If you don't kill the poor beastie

We've covered hunting, absolutely a quick clean kill is what anyone hunting should be trying to do. We've covered all the good reasons why a person should be aware of this. Respect for the animal is the only reason I need.

We've covered tracking. A wounded bleeding animal should be easier to track than a healthy running animal.

Well step back a second, if you don't know this. If you wound a deer, elk, moose, antelope.....wait. If you know that you hit your target and your target just went bounding or charging off into the bush, bellowing or not, the worst thing you can do is light out after it. I know a lot of experienced hunters who don't do this, or may disagree, but if you take off immediately after your prey you're going to make everything worse for your prey and yourself. The animal has just been shot, it has the approximate iq of a box of cereal. It's in pain and scared=panicked. If someone starts immediately chasing it, it's going to jump around and run around, mostly in circles until it bleeds out. They're really big circles. You can follow a blood trail for a long time. By the time you find your dead animal, you've put it through a lot of extra fear and pain and you're going to be cutting up meat from a corpse that just spent the last half hour to hour of it's life pumping adrenaline through it's veins. You're in for some tough chewing.

Wait up to half an hour. You now have an animal that thinks, "man, this really hurts, think I'll lie down" You might have a ten minute blood trail to follow and you're getting an animal that has actually suffered less and you're putting a better product on your table. As I mentioned earlier, I've been very fortunate and careful with my shot placements my entire life. Not everybody I've hunted with can say the same. I've seen hunters react both ways to wounded animals and I advise, wait a bit. Have a coffee, sit back and smoke 'em if ya got 'em or whatever it is you do.

Absolutly Trax exactly my thinking, right down to the coffe, it gives the hunter a chance to calm down too.

seconded. many animals would much rather bed down and bleed out feeling the theat is gone than suffer the hassle of continualy sensing the approach of the hunter, struggling away, looking for a spot to go lie down and then repeating the whole thing over again.

I agree "lighting out" after it is not a good idea but more for safety than tender meat.

I always try to take my time. You never know when you might overlook something better in the meat case. It's best to just slow down and try to absorb all the information. Make sure you check the list. Bacon, ground chuck, bacon, sliced ham, bacon, pork chops, bacon.....

wow, I never even thought about this. I always thought it was a good idea to run after the animal. But then again I'll eat any kind of meat, tough or not.

i am 100% with trax on this one.
I had to restrein several guests from dashing after a shot animal that was fast enough to make it back into the bush. waited it out and put my Lab on it.

I have heard this before many years ago, that adrenelin affects the taste and toughness of the meat.

Personally, my first concern is for the animal to die peacefully, since it didn't get to die instantly. The other reasons I posted for waiting are jus bonus for the hunter.

i fully agree with you trax.

the other thing ive seen alot of is people who wound an animal and try to track it for an hour and then give up, or find they gut shot an animal or rump shot it and so let it lay instead of taging it and taking the time and effort to clean up the mess.

if you pull the triger take the responsibility.

absolutely awf, there's way too many people unfortunately that really are giving the anti-gun and anti-hunting lobbyists/whiners something to really complain about. Like Bragg said in that other thread, it's what's above your shoulders that matters most.

I was once out hunting with a guy, many years ago this was, and he shot a smallish bull moose, 4 pointer. We found three other bullets in the poor thing that had healed over, two were in his hind quarter, most of the meat around them were garbage, one was kind of lodged against one of his lower ribs. So that moose must have taken those hits at least a year before.

my buddy's son who was a new hunter at the time shot a doe at dusk. we tracked it until we were bumping into each other in the dark. the next morning we went back and resumed tracking. it took us until about noon to find her. my dad was along and he hadn't been hunting in 20+ years and he couldn't believe we would spend that much time and effort to find a wounded animal, as well as miss the prime morning hours hunt for that day. after we found what was left of the doe (cyotes got her during noc and all that was left was a bit of hide and a few lower legs and the skull) my dad and i had a discusion about what hunting was to me and what it meant. he came away feeling a bit guilty about his previous comment and stated he has a new found respect for the way we hunt. i personaly am finding more enjoyment out of taking the boys out and watching them get the buckfever and teaching them to hunt and become outdoorsman, than being the one to pull the triger myself. dont get me wrong i still get excited, but i like to see others enjoying the experience to.

I agree with you also Trax. It is the hunter's responsibility to find the game after you have shot it. I've seen deer double lunged with a muzzleloader and kept running for over a mile. After we found it we couldn't believe it ran so far. Then the shooter fessed up and said he didn't wait cause he thought he dropped it and went after it.

I have seen both sides, someone who waits and someone who runs right after, and I have eaten meat from both. Trax is right, the ones who ran thier deer to death had tough meat, and really tasted "gamey". The hunter who waited, boiled a kettle, had a cup of tea, and then went after the deer, had a tender, good tasting piece of meat. both deer were app. the same age and size, and both were taken from the same area. I now wait for at least 1/2 hour, and then go slow. Sometimes the wounded aminal is still alive, but laying down, by going slow it gives you a better chance to get another shot if needed. may save waiting again.

Makes sense to me Trax.

I have not done a lot of hunting for things that could not hunt back. What I have done was with professionals. Lets just say I have not hunted anything bigger then a trout in the last few years and never have deer hunted. The elk I have gotten in the past. I took with one shot.

Coffee sounded good too! I'll take mine with a shot of sugar.

Very nice info Trax :)

Very well put Trax. I agree totally.

Ive never had one run on me. Around here they are like pet rats. Too many of them and they are not scared of humans. Putting a well place shot at close range is a no brainer. Last fall I took a big white tail from my front deck not 50 feet away.

Ok i have 2 ask how many ppl apply these rules 2 fishing. I can't count the number of times i walked by some one and seen 4 or 5 fish struggling for there life on some ones stringer. Again just like the deer u chased it makes the fish taste tougher and its just plain mean in my opinion.

There r a couple of methods for a quick death for the fish one is a thump on the head it is quick and painless for most fish then toss them in the cooler. Another i don't like but its a quick death also which is to make a cut right behind the gills and place back in the water they will bleed out quickly. Then toss them in the cooler.

I always do it i just hate to see any animal suffer and i know there just fish but still the same rules should apply right?