Unethical shots

I have extended family members that wound numerous (3 -7) deer a year with a bow that they don't find. I'm not exagerating and the number is probably more some years. It makes me sick. I know they practice and are actually pretty good shots at paper. I just don't know if they get too excited or take poor shots. Even after making a bad shot they jump on the blood right away which usually results in chasing the deer until they lose the blood and never find it. I personally would hang up my bow but it doesn't seem to phase these guys. It p****s my Dad, my brother and I off terribly but there isn't much to be said without causing a big riff in the family. We've tried thowing out some very obvious hints but it doesn't help. How would you guys handle this?

Good luck, be safe and shoot straight

dodgeman_29

Are you hunting the same property? If so I would speak my mind and tell them how I feel about it. There's nothing wrong with that. Ya you might **** them off a little but at least you'll get it off your chest and have some kind of closure with it. If the're not hunting the samme property as you then I would leave it alone and just not talk about hunting when I'm around them.
I'm just one of those people that will tell you how I feel no matter what. Good or bad you'll know where I'll stand. If they choose not to do anything about how they hunt, then that's thier problem not yours. Good luck in your quest to help them out.

Hunt Hard, Hunt Safe and enjoy what you got in life
Paul Snyder
LM NAHC,NRA,SCI,DU

I'm not gonna pretend that I know the dynamics of your family but I can tell you that my dad and I got a lot of my cousins and friends into bowhunting for elk. They would do similiar mistakes like with your family. Most of it was usually just nerves getting to them. We ended up telling pretty much all of them to call us or come get one of us as soon as they shot something. This gave the animal time enough to go bed down if it was a poor shot. Then when we did start tracking the animal my dad and I would try to show them the difference between a "good" blood trail and one that needed some more time. As far as getting them to control their nerves and take good, clean shots.............. I dunno. To this day I still get excited, but USUALLY I realize it and force myself to slow down and take my time. I agree with you though, 3-7 deer a year is WAAAAAYYYYY too many animals to be wounding and/or not finding. If I lose one animal it makes my stomach turn for weeks.

Kraig Osborne
Hunter since birth, NAHCLM, USN

Just to throw this out there it's uncles and cousins that I'm talking about here. We don't hunt the same property but it's not the point of them screwing me up, it's the lack of respect for the animals. I hate to see any animal go to waste or suffer. That's why this bothers me so much. I've said this before and I'll say it again, my Dad raised my brothers and I to respect what we hunt, don't shoot unless you can make a clean, quick kill and don't waste anything. I've lived by that and always will. I don't claim to be perfect. I've lost a couple of deer and like Kraig said, it made me sick to my stomach. These guys seem to have no concious. It amazes me that we can be so different even though we all grew up hunting together. I guess I'll have to dance around the subject when we get together at Christmas. Thanks for the advice fellas.

Good luck, be safe and shoot straight

dodgeman_29

If they lack an ethical attitude like you are mentioning, I don't believe I would be getting together with them for Christmas or anything else.  Wounding that many animals in a lifetime is terrible and you are talking about on a yearly basis!  That is very sad and I guess I wouldn't call them hunters or want to admit they are relatives.  That's my take on it and as most who have been on these Forums any length of time know, I tell it like I feel and don't mince words! 

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06

I feel absolutely horrible when I can not recover an animal that I have shot whether it be with my bow or smokepole. I do everything that I can to include the old saying, "When in doubt, back out". I have been on my hands and knees looking and trailing animals that on occassion have just dissappeared, but I have done all that I could to find the animal. We as hunters OWE them that much. It does happen but to just chalk it up as oh well, let's go get another one and maybe this one will fall is a bit sad in my opinion. Attitudes such as those would have to be dealt with firmly. JMO

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

I agree whole heartedly with all you guys. It makes me absolutely sick. Like the saying goes, you can pick your friends but not your relatives. As far as not getting together with them at Christmas because of it, well, I'm not going to ruin our tradition of the whole family getting together at my Grandmother's house because a couple of them are a**holes. I'll deal with it in my own way. Thanks for your opinions.

Good luck, be safe and shoot straight

dodgeman_29