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Is this legal/ethical?

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StantheMan

New Member
You bowhunt with a regular statewide anysex tag on your own land. You shoot a buck but decide to give him a couple hours before retrieving because the shot was not perfect. During that time you go and buy a LOT Anysex Bow tag. You come back a hour and a half later, track the buck, find him and tag him with your landowner tag.

Is this legal?

If it is legal, is it ethical?
 
I have met guys throughout my job who have done it and got busted......So I would say illegal. The only reason they got busted was because they called the deer in to report it. The system automatically flags all deer that are registered when the tag was purchased within 48 hours of the kill. I met another guy that killed a deer and went out and bought his girlfriend a tag and tagged it. The DNR was at their door the following day to see the kill and he got busted and can't hunt for two years.....

Our neighbors daughter came home for Thanksgiving week and went out and bought a tag in the morning. That evening she went hunting and shot a small 8pt. She called it in and the DNR was at their house the next day accusing our neighbor of filling her tag. That was a battle.
 
The same thing happened to me....I shot a buck in the late season and tagged it with my regular bow tag.I came home,called it in.Then the next day I went and bought a late seasom ML tag and shot a buck that same day.The game warden was knocking on my door the next morning.
To answer the original question I would say its illegal.If it was at least legal it wouldn't be ethical
 
If it is illegal, what is illegal about it?

You would be hunting legally with your regular tag that was in your possesion.

Is there anything at all in the regulations that would point to this being illegal?
 
Yes.....I would think its illegal to tag a deer with a tag you bought after you killed it.Are you looking for a way to bend the law?I don't think this is the best place to discuss questionable tactics
 
Not trying to start a fight or anything, just wanting everyone's thought on this.

This is a great place to discuss game laws. I don't see any harm in discussing this scenario.
 
I don't understand how it could be even a thought.Just have both tags with you from opening day.Landowner tags are only a dollar.
 
I may not be from Ia, but it seems to me that in the scenario described, you hunted with one permit and tagged the animal with another. What isn't totally wrong with that?
That would be no different than myself hunting on a season choice tag IE...doe only, then shooting a buck and coming home and buying a permit to tag it. Wrong, Wrong Wrong !!!
 
You have to have in your possession a valid tag while hunting, If you have a state wide tag only while you kill the deer you must tag it with the tag currently in possession, You cannot legally go to town and get another tag to put on it. You must have and use the tag in your possession when you began your hunt.
 
Shovelbuck said:
I may not be from Ia, but it seems to me that in the scenario described, you hunted with one permit and tagged the animal with another. What isn't totally wrong with that?
That would be no different than myself hunting on a season choice tag IE...doe only, then shooting a buck and coming home and buying a permit to tag it. Wrong, Wrong Wrong !!!
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Shovelbuck - I think your scenario is different because you only had a doe tag and shot a buck.

In this scenario the hunter had a valid BUCK tag on him while hunting.

Again, not trying to start a holy war here, just playing a little Devil's Advocate.

I understand that there are some ethics in question here, I'm just trying to figure out if there is something in the regs that specifically makes this a violation.
 
You cant buy a tag and then use it on a deer, even if you already have another tag. If you shoot a deer with a valid tag, that is the one you have to use. No running anywhere to buy a tag so you can keep hunting or whatever. I am not sure if its in the regs that you can pick up for free, but there are also alot more regs than that on the internet. But it is illegal to shoot a deer, run to town and buy a tag, and then tag it with that tag, no matter if you already have a valid tag. The original tag is what you have to use. There is no devils advocate here, because thats how the law is, the only thing would be ethics in which sounds like you want to break. I am not trying to start a war either, just stating how it seems. If you want more in depth look at it, I would get the full version of the regs and read it there.
 
Being a land owner you get 3 any sex tags which gives you many options, sort out your priorities and stick to the plan. No need to be a pig.
 
Not legal or ethical, you did not have the tag you used to shoot the deer with. If you have to ask yourself, then you probably know the answer ;)
 
I get where you guys are coming from on the ethics side... I was curious how everyone felt about it. I know how I feel.

Some would argue that if it's not illegal, then is it unethical?

Somebody just show me where it says that this scenario is illegal, then I will shut my mouth. :drink2:

Not trying to be a jerk, I just thought that this was an interesting scenario and wondered if there was anything in the Iowa Hunting Regs that would make this practice llegal. I ask because I could not think of anything that I've seen in the regs making this illegal.
 
I'm guessing the reason for doing this would be to save the landowners tag for gun season if your unable to kill one during bow on your own property, but not have to use the statewide bow tag ? I thought of this exact same thing before but pretty much decided it wouldn't be right, its like getting another extra tag by allowing you to hunt as if you had a tag that you do not.
 
hillrunner said:
I'm guessing the reason for doing this would be to save the landowners tag for gun season if your unable to kill one during bow on your own property, but not have to use the statewide bow tag ? I thought of this exact same thing before but pretty much decided it wouldn't be right, its like getting another extra tag by allowing you to hunt as if you had a tag that you do not.
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Ok, that could make since. I was wondering what the motive would even be for this. So, stan-did you get called out on this, or just thinking about about trying?
 
StantheMan said:
Somebody just show me where it says that this scenario is illegal, then I will shut my mouth. :drink2:
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You shot the deer with a tag that you did not have at the time of hunting, ask the conservation agent for that county and see what they say. :way:
 
Even if it's not stated word for word in the regs I would say its illegal.I don't think there is a "written" law that you can't drive in reverse down the interstate but I would bet you get a ticket if you try it.
It would be the same scenario if you were hunting with an any-sex tag and shot a doe and decided to go to town and buy an antlerless tag to put on it. Just use your common sense and stop trying to figure out a way to get around the law.You will be a much better hunter for it.
 
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