it was my buck tag, I'm sorry, but i'd probably have to keep the deer...I bet if the guy was really nice, i would let him have it anyway.

GP, I think you handled this great. Stinks for your son, but it was also a great learning experience for him. Pushing to take that deer based on first blood won't help, but i think if the first blood shooter was polite and nice, it would go a long ways towards getting the deer. Everyone will handle this situation differently. I hope that i can stick to my words in this post if i am ever in that situation.

[Heartman]

First blood is appropriate. Killing a cripple is the most humane thing we can do for the animal, although there are probably any number of exceptions that may need to be considered in terms of hunter possession.

[Rippinlip]

Use your best judgement.

Myself and the people I hunt with feel if you have drawn "lethal blood" its your deer. Hard to judge, yes.

When other people and parties get involved it can be worked out.

There is too many circumstances that come into affect to list them all, normally reasonable people can make reasonable resolutions.

[McGurk]

I have nothing to add, except that this was a great "teachable moment"

that you were able to use. You have tought your son to be the bigger man, and that he will need to take some more time becoming a better shooter if it was indeed a gut shot. I cardboard sillouette(sp?) target (even if it's just drawn up by hand) can go a long ways into teaching what a kill shot should be. This instance has probably only brought you closer together.

Frankly, what I took out of this story is that the other boy knew that there was another shot, even though his Dad had stated that he "didn't notice". That boy also learned something, and it may have actually hurt his relationship with his Dad. I hope he talked to his Dad the whole way home about morals and values, and not about just this situation.

Karma can be your best friend, but it can also be a real (female dog). As always; use your best judgement. This kid did make sure that a deer stayed down, and that may not have happened otherwise.

[96trigger]

I think no matter what, no deer is ever going to be worth a fight, especially when the kids are involved. No matter what side I was on, either the killiing shot, or the wounding shot, I would not argue with that person if they really wanted the deer. It was, and always will be, a great teachable moment for you and your son. He is probably a better individual for it.

[deerminator]

I agree. And I'm not saying a deer is worth fighting over, I'm just saying establishing a hard and fast rule of first blood or claiming its the only "ethical" arguement as one sports writer and TV sports show host did in the Star Tribune one weekend, makes absolutely no sense. Each situation is different. If I shoot a deer in the butt and some guy puts a shot through its hear a few minutes later, I'm not going to try and claim it as my own because of my poor shot which likely would have resulted in me never finding it. If I put a shot in a deer's heart and it went 300 yards to be shot in the butt by a guy the next property over, I'd be pretty disappointed if I didn't end up tagging it. But I would start an arguement over it. Conversely, if that "guy" was a 13 year old boy or girl that shot it in the butt in the latter case, I'd probably pat them on the back and congratulate them. So each situation is different and hopefully each hunter can recognize that so there are no unfortunate or misguided confrontations.

[zepman]

Great teachable experience.

The REAL question is what would we all do if that doe were an 8 or 10 point buck...same responses or would emotion get the best of us.......???