Post by tedicast on Dec 4, 2008 19:32:44 GMT -5
I wouldn't be able to sleep at night, having taken a shot, and not doing everything in my power to absolutely confirm a miss. There is absolutely no reason for that whatsoever. It is pure laziness, and set a horrific example for a young hunter.
Here is a recent example that happened to me. Thanksgiving morning I get a text message while sitting in my treestand on private land. It is out rifle/shotgun season. It is my friend Jared (Murphy617) saying he shot at and thought he hit a nice buck...what should he do? It is about 7 am, and I have been sitting less then an hour. I call him back. He gives me the details, and then goes and looks for signs of a hit while on the phone. He couldn't find any. This was the first deer he has shot at with a gun. I leave my stand, and take the 40 minute drive to the State forest he is hunting. Scotty comes along. Got to his area, and we spent at least 3 hours, with 3 of us gridding looking for blood or hair, and walking in big circles looking for any sign. I am confident it was a clean miss, and was pretty sure of it, even while talking on the phone. But, in my opinion, this is how you handle shooting at an animal. You act as if you have an animal on the ground, untill you prove beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you missed, or have exhausted every avenue of recovery. We owe it to the animals we hunt to show this respect in my opinion.
I didn't hesitate to give up my morning hunt to search for this deer, and in the same situation, would do the same thing every time. If more hunters showed this kind of thoroughness , and respect, on every shot taken on an animal, we as hunters might be looked at in a better light.
I hope no one thinks I am preaching, or blowing my own horn, this is just a subject I feel very strongly about.
Here is a recent example that happened to me. Thanksgiving morning I get a text message while sitting in my treestand on private land. It is out rifle/shotgun season. It is my friend Jared (Murphy617) saying he shot at and thought he hit a nice buck...what should he do? It is about 7 am, and I have been sitting less then an hour. I call him back. He gives me the details, and then goes and looks for signs of a hit while on the phone. He couldn't find any. This was the first deer he has shot at with a gun. I leave my stand, and take the 40 minute drive to the State forest he is hunting. Scotty comes along. Got to his area, and we spent at least 3 hours, with 3 of us gridding looking for blood or hair, and walking in big circles looking for any sign. I am confident it was a clean miss, and was pretty sure of it, even while talking on the phone. But, in my opinion, this is how you handle shooting at an animal. You act as if you have an animal on the ground, untill you prove beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you missed, or have exhausted every avenue of recovery. We owe it to the animals we hunt to show this respect in my opinion.
I didn't hesitate to give up my morning hunt to search for this deer, and in the same situation, would do the same thing every time. If more hunters showed this kind of thoroughness , and respect, on every shot taken on an animal, we as hunters might be looked at in a better light.
I hope no one thinks I am preaching, or blowing my own horn, this is just a subject I feel very strongly about.
