Question for Big Fin - Gila Elk Episode

[Cheater]

Randy-

Been traveling for work, and just got around to the Gila Elk episode from last week. My question/comment is regarding punching your tag right after you wounded that bull. I commend you and don't disagree at all morally/ethically with your decision to punch a your tag once an animal has been wounded.

However, by punching your tag, your hunt is over and you couldn't carry your rifle anymore. Personally, I feel like I am entitled to one animal per tag, and don't feel like I can wound one animal and then pursue another. I do think it's okay to continue to pursue the wounded animal though. Which may mean that I have to finish it off still. The morning after you wounded the bull, what would you have done had you found him still alive but hurt badly?

I'm not being critical at all, I really respect you and your work. I would just like to hear more about what your thought process regarding the situation is.

Still trying to decide which program I like best (OYOA vs Fresh Tracks), what I will say is both are top notch!

Thanks!

 

[Big Fin]

It seems you are saying that once I punched my tag that I am no longer allowed to have a rifle in the field, even if I was carrying it to possibly finish off a wounded bull. I am not sure that is the case. It might be. Not that it would matter, given I left my rifle in the truck after that.

As you saw, my guest hunter, Scott was carrying a rifle when we went in to pick up the trail the next mornning. If I had found the bull wounded and still alive, I would have used Scott's rifle.

I left my rifle in the truck to make sure people understood that I was done hunting. If we had bumped a bull on our way in to look for mine and I was carrying a rifle, people would have wondered if I had shot it, etc. Plus, I was pretty sure that by this time, the bull was either dead or was far away wondering what the hell stung him the afternoon prior.

By the time we had split up later that afternoon, over 24 hours had passed. If the bull was still breathing, he had long since fled that drainage. The odds of me finding a bull wounded or bedded down 24 hours later was very, very slim. Either he was up and moving and far gone, or he was dead.

Four of us looked for the bull well into the next afternoon, walking up and down that drainage and every adjacent drainage. Then, Scott and Mason went off to hunt the rest of the evening while Brad and I scoured for the bull. That is how we found the waterhole where Scott killed his bull. None of us found anything. It leads me to think the bull was hit very marginal and is still walking the hills of New Mexico as I write this.

I am still at a lost for what happened. I think I hit very low, possibly even grazed a front leg. The blood ended so abruptly. We know which way the bull fled when he decided to move off. I was hoping to put a second shot into him, but he stood behind a bush for about a minute, then took off running like nothing had happened.

In retrospect, there are a lot of things I would have done differently with that situation. I would like to have gotten closer, even though I have made that shot hundreds of times, both at the range and in the field. To get closer, I had to get lower. Getting lower meant the tops of the pines in front of me were blocking the shot angle.

Once I scrambled down lower, I really wished I had waited and snuck closer. It was so noisy coming down that scree, I probably would have scared the elk, but once I got down there, I could see a couple hundred yards through the sparse tall Ponderosas. That would have made for a better shot, but such is the benefit of hind sight.

Yes, by punching my tag, my hunt is over. I know everyone may not agree with that, but that is how I always do it. Fortunately, in 36 years of hunting, I have only hit two animals that I did not recover. In both instances, I punched my tag, stopped hunting and went into recovery mode.

 

[SFC B]

Those of us who know how bad it feels to lose an animal like that feel for you. So far the only animal I have not been able to recover was a WT doe that ran from a cornfield into a flooded swamp It still haunts me as the blood at the shot location was bubbly and bright (looked like a chunk of lung as well) and we had a good trail for about 150 yards until she split some bushes and right into the swamp...I hate the idea of wasting game, even though I know the coyotes ate well :/ Calling our hunt done is all we can really do at that point.

 

[Cheater]

Thanks Randy, like I said nothing critical, we are on the same page in the big picture. Just wanted a little more explanation on your thought process.

You're definitely held to a higher standard being on TV, and have to make your intentions overly clear to the public.

I haven't personally lost a big game animal (yet), but my sample size is also much smaller than yours. In that specific case I wouldn't have physically punched my tag, but would have known that I was pursuing one specific animal the rest of my hunt. I can rest at peace knowing how I would handle things, but also understand that you're trying to promote ethics and have to work hard to convey that message to the public.

Thanks for the quick repsonse.

 

[Cheater]

It seems you are saying that once I punched my tag that I am no longer allowed to have a rifle in the field, even if I was carrying it to possibly finish off a wounded bull. I am not sure that is the case. It might be. Not that it would matter, given I left my rifle in the truck after that.

One last thing, maybe some one on here can shed more light on this. It is probably just semantics at this point, but I don't know the answer, and maybe it will keep someone out of trouble in the future..

Does a punched tag indicate to a conservation officer that an animal is dead? If you don't have a dead animal in your possesion, are there any potential issues, maybe wasting of game, etc?

To stay on the safe side would it be better to keep your tag intact, and simply quit hunting?

Thoughts please...

 

[the nikster]

I think an officer would have to use good judgement. You, as an ethical hunter, have validated your tag upon drawing blood. Your hunt is over but the process of reducing the animal to your possession is not.
I think most would agree. Similarly (as in the previous question) it may be illegal to continue to hunt with a rifle after validating a tag but no officer is going to expect you to drop your rifle like a hot potato!!
Man, I would have lost a lot of rifles if that were the case!!

 

[AH_14]

How awesome is it that Randy shows himself in his show wounding an elk or a bear in a previous season. That takes frikking guts man. So glad sponsors support showing this aspect of a hunt. It is so humbling and so real.
I have wounded and lost one good bull, and I was with a buddy when we were both 19, and he wounded and lost a 300+ bull. Can't imagine either of these situations being shown to a national audience.
So painful, and didn't even want to mention it to anyone, even close friends, or my dad.
Anyone who has ever lost an animal knows exactly how Randy felt agonizing over both those situations.
Randy, thanks for not hiding this situation or throwing it out. Greatly appreciate, and respect your honesty and integrity.

 

[Cheater]

How awesome is it that Randy shows himself in his show wounding an elk or a bear in a previous season. That takes frikking guts man. So glad sponsors support showing this aspect of a hunt. It is so humbling and so real.
I have wounded and lost one good bull, and I was with a buddy when we were both 19, and he wounded and lost a 300+ bull. Can't imagine either of these situations being shown to a national audience.
So painful, and didn't even want to mention it to anyone, even close friends, or my dad.
Anyone who has ever lost an animal knows exactly how Randy felt agonizing over both those situations.
Randy, thanks for not hiding this situation or throwing it out. Greatly appreciate, and respect your honesty and integrity.

Completely agree. Kudos to Randy for showing how things really happened.

 

[MNElkNut]

I would love to see this episode or the Alaskan Black Bear episode be shown to Firearm Safety Classes nationwide. Randy graciously sent me the Alaskan BB hunt on DVD and I show it when I teach my class. It leads into a great discussion of a variety of ethics issues....from the punching of the tag to how watchers of his show react to what his show airs. Sadly, I have found that most firearm safety classes barely touch on the ethics of hunting (even though they are part of the curriculum).

 

[Pagosa]

The critters and predators need to eat also and I bet none of it went to waste. Didn't see video, but good sportsmanship anyhow.

 

[bigskyblueman]

What Randy did was ethical and commendable, but one must consider how a validated carcass tag on the hunters' person may look to a game warden, with no animal or meat present. Hunters on occassion , kill and tag something and then decide to use the tag again. That tag is supposed to stay with animal and processed meat. Sometimes an innocent thing can turn into a real headache. Randy has the best show on the network.