skeeter 7MM

James, I am with Txcowboy and the other who commented on safety and being so close. Now you come back to inform us you knew that the guy was near the whole time. Ok so you tried to warn him but he didn't care about your close corners...so being the safe one with a backup spot...why didn't you move. Knowing this guy was obviously a tool, you could have prevented this and thank god it never came to a real safety issue. I have encounter these types, even though I was their first. I choose to leave for safety and hunting reasons.

As far as arguing over a dead deer, i wouldn't have bothered. People like this are better off at home tagged out then wandering the woods with a weapon. You missed your first shot and hit the second only seconds later he pops her again...coin toss I guess...but why would anybody want to claim someone elses animal? I understand your frustration here, but if you knew he was their and had a back up spot, wouldn't you agree it would have been prevented and more useful to have moved? I believe part of safety is defence, if you put yourself in harms way your not being safe. Just a thought!

mauser06

id say the shot that dropped it tags it...i always try to make a good shot and drop them..or take both shoulders out so i know they arent going far...and as soon as i reload im after it..there aint no waiting 30mins for it to expire..stuff happens...thats a terrible thing that happend to you...but theres nothing anyone can do about it...good luck next time...

burniegoeasily

This and saftey is the reason Im scared of hunting public land. I would say first blood is the owner. If that dont work then arm wrestle.

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity" Martin Luther King Jr.

DoubleLung55

By law here in PA that is HIS deer not yours. He made the shot that put it down .

Capt Ray

I say you both should have taken three step, turned, drawn and blasted each other. To many hunters in that area anyway. Just kidding. First person placing a lethal shot owns the animal.

kgkoon

Actually DoubleLung, that may not be true.
Here is the relevant PA statute:
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Pennsylvania Statutes
TITLE 34 GAME (Pa.C.S.A.)
CHAPTER 23 HUNTING AND FURTAKING
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

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34 Pa.C.S.A. § 2304. Ownership of carcass of game or wildlife

(a) General rule. — The carcass of game or wildlife lawfully
killed or taken shall be the property of the person who inflicts
a mortal wound which enables that person to take possession of
the carcass.

(b) Officer not to arbitrate disputes. — No officer whose duty
it is to enforce this title shall be called upon to arbitrate any
dispute concerning the ownership of game or wildlife or to
testify concerning any such dispute.

1986, July 8, P.L. 442, No. 93, § 1, effective July 1,
1987.
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I don't know how PA courts have interpreted this statute, but I interpret it as following the "mortal wounding" rule. If he made a shot that would have enabled him to take possession of the carcass (a double lung shot would undeniably have done that), then the animal is his property. It doesn't require immediate possession, only that the shot would "enable that person to take possession." The statute is not written very well though, so who knows how it would be interpreted.

Deleted User

[Deleted by Admins]

Striper Phil

I am with skeeter 7MM . Missed the first shot, stayed next to a bozo,
so who identified what shots hit where. The Bozo, you or the GW. Should have donated the deer to the local shelter!! One shot one Kill Striper Phil

Fullback

Alright, here's my 2 cents......I don't feel like whoever shot it first or last matters....You need to sit down like sportsman and determine who made the killing shot.....I was sitting on a stand one day when I was a kid and here a shot way down below me, and about five minutes a doe came up and I shot and dropped her with a 30-30....I dressed the deer and put my rope around her and was headed back to the cabin with her....and a guy comes up and tells me that his deer and blah blah....I got to looking and back tracking the deer, and it was bleeding SOME....and then searched the deer and and there was a small nick on her....but I was a kid and he was a grown man that I didn't know....so he took the deer.....and that still bothers me and someone would do that to a kid......but I felt and I knew that I had made the killing shot, and besides that deer was running UP the mountain.....but anyway, your case is a little more questionable.....I'd personally say you made the killing shot....offer a split, take the deer back to a camp and split it....you never know, you might even make a friend.....or better yet.....take the deer to hunters for the hungry....just work it out.....it can be worked out....if both parties are willing.

In our line of work, we must be able to play Dixie and the Battle Hym of the Republic, With Equal Enthusiasm.

knobby

exactly fullback...if the hunters are honest they probly know or can tell from bloodtrails and such who made the killing shot...the first killing shot. In this case it seems easy to decide if a double lung shot was made first and the second shot was a nick(?) to the eye

donating to food for the hungry is not a bad idea

BUT lol... someone still has to use their tag on it

** I almost got him but I refuse to take a marginal shot **