Question of fair Chase?

[saskfly]

Saw a photo last night of a dandy 170 class buck shot while fighting with a smaller buck. Was also shown video of the guys standing around the deer while the smaller buck was trying to free itself laughing and joking, taking pictures etc. Regardless, made my blood boil somewhat

My question is this, does shooting a deer while it is locked with another deer constitute fair chase or is it more a question of ethics?

IMHO I think stuff like this is fuel for the anti's cause.

[H380]

Saw a photo last night of a dandy 170 class buck shot while fighting with a smaller buck. Was also shown video of the guys standing around the deer while the smaller buck was trying to free itself laughing and joking, taking pictures etc. Regardless, made my blood boil somewhat

My question is this, does shooting a deer while it is locked with another deer constitute fair chase or is it more a question of ethics?

IMHO I think stuff like this is fuel for the anti's cause.

Funny this hould come up .. Saw a photo of 2 whiteys that were taken while locked together and this same question came up about them as well . As far as I am concerned it isn't fair chase cause they really couldn't get away . My opinion is shared by the P&Y scorer that shared the photo with me .. As for ethics , I have no problem with taking the animals and relieving their suffering and eventual slow death . They could maybe have been cught and released but as seems the case many of these bucks die from exhaustion anyway . From the original post , anybody that could stand around and laugh at 2 great creatures in such a bad situation is truly lacking a little compassion and respect for the bucks .

[KegRiver]

Saw a photo last night of a dandy 170 class buck shot while fighting with a smaller buck. Was also shown video of the guys standing around the deer while the smaller buck was trying to free itself laughing and joking, taking pictures etc. Regardless, made my blood boil somewhat

My question is this, does shooting a deer while it is locked with another deer constitute fair chase or is it more a question of ethics?

IMHO I think stuff like this is fuel for the anti's cause.

I suppose it depends on what activity he is involved in. Locking horns, Shoot.
Making Bambis, let him be.

But making sport of the other Deer's struggle is simply low class.

[catnthehat]

But making sport of the other Deer's struggle is simply low class.
X2!

Cat

[duffy4]

I recall reading in some magazine from Saskatchewan mostly about "Large Male Deer" about a fellow who shot a buck that was locked to another buck which was already dead and half eaten by coyotes. I forget whether the buck was not accepted by B&C as fair chase or if the fellow did not enter it because he did not feel it was fair chase.

[Elk Hunter17]

Was this the one taken from the Whitecourt area? Because I saw this same thing this weekend.

[CNR]

We came across locked bucks years ago and my dad and a buddy were happy to claim them. They weren't no booners just average deer. But they made a fantastic mount! Fair chase ...... nope! Just made the best out of a bad deal.

[duffy4]

I had an interesting experience some years back. Hunting with muzzleloader in Camp Wainwright I was watching some holes in the big fence (kind of tunnels under it actually). A nice buck came out of the bush and headed for a hole and I shot at him. He went down out of sight and the fence started shaking and rattling.

I walked over the rise between us and there he was standing on the other side of the fence with his antlers caught up in the wire and he was trying to shake free.

As I thought I had put a hole in him already I fired again and then loaded and fired again. There was a little blood visible on his neck. Before I could reload for another shot he shook free and ran off. There was a little blood in the snow so I got permission from F&W and the land owner to follow up the deer outside the camp.

The story got out and I was accused of being a low life for shooting at a deer that was caught up by the antlers and defenceless (no pun intended).

There was never more that a little red sugary snow in a few places along his trail and I finally lost his track.

[209x50]

To me it is clearly fair chase. There was human no interference that created the situation.

[Rantastic]

It's fair chase if it was not trapped by human intervention. Personal ethics are all you have to go by, your own, not of others, because etyhics vary person to person. I would shoot, but laughing at the small deer trying to get free sounds alot like kicking a scared homless person while he is down on his luck.
Not cool, not even a little. I would help out how I could, trying to free the small deer. Laugh about it later over the campfire, after he is safe and gone, not while he is in trouble. JMO

[Rantastic]

Its the same type of fair chase as finding the rack of a winter/cougar/wolf kill, then scoring it... you didn't kill it in fair chase... you took advantage of the animals unfortunate situation and made it into a positive, but did not cause the situation.

[sh9683]

as a human you ddid nothing to trap them. it is fair chase. i probably woul dnot shoot them if they are in the middle of a fight because of the possibility of one getting stuck to the other, and you only have one tag that can be used for a buck.

[H380]

How can you guys think this is fair chase when the animal clearly can't get away ? Correct no human created the problem , but would you think the same if he was caught in brush, stuck out on ice , etc .? The fact is the 2 are trapped and can't escape , hardly fair .

[H380]

I recieved a response on this topic from Jack Reneau , the director of Boone and Crockett records and according to Boone and Crockett .. animals that are locked together though legally taken are ineligible to be entered as hunter taken trophies , as outlinined in their fair chase affidavit . They can only be entered as picked up .

[ishootbambi]

I recieved a response on this topic from Jack Reneau , the director of Boone and Crockett records and according to Boone and Crockett .. animals that are locked together though legally taken are ineligible to be entered as hunter taken trophies , as outlinined in their fair chase affidavit . They can only be entered as picked up .

that would be new then....i have seen a record book with entries that were taken when found locked....the stories were in big buck mag.

i dont see a problem with it myself. ive never heard of fish and wildlife not issuing a permit to keep one either. has anyone else?

[saskfly]

Interesting responses guys and thanks for the honesty.

I guess it does boil down to ones personal ethics and morals. Would I look down on someone for shooting two locked bucks? Absolutely not, I believe to each their own, and like previously posted, its legal. I haven't crossed paths with locked deer but if I did and one of them was a true monarch I know I would definitely have a moral dilemma. I have already been burnt by this this season as I was within 50yds of what appeared to be a so so buck. I never had a good line of site on his antlers so was having a tough time judging him. At one point I had the cross hairs on the boiler room but didn't squeeze as it was day 2 of the season and I wasn't ready to tag out on what could have potentially been a smaller buck (he appeared to have great mass with heaight but couldn't get a take on his points). When I was eventually busted by a doe I finally got a good look at him as he ran straight down the cutline away from me. He was Mr.Big (GIANT 5x5). I could have put one right up his pooper if I didn't let my morals get me.

I would hope, if the day ever comes, that when I do harvest a great deer it is on my terms. A clean ethical kill shot...no moral guess work.

Good luck to everyone and may the hunting Gods favour you this November!!