recovering wounded animal after legal shooting hours

[fr0sty]

Are you allowed to dispatch a wounded deer after legal shooting hours if you shot it during legal shooting hours?

I assume no, but didn't find it for sure in the reg books.

[bogwalker]

No, but talk to the C.O. where you will be hunting.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

If it were me, I would call TIP if I didn't have the local CO's phone # just to give them a heads up as to what is going on. Most likely they'll give you the ok, otherwise you are risking a hefty ticket and/or loss of hunting gear.

[Froggy4371]

Tip can not give you the OK to do that as they are a private orginization. Be care but about this. I would ONLY call the CO if you need to do that as they can give you the ok for it.

Froggy

[bogwalker]

I have worked with C.O.'s around the state. You can ask 3 different officers and get 3 different interpretations of some laws. This is at least in part because they work alone most of the time. They are very independent. I don't believe any of them would allow you to shoot a wounded deer after legal shooting hours.

[LightningBG]

I'd shoot it if I had no other option. I wouldn't leave it there suffering. I answer to god first, the law second. I'll take my chances getting a ticket or fine.

Wanton waste or shooting after hours? Either way they'll ticket you if they want to.

Fire away.

[fr0sty]

Thanks all. If the issue comes up, I will call my local office for an opinion.

Just in case you didn't know (I didn't) you can look up officer's phone numbers by your location at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/officerpatrolareas/index.html

[Rippinlip]

A bow does not make too much noise.....JK

[GatorBait]

Tread lightly and carry a big stick or blade for that matter.....

[LightningBG]

One of my buddies did have to jump on the back of a nice doe and "finish the job" with a blade. It was pretty gruesome.

[Finlander]

Spearchuck a harpoon at it! It's not listed as illegal I think!

[psepuncher]

Tip can not give you the OK to do that as they are a private orginization. Be care but about this. I would ONLY call the CO if you need to do that as they can give you the ok for it.

Froggy

They can give you the number to the CO in your area. I've had to call the CO before very late at night.

I called TIP first and they gave me the number directly.

I bet those CO's like these kind of calls.

[TUMBLEWEED]

Heard a "tire-iron dispatch" is equally gruesome and

cost the guy a girlfriend !!!

[Nightcrawler]

where I hunt you will only find soup bones in the morning.

[Nightcrawler]

when I called into TIP they would not give me his number, they called the CO and gave him my number. He then called me .

[deerminator]

Conversely, I would have your weapon and license/tag witih you when tracking so it doesn't appear you're spotlighting or shining for deer.

[jentz]

Why not be smart back off wait till light and shooting hours,The deer will bed down and expire, unless it wasn't a well placed shot then tracking at night is tough and you'll just chase the deer till you lose it!

[Dahitman44]

That really makes no sense - -I will have to ask our local CO -- shooting a wounded deer only makes perfect sense - -maybe that is the probelm? I will ask our local guy for his 10 cents then post his answer.

[MN_Pilot]

I helped track a deer during archery season. We called the local CO and he said to leave the weapon at home. Just bring a field knife to dress it out. Might get a different answer from a different CO, but that's what we were told.

[BLACKJACK]

A bow does not make too much noise.....JK

I 'spined' a buck last year and had to dispatch it after dark - they're tough to hit when you can't see your pins!!! It took me four shots!! And don't take your wife along!!! She was freaking out when it was thrashing around.

[BLACKJACK]

I helped track a deer during archery season. We called the local CO and he said to leave the weapon at home. Just bring a field knife to dress it out. Might get a different answer from a different CO, but that's what we were told.

A little common sense is needed here. If a CO walks up in the dark while I'm trying to dispatch an archery wounded deer, does he really think that I made the intial shot in the dark?? No, I shot it at dusk. A gun might be different. Either way, if I have a wounded deer and know where its at, I'm going to dispatch it and not let it suffer all night.

[harvey lee]

where I hunt you will only find soup bones in the morning.

Agreed. If we leave one overnight, it's about a 90% chance that the yotes will have it.

If you or a friend has a bow, I would dispatch it with that. Then if you are checked, hope for the best. No reason to let the deer suffer. I would take my chance with the CO agreeing with me.

Some of the CO's are very fair.

Last rifle season in ND, we lost a very nice buck and thought it went into the Sheyenne river. The river has alot of bends with trees and such so my buddy flew his plane down and flew the river to check for a deer in the river. We did not find the deer but we did find the area CO.

He was going to tag us for using a plane and we said we were just trying to recover a wounded or dead deer in the river.

I guess he believed us as he wrote my friend a warning. We thought that it would have been ok to search for a dead deer with the plane. Ignorant I guess.

We will not be using that tactic any longer.

[InTheNorthwoods]

Last rifle season in ND, we lost a very nice buck and thought it went into the Sheyenne river. The river has alot of bends with trees and such so my buddy flew his plane down and flew the river to check for a deer in the river. We did not find the deer but we did find the area CO.

He was going to tag us for using a plane and we said we were just trying to recover a wounded or dead deer in the river.

I guess he believed us as he wrote my friend a warning. We thought that it would have been ok to search for a dead deer with the plane. Ignorant I guess.

We will not be using that tactic any longer.

Harvey, I wouldn't worry about using that tactic as long as you are following the FFA laws. There is nothing they can cite you for as long as you don't have any weapons and you aren't attempting to take a deer/animal from the plane. Flying a plane over your land is not illegal in ND or any other state. Nor is flying a plane to spot deer. Taking game animals from an aerial vehicle, or using an aerial vehicle to take game animals, may well be illegal in ND, but there was none of this done by you - and there was apparently no reason to suspect that these acts were being perpetrated. There does not appear any type of probable cause for you to be stopped in the first place. What is next, citing you for driving your car around the perimiter of your land because its illegal to hunt out of a vehicle? If that ever happens again I'd tell the CO to stick his citation booklet where the sun doesn't shine and have him call your lawyer as you weren't doing anything illegal.

[wannafish2]

jumping on a deers back and cutting the throat is nothing short of barbaric, and certainly nothing to brag about. just my opinion

[bigbucks]

Mostly sounds pretty dangerous to me. It seems a gun shot is the sensible thing to do.

[LightningBG]

jumping on a deers back and cutting the throat is nothing short of barbaric, and certainly nothing to brag about. just my opinion

very true, but what else are ya gonna do?

[Bear55]

jumping on a deers back and cutting the throat is nothing short of barbaric, and certainly nothing to brag about. just my opinion

And not finishing off a deer and letting them suffer is more or less cruel and barbaric? I don't think too many hunters hope for that kind of ending but some of us would rather do that then nothing.

[bogwalker]

Allowing an injured animal to die a slow death is barbaric. You have to do what you have to do.

[BobT]

For the past couple years our company has hosted two local COs to share the latest changes in the laws and promote safe hunting in preparation for the firearms deer season. They were here today and I got an opportunity to ask them about this. The COs names were District 3 Supervisor, Lt. Mike Sheldon and the Osakis area CO, Jeff Johanson.

What I was told was that if you wound an animal there are a couple things to keep in mind.

1. If you are tracking the animal using a flashlight while in possession of a firearm, technically you are in violation of shining laws so you could have that problem to deal with. Incidentally they also mentioned there is a change in the legal time period for recreationally shining deer. It is no longer legal until 10pm but only legal up to 2 hours after sunset.

2. Discharging a firearm after dark during that time of year would be illegal.

With that said, he told me that if you do wound an animal and suspect that you might have to track it after dark, it would be best to contact your local CO and perhaps they can give you the okay to track it with a firearm and flashlight so you can finish the animal if needed. He also mentioned this. If you wait untill after dark to call the CO you might have a difficult time convincing him/her that you did in fact wound it before dark during legal shooting hours so it is best to call them right away so they know the situation.

[bigbucks]

You probably don't know you're going to need to trail it after dark & need to dispatch it until you're doing it. There are a few cases when you might, but if it's way before dark when you shoot it, you wouldn't assume you won't recover it before dark. They're both reasonable guys, don't really know them, but have talked to both, Jeff quite a few times.