[-puff-]

If the yotes got most of it, I'd probably let them have the rest of it and keep my tag. I'm kinda torn on this one though. I mean I'm not sure but I would assume you are probably supposed to tag it? And I'm not about doing anything illegal... But then again couldn't you treat it just like a lost animal, because in a way that's really what it is..? Mann... That's a tough one! I'm gonna have to vote for 'Why waste a tag?' though.. :darkbeer:

 

[deerslayer261]

that is a tuff one i would have to agree with -puff-. I guess it depends on the situation and every situation is different. Hard decision

 

[Cornfed]

The deer is wasted...... so why waste the tag???

 

[salty444]

never saw a doe with a rack

 

[5MilesBack]

The deer is wasted...... so why waste the tag???

The deer is wasted because the "hunter" left it over night. He shot it, he has a responsibility to go get it. If he doesn't tag it, what's to keep him from shooting 20 deer for the coyotes?

 

[outdooraholic]

i was solely responsible for its death = my responsibility to take care of the carcass, regarless of the circumstances.

 

[-puff-]

never saw a doe with a rack

Believe it or not I have. It does happen. One way to tell is they don't shed their velvet. That's why tags are Antlered or Antlerless and not Buck or Doe. :darkbeer:

 

[-puff-]

i was solely responsible for its death = my responsibility to take care of the carcass, regarless of the circumstances.

You don't know that. If you had to leave it over night, then chances are your shot wasn't too great. The yotes might have actually been the ones to finish it off and kill it.

 

[rachunter]

I would tag it and get it mounted. How many chances do you get to tag a doe with a rack? :darkbeer:

 

[old Graybeard]

The deer is wasted...... so why waste the tag???

Exactly

 

[insatiable]

Tag it!

 

[MNOutdoorsman]

This happened to me on my first bow-killed deer. I made a less than perfect shot on the doe early in the morning. I let it sit for 4 hours then started trailing it. It only went about 50 yards but when I found it both hind quarters were eaten by coyotes. I supppose they found it so fast due to the gut-shot smell.
I didn't know what to do so I tagged it, took it home, and butchered it keeping only the meat that wasn't chewed on. I didn't think much about it but I did hear some comments from my friends like...I wouldn't eat anything that a coyote has chewed on!

In SE MN you can shoot up to 5 deer so burning a tag isn't a big issue, only the $14.00 you have to shell out for another.

MNOutdoorsman

 

[QuickReflex]

Tags are not an Issue here ,but IMO when you drop the string on an animal youve commited your tag at that point. If you miss, then you get a do over If you hit the animal then its your responsibility to do whats right

 

[hardwoodhitman]

i think you can get a dnr tag for this if you call the wildlife officer out. i may be mistaken though.

 

[TXBOWKILL]

Funny thing about the law. Here it is straight from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department book:

"Waste of Game: It is an offense (Class C misdemeanor) if a person while hunting kills or wounds a game bird or game animal and intentionally or knowingly fails to make a reasonable effort to retrieve the animal or bird and include it in the person's daily or seasonal bag limit. It is an offense if a person intentionally takes a game bird, game animal, or fish and intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly, or with criminal negligence, fails to keep the edible portions of the bird, animal, or fish in an edible condition. For whitetail and mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and desert bighorn sheep, the violation is a Class A misdemeanor."

Don't know about you guys, but I would not risk my hunting license over something like this.

 

[goblism]

considering my area has a record low deer population i would feel like the dnr needs to know how many additional deer are being killed out there. I would be hesitant to tag it, but i think i would do it.

As for all you antlered doe people, smart .....

Does can have antlers, usually they are just one spike, sometimes two, fairly uncommon though.

 

[MNHOYT]

Funny thing about the law. Here it is straight from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department book:

"Waste of Game: It is an offense (Class C misdemeanor) if a person while hunting kills or wounds a game bird or game animal and intentionally or knowingly fails to make a reasonable effort to retrieve the animal or bird and include it in the person's daily or seasonal bag limit. It is an offense if a person intentionally takes a game bird, game animal, or fish and intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly, or with criminal negligence, fails to keep the edible portions of the bird, animal, or fish in an edible condition. For whitetail and mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and desert bighorn sheep, the violation is a Class A misdemeanor."

Don't know about you guys, but I would not risk my hunting license over something like this.

What do they consider a reasonable effort? I shot a doe the other night and had to leave her overnight because I kept bumping her. I picked up the trail the next morning and tracked for hours. I lost blood and coulnd't find the deer. Needless to say i was pissed off but would your DNR consider this "reasonable effort"?

 

[Dog]

Buck / Doe, cost of the tag would have nothing to do with it. I chose to release the arrow. I would tag the animal.

 

[xswanted]

Here once again is a situation of how our current hunting situation is putting way too much emphasis on whats on top of the head.

I guess I don't really understand.

How do we justify not tagging a doe based on the fact that it has been eaten up pretty bad?

But yet we will tag a buck that has been eaten up just because it has horns.

Do we not eat bucks to?

It doesn't pan out to me.

I can understand if you shot a doe and found it a week later by chance and you didn't tag it, as long as you put in a hard effort trying to find her the first night you shot at her.

I think a more appropriate question or scenario to contemplate would be this,

What if you shot your "trophy" buck at last light last night tonight. You backed out of the area because of a less than perfect hit and wait till morning to look. You find your trophy the next day and it has been severely eaten by coyotes and now your "trophy" buck has shrunk to a small 6 point.

Do you tag it?

To me whatever you'd answer in this scenario would be what you should also answer in the scenario regarding a doe.

In my mind I'd like to see the deer tagged no matter what. Just because for the simple fact that if we let ourselves get off without tagging a deer because its been eaten up, I think it could lead to being sloppy hunters, that might take more risky shots on does just because they don't feel bad if they can't find it until the next day and know it its not in perfect condition they'll just leave it.

Tracking and finding your deer along with making a good shot is part of the bowhunting and hunting experience in general. Obviously there are extenuating circumstances regarding nerves, adrenaline and the elements but I think making every effort to complete the process needs to be taken, including tagging your animal, regardless of the condition of it when you find it.