Claiming a deer question

[eyeguy 54]

there's laws and there's ethics.

[kkahmann]

In old English law, which most of our laws derive from, since the time of William and Mary, wild animals are wild and free, they are unowned. As such they owe alegiance to no King, Crown nor Country.

A dead animal is a completly different matter, doesn't matter who kills it--it belongs to the property owner.

Arguments arise when hunting on public land.

Herman Melville in his book 'Moby Richard' illistrates this rather well in the chapter "Fast Fish--Loose Fish"

The international Law of the Sea--

A fish belongs to that party which is fast to it and a loose fish belongs to that party which can soonest become fast to it. A fish in this case means a whale.

The above is just an old way of saying possesion is 9/10's of the law. Pierpont v Post reiterates that.

I been hunting whitetails now for going on 50 years. Where I live now the season is 2 months long and party huntin is legal. I've also hunted 7 different states. I've killed a few.

I lost the biggest buck I ever shot at under very similisr circumstances. I know how you feel. I'm sorry you lost your deer.

[slayer212]

This same thing happened to my uncle about 5 yrs ago and the 2 grown men decided to flip a coin. My uncle lost but was a good way. For xmas he got alot of 2 headed quarters

[Back2Dakota]

The first buck I ever shot came by missing his right front leg(and still moving like it was there!) I shot him and he went down-right behind was a group of guys asking if I shot "their deer". Told the I shot the deer that they shot the leg of. I big hole in the deer-they still took it I was alone. The monster I shot last year.....I hit it hard with the first shot but he wasnt dead second shot he was dead and I would have kept shooting till he was. Sad but the joys of state land. I could never look at the mount on the wall knowing that I only finished it and did not make the kill shot. Kind of like mounting a deer you hit with the car.