What to do about a wounded animal?

[ladiver]

As hunters, we are supposed to make good shots and prevent the animals from unnecessary suffering. Suppose your hunting buddy makes a bad shot at a deer and misses completely, then follows up with a second shot that wounds the animal? After tracking the wounded deer down, he misses again. Track even more and he fires a fourth shot that only glances off it. Now, your hunting partner is out of ammunition and you have a different caliber rifle, so no giving him extra ammo.
What do you do? If you have not tagged out, I suppose you could take the final shot and tag it yourself. What if you have tagged out? Can you take the final shot to end the suffering, or do you give your rifle to you hunting buddy to finish the job?
I know the first thing I do AFTER we get done. Find a new hunting partner!

[FishnHunt]

How about give him your gun to shoot it or just shoot it for him when he says he is out of ammo and you have a clear shot. Then, don't talk about it.

[JustHitIt]

Yep, give your gun to your buddy and have him finish the deer off. Also tell your buddy to learn how to carry extra ammos to avoid this in the future. Secondly, tell you buddy to learn on to aim correctly and not just take a shot off. If you cant make a clean shot, don't do it, there's always next time. That comes with age and many years of hunting.

[sonofeugene]

First and foremost, put the animal out of its misery. After you get home, tell your buddy that he/she needs a hell of a lot more practice before they go hunting again.

[Tere_Hanges]

Never under any circumstances should you ever shoot an animal you cannot legally take. Even if it is suffering. This exact scenario was drilled into our heads during Hunters Safety. If you see an animal suffering, notify the Rangers or authorities. If your friend wounded it and cant finish it then thats his problem. Dont get busted for cleaning up someone elses mess. I think it is perfectly legal for you to let your buddy use your rifle if he is out of ammo. But dont shoot it yourself.

[CSACANNONEER]

Never under any circumstances should you ever shoot an animal you cannot legally take. Even if it is suffering. This exact scenario was drilled into our heads during Hunters Safety. If you see an animal suffering, notify the Rangers or authorities. If your friend wounded it and cant finish it then thats his problem. Dont get busted for cleaning up someone elses mess. I think it is perfectly legal for you to let your buddy use your rifle if he is out of ammo. But dont shoot it yourself.

YUP!

[NytWolf]

What do you do? If you have not tagged out, I suppose you could take the final shot and tag it yourself. What if you have tagged out? Can you take the final shot to end the suffering, or do you give your rifle to you hunting buddy to finish the job?
I know the first thing I do AFTER we get done. Find a new hunting partner!

IIRC there a new recently (2012?) that said, it doesn't matter whose shot put down the animal, the animal belonged to the person who shot the animal first, provided he took the effort to track it down.

In the case if you've already tagged out, you're not supposed to be hunting anyway.

But in reality, if you had a tag for a different animal (for example, if your friend was hunting deer but you had a bear tag), just shoot it and zip it.

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As for when you come upon a wounded animal, I'm not sure if there is any law about it. There is F&G code (I don't remember the Section), however, that says if you happen upon a strange-looking animal (deformity or what-have-you), that you have the option to kill it and turn it over to Fish & Game (or Wildlife).

[ladiver]

I agree with all of you guys. If I were in the situation, I think I keep one round in my pocket, and let my partner use my rifle. If he still can't take care of it, I will use my last round to finish the job. If I have not tagged out, then it would be my tag on the deer. If I have tagged out, then my buddy was fortunate that he made the shot on the last bullet. Nothing more would ever be said and I definitely would not be hunting with him in the future.

JustHitIt, I am curious how much "extra" ammo people carry? I have been deer hunting twice and each time, I have had a full box with me. I only intend on one shot, but have the magazine (4 round) full just in case. I have had to take a second shot once. Not because it was wounded, but because I missed. To date, I have three deer with 4 bullets. Not to shabby, though I wish it was 3 for 3.

[ladiver]

In the case if you've already tagged out, you're not supposed to be hunting anyway.

Very true. I guess the scenario I put forward should never happen.

[J&Tsig]

I think he needs to take hunters safety again! Also I carry 10 rounds in my pack along with 5 in my rifle!! That's my 2 cents!

[CSACANNONEER]

The amount of ammo I carry depends on the hunt and my firearm. If I'm hunting at home, I typically just carry whatever rifle I'm using with a full mag. I might have another box on my mule but, that's not a big concern. If I'm hunting large game with a frontloader, I typically carry enough for 5-10 shots. If I'm travelling a good distance to hunt, I might take a couple of boxes with me and just take 5-15 rounds into the field.

[JustHitIt]

I agree with all of you guys. If I were in the situation, I think I keep one round in my pocket, and let my partner use my rifle. If he still can't take care of it, I will use my last round to finish the job. If I have not tagged out, then it would be my tag on the deer. If I have tagged out, then my buddy was fortunate that he made the shot on the last bullet. Nothing more would ever be said and I definitely would not be hunting with him in the future.

JustHitIt, I am curious how much "extra" ammo people carry? I have been deer hunting twice and each time, I have had a full box with me. I only intend on one shot, but have the magazine (4 round) full just in case. I have had to take a second shot once. Not because it was wounded, but because I missed. To date, I have three deer with 4 bullets. Not to shabby, though I wish it was 3 for 3.

I carry the max what my rifle will hold, and usually 5 more in my pocket or my back pack. The reason why I carry extra is that first, it's not heavy at all, secondly, if I come across smokey the bear who decides to attack me, I might have a chance to get some extra round off.

Anytime if I plan to hunt/shoot an animal, it is wise to make sure you make the first round count. Nothing wrong with having extra ammos, esp in senerios like yours.

[lewdogg21]

Just gonna say there is a lot of self congratulatory tone on this question which I expected being it's the internet.

You put the deer down and your buddy tags it. At the very least you give him **** for buck fever. Ever wonder why people miss a bunch? It's not range time necessarily, it's buck fever. Think you don't get buck fever? Well only one guy ever claimed on here not to and he was probably full of **** on this.

Yes if Fish and Wildlife wants to cite you and is reading this technically the law is correct but I'm not going to hike out to call anybody when a deer or elk is down and can't get up. How many of you guys have ever really walked up on an animal that had a broken back and was basically crying b/c it couldn't get up? I imagine those of you posting like you are as holy as the pope the count is zero.

[JonS]

I carry 10 extra and whatever my gun holds. Wounding deer happens if you hunt enough. And even if you think you got a good shot off on the first shot. There is still a slight chance of the deer running off injured. And sometimes while chasing the deer your adrenaline will cause you to take shots that arent ideal. But because you see it suffering you got to take the shot your given, whether its another shot to injure and slow it down or put it down.

[FatCity67]

Common sense, window.