Pennsylvania Game News - February 2009 - 50

THIS YOUNG HUNTER on stand is pondering the consequences of a shot — to the game animal, to himself and to others. Bob Steiner we didn’t know what kind of a hit it was or whether we could recover her? By being too anxious and taking a lower percentage shot, you would’ve involved me and your dad and aunt in something that may not have been very pleasant. “Looking for an iffy blood trail, having a wounded deer ahead of us that might not have been hit well, all because you shot when she was running. None of us would want to be in on that, and you wouldn’t want us to be. A good hunting day would have turned into a bad one. Never a Good Idea “And it’ll soon be dark. No, a snap shot at a moving deer right before dark is never a good idea. And here’s another reason you made the right choice. You have to go home tomorrow. You and your dad have to drive back. You have school on Monday.” “Yeah, I know,” said the young hunter, making a face. “Dad said we could come hunting out here, but I couldn’t miss any school.” “Well,” his uncle went on, “If you’d have taken that uncertain shot it could have messed up your schedule and you and your dad’s commitments. If we didn’t find the deer this evening, if the tracking or looking for her wasn’t finished, we’d have had to start again in the morning. And with tomorrow being Sunday, we couldn’t have taken guns. You owe it to the deer — we all owe it, because we’re involved in this 50 hunt with you — to keep blood trailing as long as there’s a chance for recovery. “The only thing we’d have had going for us is that it’s not supposed to rain or snow overnight. A blood trail wouldn’t have washed away or been covered up. But I don’t like to leave a blood trail too long, because fresh, wet blood is much easier to find and follow. The uncle stopped and put his hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “When you didn’t shoot, you did absolutely the right thing, for the deer and your dad and your aunt and me, and for you, too.” “Unfortunately, not all hunters are as smart about this as you are,” the uncle said. “I remember one guy telling me that he had made a good hit on a buck right before dark one day in archery season. He got a flashlight and looked around some, but didn’t find the deer. What burned me was when he said that he had to work the next day, so he didn’t track the hit any more. He stumbled onto the buck’s carcass some weeks later, while small game hunting. What a waste. “I was pretty upset. ‘Why didn’t you call me to help you trail?’ I asked him. If he’d have phoned me, I’d have gone out with him and, if he really couldn’t take off work, I’d have kept on the trail the next day, so the animal could have been recovered. “Seems to me that if your other commitments are so important or your schedule is so inflexible you can’t take time off to blood trail after a hit, you have no business shooting. That’s just the way I feel. You make sure you can do what you must do.” The youngster saw his uncle had set his mouth hard and determined. “Let me tell you about a time I didn’t shoot because, when the opportunity came, I realized I had a responsibility that wouldn’t let me blood trail the next day. It was archery season and I was in my stand GAME NEWS

Pennsylvania Game News - February 2009

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