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Have to vent a little

J

johng9662

Member
First off I am on here alot but don't post very often. I love to read every ones stories and see there pictures.

I was excited to get out and bow hunt one last time Friday night before shotgun season opened especially with the front coming thru. I was seeing more deer action than I had that past few times I was out, and I shot a buck at 4:50. I called some friends of mine to come meet me to help me track and drag out the deer. They got out there and we found the deer only seventy five yards from where I had shot it.

Tonight a DNR officer came by my house saying that someone had reported that I had taken the deer with a shotgun illegally. I don't hold anything against the officer he is just doing his job. He asked to see my bow, and I showed it to him along with the arrow that I had recovered with the blood on it. Showed him the picture and told him the story. He said that there isn't anything to worry about.

It still bothers me greatly because I take hunting very seriously. I don't even remember hearing any shot that evening. Why would somebody just assume that you took a deer illegally and report it with out having any reason. All I did was go back to my truck and I sat there trying to call to find someone to assist me.

I talked with the guy that gave me permission to hunt there and he thinks that possibly the guy that leases the land to farm may have been the one to call. I remember seeing a truck down the road with it lights on and following me when I left to meet my friends, and the description of the vehicles are similar.

I am just very frustrated right now and am about to just give up on hunting. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel better.

Thanks for listening
 
Dont even considering giving up on anything. You would be letting some tool get the best of you, they were probably just jealous they cant shoot one with a bow.
 
Thats a crapy deal. Don't give up on hunting just yet, don't let someone else's stupidity ruin it for you. Sounds that you did everything leagal, and the DNR didn't hesitate to tell you not to worry about it. That right there proves that there was no foul play, if they would have suspected anything, it would be a long drug out deal.
 
I was thinkin maybe you shot his deer and was jealous and wanted to give ya a hard time!

Been there and its not fun! Dont consider giving up on hunting just yet! Others are out there to bother ya, its frustratin sometimes.. but just get out there and kill a booner next year! /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
i'm sure someone saw you dragging the deer and just thought you had shot it a day early, not even realizing bow season was still on. no big deal in my book. you had nothing to hide. i would be glad that atleast there was one person in your area that was concerned enough to contact the DNR when they saw something they thought was wrong
 
The only thing that might have looked suspicious was me sitting at my truck for a half an hour trying to get in touch with others to assist me. I didn't have a gun and no shots were heard in the area. Normally, I would have just driven down to pick up the deer, but the farmer tilled the field during the week and it made for some rough walking so it would have taken me hours by myself.

I am all for someone reporting illegal activity, but I would think having some proof would be warranted before doing so.

There was a time when a guy in a truck was driving around in front of me during prime hunting time, but when I got down he was gone.

I am not going to quit hunting, just going to find a new location to go.
 
I am with Teeroy on this one. You have nothing to hide and someone is watching out for your hunting spot. Sounds like a win-win to me. Changing spots over that sounds pretty trivial to me.

I wish the DNR would come that quick to my place. Could catch hundreds of road hunters shooting deer off of the hill and dragging them down to the road trespassing.
 
I have to agree with teeroy on this one. I don't have any idea as to the motivation of the person who called this in, but if we do give them the benifit of the doubt, it very well could have been an honest attempt to report some thing they thought might have been illegal. This is exactly the reason that TIP was created, to make a report and let the DNR check it out and let them decide if a law was broken. We as individuals can't always know all the facts so it is best to let some one else sort it all out. It could be that the call was motivated by greed or jealosy but we can never know that. How many times on here have we said that some one should have called in a report on something that was poaching? Some have even gone so far as to say by not reporting known illegal activities we are as guilty as the poachers. It is unfortunate that you had to experience this but by doing every thing correctly you had no problems. The DNR COs aren't out to persecute law abiding hunters, but they are after the outright poachers and those who knowingly bend or break SOME of the regulations. If the COs don't know about a situation they can't investagate it, so if you see something or know of something that doesn't seem right to you please call them and help them do a very difficult job. We all need to make these decessions and maintain a high moral and ethical standard of motivation and never waste the CO's time with the get even type of crap.
 
I can say in defense of the person calling in, and I have mentioned to my wife that there does seem to be an excessive amount of shooting that occurs in the area. But I have never seen anybody shooting illegally. I just assume that it is people sighting in there guns or target shooting. Either that or they are shooting at one of the many coyotes in the area. We found the deer just before they did, we could hear them circling around as we were cleaning the deer.

It was just very frustrating going from the high of finally harvesting a buck after all the hours spent out there, to being accused of taking said buck illegally. I tend to take things personal and I didn't like be thought of as a poacher.
 
dont let these little hang ups affect your passion for hunting...let those morons try to ruin it for you, if you keep your nose clean you have nothing to worry about!

keep on!
 
Nobody likes to have their integrity impugned. I’d feel the same way at first, then my thoughts would swing more to the positive aspect that somebody in the area is taking an active approach in stopping poaching.

The 'Bonker
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: THA4</div><div class="ubbcode-body">dont let these little hang ups affect your passion for hunting...let those morons try to ruin it for you, if you keep your nose clean you have nothing to worry about!

keep on! </div></div>

I agree!
 
Hopefully the DNR officer went back and told "someone" that the deer was taken legally with a bow.
 
I'm with fish bonk. Don't worry about it . Just nice to see someone is looking out for the area. Just be proud you took it the right way and forget it /forum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">He asked to see my bow, and I showed it to him along with the arrow that I had recovered with the blood on it. </div></div>

I always wash mine off when I get home but maybe better to leave it with the "evidence" on it for a day...

This is a good post because this could very easily happen to any of us and most likely will to a few. I get more frustrated by people who don't call in suspicious activity then by those that might incorrectly make an assumption.

Very different to be checked during a routine stop then to be accused of illegal activity for sure but as already suggested...I would just grit your teeth and chalk it up to one of "lifes downer moments"....
 
Sounds like you need to build a relationship with the guy farming the ground you're hunting. If he knew you and what you were about, he'd likely have stopped to talk and maybe even offered to help you get it out of there. Always a good idea to build a relationship with the land owner AND the farmer if they are not one in the same.
 
nobody accused you of squat. someone saw a guy/guys dragging a deer, and called the DNR to check it out. period. you are taking this way too personal. no different than someone calling the DNR about someone spotlighting. the DNR is going to check, but there is nothing illegal about spotlighting deer, as long as there is no gun in the truck. its up to the DNR to decide if it is a legal activity, or an illegal activity
 
This is the first year in the 8 years that I have hunted there that the property has been farmed, so I really haven't had a chance to me the guy.

Teeroy, as for not being accused. The DNR officer said that I was being accused of taking the deer with a Shotgun, not suspicious activity. That to me is a pretty direct.

This is pretty much why I don't post much. Seem every time I do post, someone has something negative to say. I didn't do anything wrong and yes it did bother me that someone said I did something I didn't do. I am over it now.

As far as posting a picture, not sure if I will do that. He is not huge, and I am sure someone will make a comment about shooting a deer that is probably only 2.5 years old.

Also, the only reason I hadn't cleaned the arrow is cause it broke in half.
 
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