Let's clean up our acts.

[DDelle338]

  Sunday we were riding our horses and came across a deer that had been shot by an arrow. Someone apparently shot an illegal buck because they removed the antlers and left him lay. I thought that maybe he could have been hit but not found the same day, but it was a real good hit and I easily backtracked the very visible blood trail to where he was shot. He only went 30 yards down an open path between two rows of trees. If we take the shot, we should take the consequences and report it. So what,,,,? If it's an honest mistake, you pay $25 fine? That's better than wasting the deer. And spoiling the reputation of the rest of us.
 Lets keep passing around the importance of ethics to our fellow hunters.
 
  Just my little rant

[DCRthe3rd]

why would a person want  the rack of a small illegal deer? They shoot it then are scared to take it out of the woods but want to take the rack?
Maybe , I know people who shot perfectly legal deer and only left with the rack, sometimes taking the back straps to.
who , while hunting carries a hacksaw to do this with? ""removing the rack in cases of illegally shot deer?""
fact is in this case we do not know who shot a what or who removed the antlers.
It may have been someone who botched a tracking job , and the antlers  removed my someone else "I have done this", while I feel it is important to speak of ethics , I also feel it is important to not be quick to jump to conclusions when we know so little of the facts. We certainly have enough slobs in the fields without inventing more.
This would be my rant for today.

[DDelle338]

 I know what you're saying but as I stated there was no way to botch the tracking. I backtracked the path, and I'm pretty sure that the shooter could see the deer the whole time from where the shot was made to where the deer went down. I still scratch my head as to why they would take just the antlers from him if he was in fact too small to be legal.
  Alot of hunters who use a climber stand carry a saw to cut old limbs that might be in their way going up a tree. I carry a folding saw all the time.
  I don't like the idea of "jumping" to conclusions at all. But, I have been conditiond to do so in the last few years. I don't even want to get started on all the illeagal/un-ethical crap I've seen or been victom of in the last 8-9 years.
  We just need to keep doing what is right and try to project that image towards others in hopes that they do it the right way also.

[tundragriz]

I'm conclusion jumping... but my guess is it was a legal buck but not a wallhanging trophy, the slob took his bragging trophy to hang up somewhere for his buddies to see and now he can go look for another one because he still has his tag.  Just another dead deer to him.

[Varmint Hunter]

Antler restrictions, good or bad, have taken a toll on hunter ethics. Undoubtedly some bucks are intentionally killed that ultimately fall just short of the minimum antler requirement. I'd guess that many of the hunters who find themselves in this predicament choose to leave the deer in the field rather than deal with the PGC officers.

The notion that you just pay a $25 fee and go on your merry way has been disputed by MANY hunters who where following the rules and reported their mistakenly taken small buck.

Unrelated thought: I can't help but believe that the excessive number of does that have been harvested over the last 5 or 6 years has resulted in a massive reduction in shootable bucks due to the high number of button bucks being killed off at an early age and tagged as does.

[Varmint Hunter]

I just had an opportunity review the rules regarding a "Mistaken Kill". Here is what the 2008 book says:

If you report a "mistaken kill" deer and the officer believes that you were not careless or negligent then you forfeit the deer, pay the $25 and receive a new tag.

If the officer believes that the killing was caused by carelessness or negligence the person shall be prosecuted for the unlawful killing of wildlife and be subject to a fine of $100 or more.

With arbitrary rules like this it is no wonder so many hunters report finding dead small bucks or headless deer in the woods. I would think that the PGC could find a better solution to this problem.

[DDelle338]

  Switch the rule out by 180 degrees. Make it illegal to shoot a buck with four or more points to an antler and see how many illegal deer are left in the woods.