Free Safety Signs - Gun Safety Dilemmas

Gun Safety Dilemmas - What should you do?

You are in your comfortable deer stand. It is the second day of your deer hunt. Walking into the stand with your flashlight, you saw a number of sets of deer tracks in the fresh snow. You are almost daydreaming, enjoying the outdoor experience, when a nice buck approaches the area you have determined to be in your safe zone of fire. You raise your rifle and are ready. He steps into the open, you determine that it is safe to fire, slip the safety off and you shoot. The buck takes a couple of jumps and goes down. Your heart is really racing. You take a few deep breaths and calm down some. You unload your rifle, case it and carefully lower it to the ground. You get down and carefully approach the buck from behind. You notice the eye is glazed. You carefully poke the deer with a stick and determine that it is dead. You get out your license tag and are about to punch out or validate your tag when up comes another hunter who says, "That's my deer. I shot at it first." You think back. You had heard a shot early in the morning. Whose deer is it? What would you do? You and your friends obtained permission to hunt squirrels on a large farm. Your friend is driving his pickup truck. Even though the farmer told you to drive only on established roads, your friend insists it is okay to drive across a field to get close to a hunting area. He doesn’t listen to your objections and starts to turn off the road into the field. You should: You are hunting deer in steep, hilly country. You spot a four-point buck. You are tired from all the hiking you have done, however, you push yourself to get close enough for an uphill, across-valley shot at the buck. It is still feeding in an open meadow but about ready to disappear into the thick trees. You find a spot that allows you to shoot prone, using your knapsack as a rest. The distance is about 200 yards. You shoot. The buck shows no sign of being hit. It takes off running down into the trees and out of sight. You should: When you were loading the deer you shot this afternoon into the pickup truck, you got a large smear of blood all the way up one side of your jeans. It has been a long day and now it is late afternoon and you have a long drive home. Your partner says you should stop at a restaurant to eat supper, which sounds great to you because you are so hungry. However, you look at your bloody jeans. What do you do? Hunting in an area where only antlered buck deer are legal to shoot, you see a six-point buck within easy shooting range, but it disappears into the brush before you can take aim. Suddenly you see a deer moving in the brush where the buck disappeared. You can’t see its head, only its body. You should:

Public Comments

1) Finders, Keepers, Losers, Weepers. 2) Object vigorously. 3) Walk after it. 4) Get take out. 5) Not shoot.
1: It's your deer, you killed it. There is no proof that the other hunter shot it earlier in the day and even if he did he only wounded it and failed to hunt it down. 2: Tell him to stop and take an established road. The farmer gave you permission to hunt on his land, you don't disrespect him by driving your truck across his fields. 3: Go after it. It's just not right to potentially wound an animal and then go "Oh well, I'm tired" and leave. 4: Go home and change first. 5: Wait to see the antlers.
I will NOT do your hunters safety course for you, and hope no one else does either.
First scenario, I would say look for a blood trail coming from the direction of the other hunter. If he was tracking it, it's his. If not, try to recover the bullet and do a little CSI investigation (assuming you are shooting different caliber guns). If all else fails, give him the deer. You've already cased your gun and he's carrying his. BTW, I would have kept the gun loaded when you go to check on the deer to see if it were alive. With your gun in the case, what would you have done if it jumped up and ran? Scenario #2 - Tell him to stay on the road. You have the owner's permission to hunt as long as you follow his rules. Break the rules, lose your hunting privilege. Scenario #3 - Go to where the deer was standing when you shot and look for blood sign. It doesn't matter how tired you are, or how late it is. If you can't track a wounded deer, you shouldn't take the shot. Scenario #4 - It would depend on the restaurant, but as long as you're not dripping blood, it would probably be OK. You might consider having your friend go in and bring you out a meal "to go". Scenario #5 - Don't take the shot if you are not positive of your target. Deer tend to stay in groups, and if you see a buck, there are probably does around, especially during the rut.
1: Ask if you can go to the spot where he shot the deer at. From there, look for a blood trail and if it ends up that the deer you shot was shot by him first, I would let him have it. 2: Tell him to get back on the road or get out of the truck. 3: Depending on how late it is, I would wait at least an hour before going to where the deer was when you shot him and look for any blood or tracks. If you don't find anything in a 100 yard radius, you probably missed or hit something other than the vitals. Sometimes, deer look like they aren't hit when they actually are. 4: Tell your friend to go in and get food to go or drive through somewhere. 5: DON'T SHOOT! Never shoot at ANY animal if you are not 100% certain of what it is.
The first situation came up periodically when I was young, except that the involved parties would be saying, "Hey, that's a nice deer YOU have there." I'd rather hunt than gut and drag. Sometimes the situation came down to an informal autopsy. I hope I don't have too long a walk home, because I've lost a friend and hunting companion. I make it clear that once he's off road, I'm obligated to tell the landowner. I don't shoot 4- or 6-point deer, but scenario #3 leaves a hunter spending a lot of time looking for blood. I keep a spray bottle of hydrogen peroxide to help. The blood's likely going to be dried by the time we get where we can eat, and we'd of course want to pick a spot where it's going to upset neither the owner or any patrons. Fortunately, that's easy in my part of the country, but if you're where people are squeamish, there's always the drive-through window at Burger Flipee. Again, I don't shoot 6-points, and I'm sure as hell not shooting at something I haven't identified. That's just too basic.
These aren't gun safety issues per se, they're part of a test for young hunters. I'm happy you took the hunter safety course, and thank you for sharing what you feel are important issues. You obviously know the answers, you learned well, and all of us can stand a short review. After all, training is forever. So is a dedication to be an ethical and safe hunter. Ya done good.
1- you made the kill shot and it was not his deer if he did not go after it to kill it therefore you win and take the deer 2- punch your friend and tell him if he keeps his bs up he will not be hunting with you again and tell him to take the established roads 3- wait a bit then go check the area for blood hair and if you see blood then start tracking after you take a few swigs of water 4- put your hunting coat on and no one will ask any questions nor is it there business anyway 5- wait till you can identify the deer as a buck that you previously shot at