I was watching Meateater and he made a bad shot on a elk. He was confident the animal would succumb due to being shot. He chose to use his tag for that animal.

My question is, being a jr hunter is that normal?

i may be in the minority here and i am ok with that. But i don't think any intended shot that does not immediately kill is ethical. I think we owe it to the animal and the sport to try and only take a shot that will immediately kill the animal. We all know that doesn't always happen and sometimes we mess an otherwise good shot up (miss, pull, scope off etc...) .....but we dont take an ill advised shot (because its the only one we have) and then wonder 24 hours later if the animal is dead or not.

My opinion is pass and wait on a good shot.

I am with you, I would rather eat tag soup.

I’m not gonna lie, it depends on the situation. If I did everything right on my end and the animal still ran off to the abyss, I’d consider still trying to tag out depending on where I was and what the species was. I would definitely up my standard for sure on the next one and only take the shot if it’s a once in a lifetime animal.

Spot on

I think what you’re saying is that he wasn’t going to continue hunting because he made a bad shot.
I guess I’m a selfish bastard because I’d probably keep on hunting.
Especially if I’d traveled a long way/spent a lot of money to hunt.
I admire the sense of ethics though.

Most outfitters out west would tell you your hunt is over if your draw blood on an animal but do not recover it.

I myself would keep right on hunting ..

I'd hold no judgment on what others done

An ethical shot doesn't always immediately kill. I think the original question relates to whether you should actually notch your tag WITH an ethical shot that does NOT immediately kill an animal.

The answer is yes, if you're confident the animal is dead you are ethically and legally obligated to notch your tag.

Sure. But what if you waited for a good shot, but then it still ran off and you never found it but you were pretty sure it was going to die...

How many of you have recorded a deer in game check you didn’t recover? Asking for a friend.

😁

Better question is who’s ever recorded a deer on game check. F it

As I mentioned, I have been only hunting for 5 years. Self taught and learning all the time. Up until last year hunted alone. I made a bow shot on a deer and it was low. My fault. I tracked for hours that night and went back in the morning and the very poor blood drops here and there just stopped. The arrow was pretty much clean and the vanes were pristine. After watching that episode I felt differently and questioned my responsibility as a hunter.

Tag soup is expensive...an i dont like it...not one spoonful

I didn’t record the buck I made a bad shot and didn’t recover last season but I did count it in my 3 buck limit.

I know after tracking with my dogs the last 3 years you learn that alot of dumbasses are running around in the woods with guns. They see brown unload and they always know the deer is dead somewhere

I wouldn't sweat that one........you probably just nicked it and it ran off little worse for the wear...

I agree, assuming good effort at tracking the deer, a low bow shot with just a little blood that's not frothy or gut fluid doesn't necessarily sound like a killing shot. On the point about "notching the tag" when you think you made a good shot or you find good blood but don't find the animal, I agree you should notch the tag and would like to think that's what I'd do in the same situation. But, I don't travel hunt where it's a one-tag deal and fortunately where I hunt in AL we have a good group of folks that will put a lot of effort into helping find a deer, and a very good tracking dog, so the chance of losing a mortally wounded deer is pretty low if you make a fair shot and don't push the deer.

I will say that I've been surprised over a lifetime of hunting how far a deer can run before dropping measurable amounts of blood. Best advice I've ever been given, and it's hard to follow in the heat of the moment, is to make it a point to get your bearings on where the deer is standing when you take the shot, and watch carefully what happens on the shot and where the deer runs. And for gun hunters, get ready right away to put another round in the deer if it goes down when it's hit. Dead deer do get up and run off, particularly the big ones.

If you are hunting with a bow and arrow good luck. Recovery is always in question IMO. Good shot or not.

Alabama hunters have a mentality that if they wound one they get another chance in the morning.

I've been in this situation. One tag and one opportunity with 2:00 to go in the 4th quarter. Bad shots I don't take. That's not ethical IMO. However, that's also why I shoot a .340 Weatherby mag at Elk instead of a 6.5 Creedless. You don't have to worry about which way they went when you knock their #ick in the dirt. Nut to Chin if that's the only option.

"I prefer one-shot kills where possible and prefer to do all my hunting before I shoot"

Sincerely,

Elmer Keith

He always used enough gun.