At 9:30am the opening day of deer season I shot a nice eight pointer. Four doe came running through the woods and as I watched them pass, I noticed a buck on a trot following behind the does. I picked out my shooting lanes, got ready and fired as soon as I had a clear shot, I heard the bullet wack the deer, but it didn't drop. I picked out another clearing and as soon as the deer appeared fired a second shot, again hearing the familar wack of the bullet making contact. I decided to wait until the deer droped, but it continued around a bend in the hollow I was hunting and I could not see exactly where it went.

After some ten minutes, I started to look for blood. I found a few drops that directed me along a saddle of a ridgeline below where I made the shots. As I followed the blood traiil, my eyes were focused slightly ahead, and within 70 yards of where the deer lay, I saw another hunter standing over it.

I had figured that this hunter may have been waiting for someone to come along to claim the deer since I didn't hear another shot, but no, he was just finishing tagging the deer.

I explained to him that I had shot at the deer twice hitting it, but that I was waiting for it to bed down and die. He said he had shot the deer, I tried to show him the blood trail leading me to where the deer lay, but he didn't want to hear about it.

We argued over ownership for about ten minutes, when I decided it wasn't worth getting shot over, so I said take the dam thing, and walked off. In forty years of hunting this has happened at least three other times to me and really pisses me off.

Why would a hunter claim a deer he or she had never even fired a shot at?

At 9:30am the opening day of deer season I shot a nice eight pointer. Four doe came running through the woods and as I watched them pass, I noticed a buck on a trot following behind the does. I picked out my shooting lanes, got ready and fired as soon as I had a clear shot, I heard the bullet wack the deer, but it didn't drop. I picked out another clearing and as soon as the deer appeared fired a second shot, again hearing the familar wack of the bullet making contact. I decided to wait until the deer droped, but it continued around a bend in the hollow I was hunting and I could not see exactly where it went.

After some ten minutes, I started to look for blood. I found a few drops that directed me along a saddle of a ridgeline below where I made the shots. As I followed the blood traiil, my eyes were focused slightly ahead, and within 70 yards of where the deer lay, I saw another hunter standing over it.

I had figured that this hunter may have been waiting for someone to come along to claim the deer since I didn't hear another shot, but no, he was just finishing tagging the deer.

I explained to him that I had shot at the deer twice hitting it, but that I was waiting for it to bed down and die. He said he had shot the deer, I tried to show him the blood trail leading me to where the deer lay, but he didn't want to hear about it.

We argued over ownership for about ten minutes, when I decided it wasn't worth getting shot over, so I said take the dam thing, and walked off. In forty years of hunting this has happened at least three other times to me and really pisses me off.

Why would a hunter claim a deer he or she had never even fired a shot at?
Magshooter,
I feel sorry for you;it's a terrible thing.
But it was not done by any Hunter;it was done by someone with a hunting licence.In over 50 years of hunting,it has never happened to Me.My Brother-in-law once shot at a Catskill Mountain doe about six times with his trusty 243,and hit it 3 or 4 times.It ran another 100 yards where a Hunter shot in the heart,and killed it.He could have claimed it because it was still on it's feet when he shot it,but he called us over and gave it up to us.
That does'nt mean that I did'nt hear a LOT ofstories like yours.I'll share with you the two,in my opinion,the worst.
I shot a nice small racked buck in the Adirondacks,and the local storekeeper in Speculator,NY would allow Hunters to hang their game in his cooler at no charge.Mine was hung alongside several others,injcluding a fine 10 pointer.
During the night someone broke into the store and stole all te cash from the register charlie's butchering tools and the 10 point buck.To make matters worse,the "Hunter"who put the buck in the cooler,Sued Charlie for the loss.I never found out what the outcome of the suit was.
The other instance was right where i do all my hunting now.The Black Rock Forest in Orange County.Paul,who lived right ajacent to the Forest,had a deer come to his house on a regular basis,and his children would feed him.The deer developed into a fine 8 point buck and Paul built a cage for him to spend the hunting season in.The buck did'nt seem to mind being caged;he really liked people.
Someone,in the night,slaughtered the deer,broke the lock and stole the carcass.
Both of these stories are old,at least 30 years,but I still feel sick over them.
Keep the Faith,
Frank

I really feel for you. I've never had that particular thing happen, but have had other things just as bad happen to me. cases. Remember what happened last year when several hunters were killed trying to make a fella leave a bit of posted hunting land.

It happened because there are some really rude jerks walking around whom could care less about sportsmanship or other folks. You did the right thing in walking away. No telling how far this could have gone if you had continued to argue. Two fellas with loaded guns don't make for a good argument.

I'm sure in your 55 years you've seen other folks like this. I know I have and I've been burnt by a couple. I'ts made me so angry I couldn't spit straight. I'm not sure what the answer is, but even though I would like to do the retrobution myself I'm pretty sure that what goes around comes around. At least I hope so thank God.

Had a deer taken from my camp when I was 13. Back then anything larger six points B&C was darn good. I had an old mossy back nine sneak past my spot on top of a windrow of brush. Nailed him with my fathers 06 I was using. He had a ton of grey on his muzzle and down his back.

Probably died more from old age and fright than my marksmanship. Anyways, a gent with two older sons who was sharing our camp left out late that night. When others in the camp made a turn around the area they discovered my deer was gone. We figured the varmits were two legged since the rope was gone too.

Next day during the late morning our fence rider came by and said those boys were skinning the buck at the convience store twenty miles away. It was near their home and the constable said he could do little with a he said, they said situation.

I just have to figure life has caught up with them one way or another. After all the wheel is round. Besides before the deer disappeared my Father and I had speculated on how tough an old buzzard like that might be.

Very few deer were seen back then with that much grey in their pelts.

MS...

Really sorry to read this but admire your ability to remain as calm as you did and walk away. I can't think of a single reason a deer would be worth the trouble this meeting could generate. I would just put it out of my mind and get back and hunt again.

What is so hard about moving on and just forget about it, is the fact that this is a memory of what would have been a special day in my life. It is a part of my and others individual history. No matter how one tries to forget, the day's experience burns bright in one's mind for a very long time.

"A Blind Old Man" writes of his experience when he was 13 years old, he is now a grandfather and for all his life he has carried the memory of a deer taken away from him.

God works in mysterious ways, and maybe this is His way of getting people to reach out to others sharing in fellowship and caring. I pray that such things never happen to our children or grandchildren, but if it does, then they will be the ones to reach out and share their memories with others. If you think about it, it is a way of continuing the hunt!

Have a HAppy Holiday Season to all who read this thread and posts.

May all you have successful and pleasant hunts!

There are hunters and there are those who are hunters only in their mind. They are awful individuals whom there are far too many. The lack of ethics, respect and consideration for other hunters (and hunting in general) is way out of control. We are seeing where it is leading after last years debacle in Wisconsin.

Magshooter, I think you were the bigger man in walking away because there's no telling how this could have escalated. And you don't know if this guy has a criminal history or what. What an ***hole though. I know it'd be hard for me to walk away that easily and to forget about it.

A rancher friend of mine that let me hunt deer on their property for years finally put in and got drawn for an elk tag in the northern part of the state. First time he had ever hunted elk. Shot a nice bull across a canyon, marked it down and then spent a bit of time working his way over to it. When he got there, a couple of strangers were tagging it and claiming it was their's, although as you say, no other shots had been fired in the area.

Now, Don stands 6'5", is ranch work hardened and usually doesn't put up with much nonsense. In this case, the two thugs kept firearms pointed in Don's general direction and seemed very nervous. He decided an elk carcass just wasn't worth injury or life - either his or their's and left them with the animal.

Don't think he's ever hunted off his property since.

Had the very same thing happen to me when I was a young lad (a long time ago). First doe season for me and had several does run to me at about 75 yards. Shot one and watched it go down instantly. watched as the other deer ran up a ridge line where I saw another fellow from our group standing. He fired and missed so I walked to where he was and told him I had one down hoping he would render some assistance since this was my first deer. No such luck. :rolleyes: I walked to where my deer lay (less than 100 yards) only to find a father and son standing over my deer. The father was helping his son tag the deer. When I approached and asked what they were doing, the father pointed his shotgun in my direction and told me it was his sons deer and told me to leave. Noticing that they both were carrying shotguns (and I a rifle), I pointed out that there was only one very small hole in the deer and no large 'punkin ball' holes. The father got really upset at that point. Even at 13 years old, I knew I was in a bad situation. I backed away and told him to keep the deer and told him "thats a great lesson to teach your son". I've carried that lesson around with me all my life. Since then, I've taked many, many deer. There isn't a deer out there worth your life. There's some bad people out there. Anyone who would take a deer from a kid isn't worth the crap I scrape off my boots, but they're out there. Like others have said, I believe what goes around, comes around.

That's just too low, Magshooter. I wish I could help you get your buck back.

I've heard that this happens, and have wondered what I would do. I've kept every set of antlers from the deer I've shot over the past 37 years. I'd hate to have some jerk break my collection line.

I've also imagined that I would let them think they were getting the deer. Keep track of them, and when the time was right, get my deer back--sometimes I throw a bit of revenge in the daydream also. But revenge and dastardly business is best left to those Lowlifes who do this sort of thing.

Good luck with your future hunts.

Kragman71, Faucettb, A Blind Old Man, Ranch Dog,
M1Grand, Kdub, Highpower, From the Woods and
Dan 444

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to share your stories, they do ease the bad feelings and I really appreciate your comments.

Looking at all your profiles, I did notice most of us are over 40 so, it just reinforces my belief that something like this when it happens is not easily forgotten.

I want to express a SORRY notation to all of you who have also experienced a lost or stolen game animal. All our trophies no matter how small or large are as much a part of us as they were of the game animal itself. It is a way of showing respect for that animal and a way to be thankful to it's Creator.

Thank You All

"It is a way of showing respect for that animal and a way to be thankful to it's Creator."

Well said, Mike-TPMM.

Made a friend in Utah over a deer that I shot. I had been leaning against a tree overlooking a open area when I heard avbout 3-4 shots. I saw a small buck running into the clearing and dropped it with my old 38-55. while I was leaning over it a young boy about 14-15 years old came out of the wooded area and claimed the deer. He had a M1 Carbine, and there was only one hole in the deer, and I figured that it was his first deer, When I asked him where his dad was he said he wasn't sure but he thought somewhere close to their camp. I said well lets get it gutted and back to your camp. I helped him get it back to his camp as it was getting late and the sun was getting ready to go down soon. As I was leaving their camp, his dad came over and said I don't think a carbine leaves that large a hole. I told his dad that some day he will figure it out, but let him think that the shot was his. It made me feel good that a kid would have a good memory of his first hunt, and besides it only cost me a bullet. Who knows there might have been another hit somewhere in that carcass.

Lee L.

Lee, that's a pretty good story and it's good to know that even if it seems like there are a lot of awful individuals out there, there are still some good people like yourself as well.

Lee, that's a pretty good story and it's good to know that even if it seems like there are a lot of awful individuals out there, there are still some good people like yourself as well.

That deer is not as important as creating a sportsman.

Lee L.

H!!! in PA they were stealing the deer hanging on the trees in front of the motel i was staying in ! They had PA plates ! They are just theives not hunters ! They just sit around a fire and brag about how they stole a deer from one or more hunter's ! Theives !

[QUOTE=magshooter]At 9:30am the opening day of deer season I shot a nice eight pointer. Four doe came running through the woods and as I watched them pass, I noticed a buck on a trot following behind the does. I picked out my shooting lanes, got ready and fired as soon as I had a clear shot, I heard the bullet wack the deer, but it didn't drop. I picked out another clearing and as soon as the deer appeared fired a second shot, again hearing the familar wack of the bullet making contact. I decided to wait until the deer droped, but it continued around a bend in the hollow I was hunting and I could not see exactly where it went.

After some ten minutes, I started to look for blood. I found a few drops that directed me along a saddle of a ridgeline below where I made the shots. As I followed the blood traiil, my eyes were focused slightly ahead, and within 70 yards of where the deer lay, I saw another hunter standing over it.

A cop freind of mine had that happen in PA with a bear he shot. He walked away from two guys with rifles pointed in his direction. He took it better than I would have. As for me it has only happened once and the deer was still moving when shot by the second hunter. What got my goat is my father in law had been hunting this hill all morning. He saw this buck but never got a shot at it. He came in for lunch and sudgested I go look for it. As soon as I left he took off like a bat and set up ahead of me. As I was walking through the open woods I spotted a thick honeysuckle thicket. I walked in and a deer body went up but the head was caught down. As the rack came up I fired at ten yards. The deer was pulling back and I shot his throat out. Blood was gushing everwhere. The he laid back down just looking at me with his body below the rise. I could have shot him in the forehead, 10 yds, but didn't want to blow it up with my 350 RM. I stood there for ten minutes till I couldn't hold the gun up anymore. I moved my foot alittle and he thumped his legs and rolled back without standing up. He took off and five seconds later, Kaboom. My father in law lung shot him. I helped him gut it. there wasn't a teacup of blood in that chest cavity. That deer was dead on it feet. All he said is I droped it, not you. It's on his TV room wall. I was sore about that for a while.

Made a friend in Utah over a deer that I shot. I had been leaning against a tree overlooking a open area when I heard avbout 3-4 shots. I saw a small buck running into the clearing and dropped it with my old 38-55. while I was leaning over it a young boy about 14-15 years old came out of the wooded area and claimed the deer. He had a M1 Carbine, and there was only one hole in the deer, and I figured that it was his first deer, When I asked him where his dad was he said he wasn't sure but he thought somewhere close to their camp. I said well lets get it gutted and back to your camp. I helped him get it back to his camp as it was getting late and the sun was getting ready to go down soon. As I was leaving their camp, his dad came over and said I don't think a carbine leaves that large a hole. I told his dad that some day he will figure it out, but let him think that the shot was his. It made me feel good that a kid would have a good memory of his first hunt, and besides it only cost me a bullet. Who knows there might have been another hit somewhere in that carcass.

Lee L.

Lee, that's going to create some solidly positive hunting karma! Good for you. His dad should have been with him, however. His dad should have been doing what you did. Oh well, that's a great story. Helps negate some of the other stuff going on out in the woods.

cheers

jonas

As soon as I left he took off like a bat and set up ahead of me. As I was walking through the open woods I spotted a thick honeysuckle thicket. I walked in and a deer body went up but the head was caught down. As the rack came up I fired at ten yards. The deer was pulling back and I shot his throat out. Blood was gushing everwhere. The he laid back down just looking at me with his body below the rise. I could have shot him in the forehead, 10 yds, but didn't want to blow it up with my 350 RM. I stood there for ten minutes till I couldn't hold the gun up anymore. I moved my foot alittle and he thumped his legs and rolled back without standing up. He took off and five seconds later, Kaboom. My father in law lung shot him. I helped him gut it. there wasn't a teacup of blood in that chest cavity. That deer was dead on it feet. All he said is I droped it, not you. It's on his TV room wall. I was sore about that for a while.

I spoke to a DNR officer once and his interpretation is that whoever puts the deer down has the rights to it but in your case it's different and your father in law should have recognized this and gave the deer to you. For his greed he now has a son in law who will remember the incident and identify him with it for the rest of his life.

Reminds me of when my dad and uncle used to own about 340 acres of wooded property with a cabin we would go to every year to deer hunt. My dad found a spot just off the property line on public land that every year he shot a buck. When I was 14 he built me a blind and had to sit with me because back then they didn't have this stupid youth season, you had to sit out there with the rest of them. A friend of my uncles who also hunted took over my dads blind and wouldn't give it back. I remember every year he shot the biggest bucks in the camp. In hindsight I told dad he should have kicked him out but it was public land. I told him he should have told him he wasn't staying at our cabin then, but easier said than done when it was his brothers friend.

I backed away and told him to keep the deer and told him "thats a great lesson to teach your son".
This is probably the kid, now an adult, who illegally and unethically claimed your deer kill. Hunting sure has changed.

Magshooter, to make a long story short I had the same thing happen to me in PA when I was young hunter. I shot a deer on public land and it crossed over to some posted property. I gave my rifle to a friend and trailed my deer about 250 yards onto the posted land where I found a couple of guys tagging it. I pointed out that I had just followed the blood trail from the riverbottom and there hadn't been another shot. They told me to hit the road I was on private property. I was 18 at the time and I will never forget it, the deer would have been my biggest. He was a 10 point with a nice rack and I still haven't been able to equal that in the last 22 years. I couldn't do that to another hunter and I am glad that God has made me like that.

Never approach your wounded game with an empty weapon ! And remember the code of the cannible's {we catch you with our food ,we eat you too } As Jeffrey Dalmar would say ! JAGG

Have one even better (or worse depending on perspective). A former Bro-in-law on one of his first hunts as a teen had shot a very nice buck. Two so-called hunters saw him shoot it and when he located it for them they started shootng close to him to scare him away from it. He didn't take kindly to such treatment, and being a Utah farm kid, put a round into their truck! They quickly decided it probably was his deer after all, got in the truck an beat it out of there! This was about fifty years ago, so things really haven't changed that much.

Information for all big game hunters prior to heading out get some empty capsules and make an info note with your name an hunting license # on it and insert it in the capsule.When you kill your animal insert it in a deer nostril just in case someone takes the carcass from you,it happens quite frequently. When I was attending the Univ of Az in wildlife mgt a situation was brought to our attention about an Az hunter who shot a big muley, stuffed a rolled up piece of paper into the nostril and had 2 guys take the deer from him at gunpoint so he fled to the Az G&F Dept check station on the only road out of the area informing the officers what happened,the 2 theives showed up and were stopped,they denied everything until the ranger used forceps & pulled the paper with the license # & name of the hunter from the deers nostril,they were arrested,guns seized along with their vehicle.

There will be low life scum in this world forever.I still cant beleive what some will do for a deer.I have never heard of it happening over here.I have heard of arguements over ducks and rabbits so i guess it would be happening here too.How sad,armed robbery for a deer.

I suppose in the almost 40 years I've been hunting , I have been pretty lucky because I've never really had anything like this happen to me.
Closest thing I ever had happen was in the Poconos of PA . I got up on a cliff around noon one day and a friend was going to walk towards me , this was before they had a point rule . I also had buck and doe tags, it was also the first year you could shoot both at the same time.
Anyway when I got on top of this cliff in public land there was no one there. About 20 minutes after I was sitting there two other guys came up and one sat down twenty yards on either side of me . Can't say I liked it but I couldn't do anything about it. Well we set there another 10-15 minutes and a deer came out of a thicket about 75 yards away , how those guys didn't see it I do not know. Anyway I shot it and started down the cliff after it , with one of the two guys following. I found the deer and put a finisher in . But the whole time the other guy is bumbling around talking on his radio with his buds and swinging his LOADED rifle around .He didn't try to take it , but I was a little concerned at the time as it turned out to be six of them in the immediate area. Turns out these guys were from Philadelphia and came up every year for the first week. I think they came up more for cards and drinking then the hunting. They had a "cabin" in a gated community about 250 yards from where we were . The cliff I was on was right on the edge of the state park. So they would walk out of there cabin and be where I was in about two minutes . Whereas it took me 15 minutes to get there from where I parked the truck.
Talked to these guys later in the week and that was the only deer killed there so far that week.

So that was as close as I have come to a bad situation , turned out to be just a little uncomfortable .

In VA I hunt on my own property, anyone else that is there had better of gone in the woods with me or there will most likely be a problem. And so far no such thing has occurred.

Was at the local gunshop one day during the season a couple years ago. This guy pulls up with a nice 9 point he killed and is checking it in . Everybody goes inside to do the paperwork . And a couple minutes later this other fella walks in and asks if anybody is driving the truck that this 9 point is on , the driver says yes why ? and he tells him that two guys are out there taking the deer from his truck . Sure enough we all walk outside and they have the deer going across the street to their vehicle. The guy that killed it yells at them they drop it hop in there vehicle and take off . This happened in broad daylight in the middle of a small town .

At 9:30am the opening day of deer season I shot a nice eight pointer. Four doe came running through the woods and as I watched them pass, I noticed a buck on a trot following behind the does. I picked out my shooting lanes, got ready and fired as soon as I had a clear shot, I heard the bullet wack the deer, but it didn't drop. I picked out another clearing and as soon as the deer appeared fired a second shot, again hearing the familar wack of the bullet making contact. I decided to wait until the deer droped, but it continued around a bend in the hollow I was hunting and I could not see exactly where it went.

After some ten minutes, I started to look for blood. I found a few drops that directed me along a saddle of a ridgeline below where I made the shots. As I followed the blood traiil, my eyes were focused slightly ahead, and within 70 yards of where the deer lay, I saw another hunter standing over it.

I had figured that this hunter may have been waiting for someone to come along to claim the deer since I didn't hear another shot, but no, he was just finishing tagging the deer.

I explained to him that I had shot at the deer twice hitting it, but that I was waiting for it to bed down and die. He said he had shot the deer, I tried to show him the blood trail leading me to where the deer lay, but he didn't want to hear about it.

We argued over ownership for about ten minutes, when I decided it wasn't worth getting shot over, so I said take the dam thing, and walked off. In forty years of hunting this has happened at least three other times to me and really pisses me off.

Why would a hunter claim a deer he or she had never even fired a shot at? Here in Pa where I live and hunt, loosing a deer that way was normal, crazy as it sounds, that's why some guys here in Pa, hunt for our 150 pound deer with a 300 mag or something like it. The mind set is whack them with a mag and they drop dead and no one can claim your deer because it went 50 yds before falling. It spooks me out, seeing a guy with a 300, 0r 338 mag, wearing a scope so powerful, you can see the moon craters, hunting the little deer we have here. darn greed ruins everything.