Gun and bow in stand

[walleyeking19]

Okay quick question: I'm gonna be going up with my girlfriend to hunt this weekend and its in a lottery zone. Neither of us have gotten a deer and neither of us have a doe tag so it'd be buck only with a gun.

My question is, if I sit with her in the same stand can i have my bow (with a valid license) to shoot a doe while she has a rifle to shoot if a buck comes by? So we'd have a bow and gun in the stand but she'd only use the gun and I'd only use the bow. Is that legal?

[slimngrizzly]

I don't see why not. As long as youre not shooting one anothers deer?...

[mntatonka]

It's a very gray area in the rules. However, since you'll both be in the same stand you could be considered to be party hunting, which means you both must have the same license and weapon type.

[jentz]

Back a few years I did something similar,I did talk to the local CO first tho.Bow and rifle licensed,I carried a 357 with a 9 inch barrel and the bow.Even tho the pistol was illegal during bow hunting season,Both seasons were open and I was licensed for both.CO said make sure the proper license was used.That was it.I was good to go.

[just_jig]

No,

Party hunting

• A “party” is defined as any group of two or more licensed deer hunters

who are all afield; hunting together at the same time; AND all using

firearms (including muzzleloaders) or all using archery.

• A mixed group of firearms and archery hunters is considered two

separate parties.

[Kdog10]

No,

Party hunting

• A “party” is defined as any group of two or more licensed deer hunters

who are all afield; hunting together at the same time; AND all using

firearms (including muzzleloaders) or all using archery.

• A mixed group of firearms and archery hunters is considered two

separate parties.

Yes,

As long as they are not party hunting. They must tag their own deer. The regulation you cite is a description of the definition of party hunting. Just because you are afield together does not necessarily mean you are party hunting.

[Wanderer]

Party hunting = cross tagging. You're both legal hunters using legal weapons. I'd say no issues as long as you don't cross tag.

[eyeguy 54]

gold star

[1eyeReD]

I think you'll be alright. If a doe walks by, the gun totin' hunter can just sit back and watch. If a buck comes by, let your girl put a bullet in it. Unless it's a biggun and is more on your side of the tree

You tag yours, she tags hers.

[John478]

Back when I hunted with my in-laws, one of my brother in laws always hunted with us with a bow and the rest of us where firearm hunting. We were checked by COs more than once doing this and they never said a word about it.

As mentioned before party hunting only pertains to cross tagging. I would say you’re good to go.

[walleyeking19]

Yeah we wouldnt be party hunting at all. If a doe walks by I'll shoot it with a bow and she'll leave the gun down, and I'll tag it with my archery tag. If a buck walks by, maybe I'll just won't tell her and shoot it if before she sees it!

[not_nuf_time]

This is news to me, I thought that during rifle season, in a lottery zone, that even if bow hunting, you had to shoot a buck unless you had a doe permit? (Lots of coma's). Like to hear more on this, Thx.

[mntatonka]

This is news to me, I thought that during rifle season, in a lottery zone, that even if bow hunting, you had to shoot a buck unless you had a doe permit? (Lots of coma's). Like to hear more on this, Thx.

The antlerless permit sticks with the license type. Since archery season runs through gun season, if you have an antlerless permit for archery season, you can still shoot a doe with your bow during gun season and tag it with your archery tag.

[walleyeking19]

Well we didnt have to worry about tagging a doe with my archery tag. She shot a 6 pointer saturday night. That was the only deer we saw all weekend

[TruthWalleyes]

This is news to me, I thought that during rifle season, in a lottery zone, that even if bow hunting, you had to shoot a buck unless you had a doe permit? (Lots of coma's). Like to hear more on this, Thx.

Quoted from DNR REGS(pg68):

Regular Archery License—A regular archery license is valid for an

either-sex deer statewide in any open area. Closed areas and season dates are

listed on page 91.