View Full Version : What would you do?
Well after a weekend with no success, I found out through the grapevine that some guys from pennsylvania that are hunting with an outfitter potentially found the giant ten point I shot two weeks ago. I haven't talked to the actual person that is in possesion of the deer, but I have talked to the outfitter. I described the deers rack to the outfitter to a "T" and he said "That sure sounds like the one they found." The story he tells is that these guys found this buck in the creek on the outfitters property, which is about 300 yards from where I shot him at. they cut the head off when they found it and brought it back to camp to show the outfitter. The outfitter told them that they had broke the law and they needed to get a tag for it from the GW. To my knowledge, they didn't do that. The outfitter says these are a nice group of guys and he's gonna try to get me these fellows phone numbers so I can get a pic of the deer and if indeed it is the deer I shot then hopefully they will do the right thing and send me the deer. But if they don't then should I try to get the GW involved? Or am I in the wrong thinking that I have a right to this deer?
heelbilly
12-05-2011, 02:16 PM
I don't think you are in the wrong thinking that way. The only problem I see with it is proving to the GW or anyone else for that matter that you actually killed the deer. Whatever becomes of it, good luck to you and I hope they do the right thing.
taylor6400
12-05-2011, 03:02 PM
I agree with the above...in both aspects that i hope it works out for you and that the burden of proof is on you and will be tough to prove. I would say start by telling them what you think and describe it to them first and see what there reaction is. Maybe it will all go smoothly if they are a stand-up group of guys.
However, personally i wouldnt get the GW involved. Its out of state, and (no offense to you), basically heresay that you shot the buck and they found it. GW has more important things...like dealing with actual poachers. They didnt poach the buck. I would think the outfitter would have done a bit more when his hunters showed up with the head. Like be the one that calls the GW himself. Not to get the hunters in trouble but to do things the right way.
Well I do know where the actual carcass is. And I know exactly where I shot the deer, it was a very low shot but went through the chest cavity and through the oppposite side and broke his front left leg. I was thinking of going and taking pictures of the carcass for evidence in just in case...
treelounger
12-05-2011, 04:21 PM
thats a tough one. I'd say if you are willing to put your tag on it then pursue it. If not let it go.
I also think that the "outfitter" should have done more. It surprises me that he would and untagged rack leave his property. I'm sure that he would be liable for that in some way shape or form. Being he is an outfitter and he knew they took it out of the woods illegally. I'm sure not one to beat someone over the head with these laws when you know they didn't shoot it but being an outfitter I would think they would take the extra step to protect themselves and their clients.
good luck
Lord ToneKing
12-05-2011, 05:54 PM
Man tough call on that one. Sounds kinda like a finder's keepers deal to me, but to be honest, if you had any sort of hunting etiquette you would give over the rack off a nice deer that someone else shot....'IF' you knew that they indeed did shoot the deer. We have all probably lost nice buck at one time and it's a sick feeling for sure. I would personally love to see the joy on a fellow hunters face by returning a deer or just a set of antlers
Answer this question...did you give up on your search?
Best of luck to you
Blown_R/T
12-05-2011, 06:47 PM
just kinda curious cause I remember you posting when you shot it and hoping it would live but not really posting of an exhaustive search,so how is it you know right where it is now and only 300 yrds from where you shot it ????? sounds like your friendly with the outfitter and you can get pics so he probably would have let you search the property,IMO probably let it go
OK I say your fine with what ever you decide
BUt if it was me I would contact them, ask them about the deer, and tell them your story
I would inquire about if they got a recovery tag or what ever its called for ohio DNR, and if they claim they did, well nothing you can do but check to make sure
and if they didn't I would then say to them, well, any chance of me recovering the rack, and if not, tell them you have plans to call the dnr, and inquire about the tag if they got it
hey thats the right thing to do, if they ain't willing to do it on there own, maybe a little extra effort from you will help grease the wheel!, and get you the rack back
BUT will that still be an issue with NO tag??
could call your local game warden and run teh story by him and ask for feedback before you give them up too!
then you have a little extra on your side pending how it goes!
Stonegod
12-05-2011, 07:43 PM
just kinda curious cause I remember you posting when you shot it and hoping it would live but not really posting of an exhaustive search,so how is it you know right where it is now and only 300 yrds from where you shot it ????? sounds like your friendly with the outfitter and you can get pics so he probably would have let you search the property,IMO probably let it go
That's how I was thinking. Though it wouldn't hurt to ask for the rack back, if you get a no...... Then I'd let it go.
Sorry guys, I didn't get to tell the full story earlier I was at work and just trying to vent some of my feelings quickly. Anyhow, to answer Tonekings question, No. I didn't give up on the search. I've looked and looked for this deer with nothing but a few drops of blood and a bloody arrow for evidence. I was simply hoping that he was still alive. And to answer blown r/t, I only know where the deer is now because the outfitter explained to me where the hunters found him. Which was twisted up in a log jam in the creek about 300 +/- from where I shot him. I was told about this deer from my buddy. My buddy had booked this farm the deer was found on for his son during the youth season. I think my buddy and the outfitter are somewhat friends. I used to hunt the farm then the outfitter leased it. So I'm very familiar with the farm and it adjoins my parents property. Which leads to my phone call I made two years ago to this same outfitter asking if I could have permission to hunt which in turn he told me "NO". So that is partially why I didn't ask for permission to look for the deer on his lease. The other reason is after we bumped what we thought was the buck I shot while looking, he ran in the opposite direction of this outfitters land. Well I assume what happened is the buck eventually died in the creek and with all of this rain the past week or two he was washed down onto the outfitters property and thus eventually found by the other hunters. I searched the creek two or three different times, but I also live 100 miles away in the city with a job and a family to provide for so I simply couldn't spend as much time searching as I would have liked. Now to speaking with the GW. I called the GW sunday evening and spoke with him personally about the situation, I didn't give him any names but my own and kept everything anonymous because I'd like to resolve this without him if at all possible. Anyhow, I explained the situation to him, explained exactly what the deer looked like, where I shot it at, where the entry and exit wounds would be and so on. He in turn told me if I could get "evidence" that the deer they found was indeed the deer I shot then by all means I had rights to the head. Now this evening I called the outfitter back (he told me sunday that he would try to get me the guys name and phone number that has the deer) and he seems like he's getting nervous about the situation, he says that he doesn't know if he has the guys info anymore that he probably threw it away because he didn't need it anymore, And then tells me "these guys weren't clients of mine, they were just hunting my property because I didn't have anyone else hunting it" This sure seems kinda fishy to me, but I tried to assure him that I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble, I'm just trying to get my deer back if it is indeed my deer! If it's not my deer, I don't give two craps who has it or what!!
WOW!!! GOOD LUCK......THIS IS A WIERD ONE,SORRY,BUT WIERD
rednekhipi
12-05-2011, 11:04 PM
damn thats tough...good luck. however, im a firm believer in "finders keepers". reverse the situation, would you give the rack back? im sure the outfitter doesnt want to make any enemies so hopefully it works out for you. this might sound harsh but if you were meant to have that buck, you would have found him two weeks ago after you shot him. best of luck.
dkoy85
12-06-2011, 10:18 PM
I think you have every right to try and get that buck and hope you get him if its yours. I never understood the "finders keepers" b.s. I don't think that is very sportsman like. My question would be if you found somebody's buck, how couldn't you give it back?
I honestly believe that if I were in the other persons shoes I would indeed return the deer if they could prove it was theirs. Heck I've given sheds away that match peoples deer! I haven't heard any news as of yet, so hopefully no news is good news.
so after a few days of no news, I got a call last night from the outfitter letting me know where the deer was. In the possession of the state of WV!! I guess these boneheads that found the deer and decided not to tag it got pulled over on their way home and the took the deer from them. I called the GW, he was not happy with the outfitter, but said if I can get some proof together then I stand a realistic chance at retrieving the deer once he gains possession.
treelounger
12-09-2011, 11:28 AM
you couldn't make up a story this good. (At least I coouldn't) lol hope it works out for ya.
heelbilly
12-09-2011, 11:48 AM
That's great, keep us posted and good luck.
I wish it was just a big made up story!!! I'm the second most unlucky person I know, so I'm sure it won't work out for me!! But thanks for the support!!!
well I too have bad luck
But I wouldn't give up hope yet, Wv game dept was always great to deal with from my experience(friends that live in Wv have had great luck working with the dept, always top notch helpful folks we dealed with)
so never say never till its all over
Hope you get it back
Well, yesterday I made the 100 mile trip again to try to look for this deers body. On my way, I recieved a call from the GW, He said he was looking at the picture of the deer and asked me to describe it to him. So I again described it as I had numerous other times, and he says i've described the deer exactly except that its a slick 8 point instead of a slick 10 like I had thought. SO my emotions were mixed, I told the GW I was gonna go check out the carcass anyways even though I was pretty sure the deer I shot was a ten. SO after going to where the outfitter told me it was and not finding the carcass, I just started going up the creek back towards my parents property. After about two hours of searching I was about to give up, I found him! So I got down in the creek, and sure as the world, he's shot low and his front left leg is broken!! Exactly where I shot the deer at!!! (however I didn't hit the deer as bad as I thought, He probably woulda died where we jumped him at had I given him more time!) So I immediately call the GW, tell him what I found, and he says ok, well youve convinced me that this is the deer you shot. So he tells me he will put in a recommendation of possesion with the WV game and fish and after the boys trial I have a really good chance at getting the deer back! He says as long as the judge doesn't order the deer to be destroyed, which he said doubts will happen since it wasn't a poached deer That I'll probably get it! So I guess that this deer must be the big 10's son or brother or something, becasue I woulda bet it was him! So on a bright note, the big ten still lives to my knowledge, I indeed killed a big eight, and I actually have a chance of recovering him!!
Oh and left the GW a message last night asking if he would send me a pic of the buck, he hasn't responded yet, but if I get a pic I will post it!!
Big_Holla
12-12-2011, 12:34 PM
Boy this has turned into quite the story bds9!! I have been meaning to chime in for quite some time but always seemed to get sidetracked.
I had such a similar story as yours this year with the buck I killed in Ohio. In my post on it you will see that we tracked mine for quite some time and distance only to lose the blood trail in the rain. The next day's search produced nothing and soon I was trying to accept the notion that it must have happened for a reason. Headed back home on a Sunday only to find out that my cousin, on their family property in the direction of where the deer was headed, that same day found my buck. Big 8 with a drop tine on the right side, hard for any to doubt it was my deer. Even though I knew my cousin would give the buck back to me I was prepared mentally just in case. Was a tough roller coaster ride for two weeks from the time I saw the buck to the time I finally laid my hands on him.
In talking with my cousin he said flat out, he had no emotional attachment to the buck and could clearly see mine. He wouldn't even think of keeping a buck if he knew who's it was. As he told me a story about a similar situation years ago when he shot a buck and couldn't find it on some other property he had permission on, it was found by the neighbors a few days later and to this date he still had laid his eyes on the rack or even seen a picture of it. You could see the way that made him feel. How any hunter, if they want to call themselves that, could EVER hold on to a buck that they KNOW was killed by another hunter is beyond me.
KARMA is a bitch.....guess those guys found out what THAT really means BDS9!! Glad to hear you are en-route to a happy ending!!
I was going to start a new thread on this but figured it would save me some explaining if I just replied to this one. Anyways, I recieved the best phone call I have recieved in a while last thursday! It was the GW! He says I should be expecting a phone call from the WVDNR within a few days to schedule a pickup for my Deer Head! I'm super pumped to say the least! I heard that the guys that were caught with it got in quite a bit of trouble, but hey they broke the law and I'm getting my deer. Officer Gilkey said it was in "pretty rough" shape but the antlers were still fine. I will post a pic as soon as I get it! I still have no clue exactly how big he is but I have a pretty good idea of how he looks!
well good for you
about time a win for the good guys
I hope those lawbreakers got big ass fines and learned there lesson!!
bds9, I just read the intire thread. WOW!! what a story. You said you where the 2nd unluckiest guy in the world. Well I don't think you can say that anymore. I do believe in carma, am whiling to bet that you are a good guy and a straight shooter. Congrats. Be sure to post a picture.
buckstalker17
05-29-2012, 06:30 PM
Man if u are the second unluckiest man that make me the unluckiest man ever. Lol congrats on staying with it and get your animal back. !!!!!!!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Big_Holla
05-29-2012, 10:47 PM
Great to hear some good news like this!!
hortontoter
05-30-2012, 07:18 AM
Glad to hear you are about to get the rack back. Curious if the outfitter got in hot water over this episode.
Thanks for the support guys! This whole thing has been an emotional roller coaster ride for me! And Hortontoter, to my knowledge the outfitter did not. The Ohio GW, Officer Chris Gilkey, decided not to prosecute all involved since the people that actually broke the law were prosecuted in the state of West Virginia. Which in turn would increase my odds of recovering the deer head. So I'm grateful that he did that mainly for my cause, but I still hate to know that the outfitter is that crooked. I already knew it to a sense, but he has lost all respect from me. He was actually bragging to my buddy about this "giant buck" that some of his clients found. Knowing they hadn't legally tagged it! I'm just glad my buddy told me about it! I'm just hoping that the WVDNR get up with me at some point this week so I can make a trip to Parkersburg this weekend to get MY buck!
just read the whole thread...thats one hell of a story...happy for you that you recovered the rack and a win for the good guys...
ManOfTheFall
05-31-2012, 02:41 AM
Excellent. This is one crazy story!!!!! Sure glad to hear it has the right ending. Can't wait to see the pics.
Well I picked him up today and delivered him directly to the taxidermist! I was pretty impressed at how big he was! Inside spread roughly
18", G2's 11", G3's 10", Brow tines are about 6 and 7". I'd guess the main beams around 28" each. and he is thick! This is a heavy rack! I knew he was big when I shot him, but for an 8 point, this thing is a hawg! I am guessing him roughly at 150"+/- a few!! I can't thank the ODNR and WVDNR enough! Officer Chris Gilkey and Officer Jim Haas couldn't have done a better job! The rack is sun bleached quite a bit but my taxidermist says he can get the color back with no problem! This has been a great day! Except for the 4 hour drive each way to pick him up!!
FallnTimber
06-02-2012, 09:15 PM
wow, what a story. glad to hear that you will get your rack back. this should show all that persistence pays off! congrats to u!
ManOfTheFall
06-03-2012, 02:17 AM
Very nice!!!!! Glad to hear and see the final result. I can't wait to see the mount.
Big_Holla
06-05-2012, 02:22 PM
Well that is a GREAT ending to a crappy story!! Glad you were able to put your hands on him and soon you will have the mount you deserved to have in the first place!!
Woodsman
06-15-2012, 02:08 PM
I'm glad to hear you got your deer head back!
well its good to see you got it back , and a great rack as well1
For the record. The outfitter was not found at fault for any violations involving this situation.
did you ever put a tape to it to get a true score??
be cool to hear what it turns out to be if you have the time!
Mrbb, I didn't. I was in somewhat of a rush the weekend that I picked it up and I wanted to get it to the taxidermist since it was on my way home. My taxidermist will measure it while he has it and I will as well when I get it back. As soon as I have that info I will post it on here.
Thanks to everyone for reading my story and providing me with uplifting thoughts through all of this crap!!
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