Guests/Customers Shooting Wrong Deer

[medic151]

Took a person that I thought was a friend to my land and he was going to bowhunt during the general season. At that point, you couldn't take does, he says that if he saw one, he was going to shoot it and not tag it. I told him "no your not" and he never got to go again. Turns out the person was a dirtbag anyway, doing other stuff like this to other people, so I am glad I found out early. I don't handle stuff like that very well.

[EnglishRedneck]

07Allegiance can probably tell this better, but the first time he took one of his buddies turkey hunting they had a decent calling session going, and the toms were coming in well. This was about 6 years ago, back in the shotgun days, so the friend had his gun up ready, and the birds came within 40, to 30, then the guy panics, forgets he has a shotgun in his hands that can shoot from a sitting position....he jumps up and starts tearing after these panic-stricken toms, running after them Rambo style shooting as he goes. Missed completely, and left everyone else with that slackjawed "what the heck were you thinking" look!

[EnglishRedneck]

Another one...Last season on our old lease, 3 of us - Me, 07Allegiance (Dustin), and Collin, who has a tractor, but only hunts 3 days a year - best lease partner 2 bowhunters could wish for!! We here a shot, and come wandering down to the tower blind where he is hunting with his 7mag. Tells us about this amazing shot he just pulled off, dropping a turkey at around 400yds. OK, says us, heck of a shot, aiming for the wingbuttts right? Yup, aimed for the wingbutts as he was gobbling, neck out....looked at the body....you guessed it, headshot! He had missed by 2 feet, but got lucky anyway!

Same guy, turkey hunting with Dustin couple of years ago, lines up on the wrong bird at 15yds, fires, then realizes he has a modified choke in as 2 good toms drop instead of the gnarly jake he was supposed to take.

Same guy also shot a turkey out of his bathroom window with a 270, missed, but the bullet's shockwave killed it anyway. no mark at all on the bird, but stone dead nonetheless!

[Speedgoat]

Well, I sat a stand at a friend's place a while back and was not allowed to shoot anything but does and spikes. I had three does on the feeder and a small 8pt when three more deer came in. I immediately noticed that the first was a spike and the second two were monsters. Of the three, the biggest was a very tall and thick 9pt. I watched him for ten minutes while he ate and ran all of the others off. I sat there and could have arrowed him 7 times over. Finally he moved on and the spike came in. I stuck him. I called the friend and told them all about it and says to me, "why the heck did you let him walk?" Boy was I peeved!!! But, I did the right thing and that is why I will be invited back.

[daveally]

It's all about respect. If you have it, you'll be invited back. If you don't, you won't. I've made mistakes at camps I was invited to but I always went straight back to the ranch manager/biologist and explained what happened and offered to make whatever restitution they felt was appropriate. For some reason I've never been chastised or cussed out and have always been invited back. I think a bit of honesty and humility would go a long way. Then again it was never a case of shooting a buck when I was told to only shoot does.

[hand grenade]

is this hunting or shooting stories?

[huntresss]

Awww, dog gone it. Just when I thought everyone was playing nice together. Okay, everybody out of the pool, we have to clean it again. Somebody just pooped in it...

[Outdoor Man 2]

Speaking of people flipping out, here's one for the record book. I took a friend on his first deer hunt. We hunt the swamp with portable climbing stands. I had to show him how to use the stand, put him on a good trail, and don't you know a big cowhorn spike walked directly under him. Bam, his first deer; with his 20ga. shotgun. All good. But, here's where the story gets crazy.

I invite him on a second hunt. This time he brings his fathers 30/06, open sights. It's a great cold, still morning. We were hunting about 300 yard apart in the swamp. About 3 hours after daylight, I hear a shot. Then another...and another...and another. All together about 8-10 shots. I'm thinking, this sucker has either shot a whole herd, or missed a big deer and kept shooting while he's running away. I wait a good hour, put on every piece of hunters orange I had, and went over to see what the heck he has shot. As I approach he's making hand signals to me to check out this spot for his deer. I look, no deer. Finally I approach him in the stand. He tells me the story that he saw this nice buck and basically shot all the bullets he had. Remember he's got open sights. I ask if he has binoculars, none. He borrows mine to look in the direction of his shots...he starts muttering somthing and I ask what he's talking about. He says "Now I see" and proceeds to have me look with the binocs to the target of his shooting. He says "See over there... that flaging on that tree, doesn't it look like deer antlers?". I turned white, and allmost fell out of the tree. Needless to say we had the conversation about knowing your target and how it could have been me! And needless to say, he never came back. Ironically, he was shot in the arm at dusk about five years later at a hunting club he had joined, by a poacher thinking he was a deer in the headlights. He did recover after lots of painful operations. Some people do crazy, stupid things, when they get excited. Now every first time hunter that hunts with me hears this story, and has my saftey lecture, no matter their age.

[BowieBowhunter]

I had a hunt like snipehunters. I was invited as a guest hunter on my buddy's lease. I was told anything I shot would come off his "tags" ( I would use my tag but if I killed a buck he couldn't- 1 buck county). Sure enoughfirst 3 deer I see are bucks one of them a very very nice 10 point. So I whipped out my camera and took photos. When I noticed a doe come in half way between me and the feeder. I went ahead and took her. After sharing my story and phtos with the group back at camp. I was invited to join the lease the following year.

The way I look at it is. I was invited to hunt and for free the least I can do is follow any rules or guidelines given to me.

[tvc184]

I ask if he has binoculars, none. He borrows mine to look in the direction of his shots...he starts muttering somthing and I ask what he's talking about. He says "Now I see" and proceeds to have me look with the binocs to the target of his shooting. He says "See over there... that flaging on that tree, doesn't it look like deer antlers?". I turned white, and allmost fell out of the tree.

So, did he kill the tree?

[Jamesl]

That video was staged. One of the guys in the background shot the buck. Hillarious nonetheless.

On our ranch. People only shoot a buck with myself, my dad, or my brother in the stand.

Period. Keeps this conversation from ever happening.

Only way to prevent mistakes like that from happening.

[Artos]

TBH member PoacherPatrol has a great story that happended a couple of years ago on our lease.

He had a customer that he would let come out and take a doe every year and the guy was just a horrible shot & we really razzed pp over this deal with the babysitting. We tried getting the hunter calmed down at the bench this one year and seemed to be shooting better. Anyway, his one anual trip came up again and PP drops him and his son off at one of our big community blinds and parks the jeep maybe 20 yards away as the light is coming up.

pp is almost back to the blind when he sees a rifle poking out the window and hunter motions him to stop & BAM!!!! pp walks up to sendero and nothing...asks if he shot at a doe or coyote and hunters says 'biggest buck i've ever seen in my life!!' Well, myself and another hunter heard the shot but didn't hear any impact and looked in the area for another two days with no evidence of a hit. PP ends up having this account changed to another rep and really enjoys the vm from this guy wanting to come back out.

FWIW...you may want to walk to the blind with your questionable guests from now on.

[BTLowry]

Tis better to do/shoot what you are asked and be invited back than to screw up and never get invited again

The sad thing is that in many instances one guest screws up and it puts a stop on all guests

[Wac M Trac M]

Took my BIL out a few times and sat in the blind with him. He's from upstate NY..he did fine with me there so that evening I let him and his son sit alone while I went home to do some work at the house. Told them to shoot ONLY does and spikes

Around 6pm the ranchhand calls me and asks whats going on...what's going on??I ask. Yeah it sounds like world war 3 out in the back 80.

I head down there as the sun is setting 4 deer down. A 1.5yo 6pt, a forky, a young 8 and a button buck. I had to use my own buck tags to cover the huge mess up. What a mess..even worse the dad let his son out of the box blind to cover a nearby sendero..lots of shooting...uggh.

never again

[Wac M Trac M]

A friend told me this story..funny

He took a guy from work deer hunting. This guy he took never been hunting and is as ghetto as they come. He sets him up in a blind and hunts another stand nearby. Hears 3 shots..the gun he lent him only had three shells so he gets out and heads over. Before he gets there, he hears rapid fire and sees a hog run by. He sees the ghetto dude run by with hand guns in each hand tilted sideways ghetto style. He's shooting and yelling while running after hogs. he dumps 4 clips before he is stopped and never hit anything. ofcoarse