No one WANTS to make a bad shot, but even the best of us do it sometimes. It’s what we do after the shot that makes the difference, and as I’ve said before, Tom and Nolan did exactly the right thing… they stayed after this deer until it was brought to hand.

Tom, it was a pleasure hunting with you and your son (and your grandson), and I look forward to our next opportunity! Hope ya’ll can make it again next year.

Let me start by thanking you and Dave for a wonderful life long experience. My motive in selecting to hunt this year at Coon Camp Springs was three fold:
1. To assist with the restoration of the area. I know that the funds go back into developing the environment and restoring the natual habitat.
2. I have hunted all my life on and off with my son and at the age of 62, I thought it would be a very nice opportunity to spend time together as we did when we were both younger.
3. My family much prefers natural wild meat. No hormones, additives, colors or perservatives. Mugs addresses the slaughter houses. It does little to make comparisons, but the tracking time that ultimately bagged our buck, pales to the torture and abuse our commerical beef, poultry and pork endure.

For point of clarification, I took no pleasure missing my shot. I can reflect back several years ago, my first buck was a much better shot. In the early 60’s my boss and I were hunting coastal deer. Coastal deer are not very big, but very evasive. A buck jumped up in front of my boss and he could not get a clean shot. The buck jumped to my right and headed straight down the hill to a logging landing. I took my same 270 at about 200 yards and dropped the buck. I amined and hit the buck directly behind the head. A clean and quick shot. There have been several in between this recent hunt.

In preparation for the hunt, I made careful preparation in conditioning and sighting in my rifle. Three weeks prior to the hunt, I shot a box of shells at target practice. Once I adjusted the scope, several shots were within center target at 100 yards. As you know, you and Dave required an additional sighting at 100 yards at the camp. As I recall, I was just 1 to 2 inches low of center. With that we all headed back to camp waiting for the next day’s hunt.

My shot at the 4×4 was just as Phillip described. I will add my thoughts. It was very windy and cold. I was out in front as Phillip described and he had to slow me down a bit. As we turned toward the forest, I spotted a very large deer, from the shoulders back. I could not see the head. When I first scoped the deer, I was very steady and had a perfect shot at the heart. I asked both Nolan and Phillip if it was a buck. Nolan said that it was huge and it must be a buck. That was not good enough, and I kept waiting to hear from Phillip. What seemed like a few minutes, but was probably shorter, both Nolan and Phillip responded, but with the wind I could not hear clearly what they said. I then made a cautious move, but one that turned badly for my shot. I turned over my right shoulder to read Phillips lips or hear him more clearly. Once I confirmed that it was a buck, I turned back quickly and by doing so, pulled my left arm down enough to miss my mark. No excuses here, just an explanation on why I missed the mark. An important learning experience.

I must let Mugs know, that I had pledged never to hunt again, if we were unable to ultimately secure the buck. I felt if I could not make a clean shot that resulted in a clean kill, I needed to rethink my hunting skills. I had equally pledged, that we were not going to give up on the tracking. We did spent hours in the pursuit, and I am proud of my son and Phillip for staying with me. There was no giving up on anyone’s part. Ultimately, the buck ended up at buck camp under snowing conditions.

I know that many hunters hunt for the sport and that is fine with me. My motives were listed above. For thanksgiving, I will feel good about providing my family with meat that is clean of additives that are in many cases harmful to the body.

Whereby I am not happy or pleased with my poor shot, I am pleased that we ultimately stayed with the tracking. Most importantly to me is that I waited for a clear communication from the guide. My turning did pull my shot off, but it was very important to me that I was shooting at a buck and I needed the confirmation before I fired.

Best Regards,

Tom Henry

Your thoughtful and respectful response to the editors “polite” answers to your accusations were commendable.

And as the editor here says, your opinions will ultimately remain the same no matter which direction the conversation tends to run.
But, being polite and not sarcastic will keep the dialog at a nicely flowing pace, I can assure you though that had you visited my blog, I would not have been so tactful,patient nor nice!

I think the bottom line is that every aspect of this sport is unacceptable to you, and I can appreciate that as your own movie. These are the lines you’ve drawn to live your life.

But recognizing that, I also understand that in your criticism, you’re trying to leverage the aspects of the sport that are most vulnerable, like prying at a scab until it bleeds. Every negative example you point out is something that the majority of hunters are trying to bring to an end… the kids shooting songbirds, the idiots who shoot first and check the target later, and so on and so forth. There are a lot of them out there, no doubt, but the rest of us are making an effort to weed these people from the community.

The difference is, and what lets most of us continue to hunt, is that we recognize those aberrations and we know that they are not us. Fortunately, the majority of non-hunters recognize it too. It’s not a filter I apply. It’s simply the way it is.

Yes, there are still losses, and unrecovered animals and birds (especially birds). Most of us reconcile it with ourselves in some way or other, generally by trying as hard as we can to avoid those losses, but I also know that none of our justifications or deferrals will really make a difference to your opinion. It’s something we live with. If I could explain it in a better, more appealing way, I would, but that’s really it. It’s not perfect, but as I’ve said before, who among us is?

I won’t argue about commercial meat and slaughter operations. Don’t eat it, know all about it first hand.

The only thing I will take the time to challenge is the rarity of injured but not collected animals. I suspect that you have never ever in a million years left an animal you can track. But in as much as I’m putting my non-hunter’s filter on hunting, I think you’re also putting your responsible hunter’s filter on a wide disparity of humans who have no such qualms wounding or otherwise shooting like fools. Or even shooting responsibly but still injuring, as in duck hunting. To me, that’s an unacceptable effect of a sport that’s engaged in for fun. That’s the bottom line (I believe) for a lot of us, but I’m only speaking for myself.

As I mentioned in my first post, I’m an old country soul. So besides being around hunting and killing more than I wish I had been, I’ve come upon quite a few shot, wounded or otherwise deliberately harmed animals during hunting season. Including “incidental” take like cats, horses and goats. I know. That’s not “hunting.” But I’ve heard more than one young or ignorant hunter brag about the shots they take and the animals they shoot that I guarantee you, most hunters wouldn’t find acceptable. Oh, and I can’t even count the many, many squirrels and songbirds just left after being shot off their perches, often shot by kids whose hunting parents think it’s great idea to set them loose with a BB gun or these days, air guns.

A turkey with an arrow is an anomaly in a residential development, to be sure. But believe it or not, there was a similar incident last turkey hunting season near this area. And one before that. It’s adjacent to unincorporated open space which is where we suspect these poor turkeys are being hunted (or rather, wounded) legally (or that’s what I’m assuming until I learn otherwise). I wish the people shooting at these animals could see what happens because of their carelessness or bravado. Living with the consequences of the injury and suffering one has created should be part of the training. I know it’s not. But it should be. But show me a hunter who wants to put any more restrictions or mandates on hunting and I’ll show you a hunter who’s about to hang it up. Like my duck hunting friend, but that’s another story.

I can’t wait to hear Nolan’s story.

But first, disprove what Riddle said.

See, it’s a two-way street, isn’t it? And who will ever “prove” that animals feel pain the same as we do? Much of what has been ascribed to “self-awareness” has been logically challenged as nothing more than conditioning and training… or simple projection.

Hell, for that matter, who is to say that all humans feel pain the same? Many soldiers, wounded in battle, have said that they didn’t even feel the injury when it occurred. The same has been said by individuals wounded by accidental gunfire.

That’s pure academic theorizing at this point, and really, the fact is, you’re dead right on the key question. The question of how hunters can go out and do what we do when we know there’s a risk of causing pain and injury is a big one. I don’t have the answer to it. Yet I also feel, as deeply as a human can feel about anything so esoteric, that it’s still right. That’s the bottom line right there.

Hunters accept that risk, and then try pretty hard to mitigate it. I think that the vast majority of non-hunters, on the other hand, have no inkling of the amount of suffering perpetrated on their behalf, simply because they’re unwilling or unable to do it for themselves. If most of them saw the things that happen in the slaughterhouse, dairy farms, or poultry farm, they’d be aghast… not to mention what happens to “vermin” and “pests” in the name of agriculture, housing development, and highway transportation.

But this isn’t an “us vs. them” discussion, really. I don’t mean to set hunters up as somehow “better” than non-hunters or anything like that. I’m just saying that, in general, we do recognize the realities of life and death… and the suffering that’s attached.

And I think it’s a good thing for any hunter to challenge himself or herself on your point. How DO we feel about the possibility that we’re causing this terrible pain? Maybe a deeper consideration of that would make some folks stop before they do stupid things, like taking crazy long shots, flock shooting, or using a weapon that isn’t adequate for the job.

For what it’s worth, I think that you underestimate “most” hunters if you don’t think that the majority would have tracked that deer as hard as we did in this case. Some have less skill than others, which is a shame, and they would have failed at the task.

The thing is, my experience, and those of other hunters, isn’t limited to what we read (or write) on this blog either. For my own part, I’ve shared the field with literally hundreds of other hunters, and I couldn’t even tell you how many I’ve corresponded with over the years. The opinions and ethics run the gamut, but by and large you’ll find that not many of them would willingly leave that turkey running around with an arrow through it.

It strikes me that some folks think simple persistence is all it takes to find a wounded animal. When non-hunters find an animal that may (or may not) have been wounded by hunters, they automatically assume that someone shot it and just left it. The more likely case is that the hunter tried and failed. That doesn’t make it better, perhaps, in the eyes of someone like yourself, but that is the truth of it. And those who won’t try are scorned as much by hunters as by anyone else. That’s the truth as well.

I’ll add that I do believe that there should be certain regulations requiring competency. Many states actually do require bowhunters to pass a basic skills test, and this is a trend that is gaining acceptance. Competency is also becoming a standard part of hunter safety training in some places… where resources are available. It’s a lot more complicated than simply saying “this is the new rule,” though.

And really, it’s a damned shame that this should be the state of things, because there was a time when competency with your weapon was a point of pride, and most kids were taught early to shoot before they were allowed to hunt. With the urbanization of this country (and due in no small part to the efforts of anti-hunters), these traditions are failing. As a result, we’re seeing more hunters take to the woods without mentors and without the traditional ethics.

Things aren’t perfect in the world of sport hunting, and they never were. But even within our community, we’re struggling to find an ethical standard, because we DO recognize our humanity and we DO see that there is a responsibility here beyond our own desires. Personally, I believe that in many cases we’re going overboard as apologists, and to appease the folks who don’t understand our sport, but I do think we have a responsibility to kill cleanly and quickly, to follow up as best we can if we fall short. I’m also confident that this is a majority opinion among hunters.

You can’t use exceptions to disprove a rule, Mugs. That turkey you keep referring to is not the norm, and you know as well as I. It is exceptional, and that’s why it stands out to all of us.

First, I appreciated the responses.

Second, I’d say prove it (to the above quote). Yes, you would tell me the same. The difference is, you can’t prove they don’t feel the pain we do, and the burden is on you to do so if you’re going to inflict injury and rationalize it based on that assessment.

In fact, some biologists are taking a completely different tack these days, speculating that we’ve long underestimated animals on many levels, including their ability to feel pain as we do. Even pigeons are now known to be self aware (recognizing themselves in mirrors), distinguishing between artists and works of art, etc. These are things we didn’t previously “know” and I would argue that we overestimate how much we do know. Animals can’t tell us. And we use that against them, unfortunately.

I’m sorry but I’ve seen animals in agony. They do suffer incredible physical pain and fear. Often, animals are stoic so people will interpret their responses as non-feeling. But you’re hunters — ever seen a badly aimed bow on a deer and how the deer reacts? People say deer don’t cry out. How about a bow-hunted turkey, anchored to the spot? My experience isn’t limited to what I read in this blog post. But the post saddened me deeply because it just reinforced in writing what I’ve sadly learned in my life. I was looking for hunting season information to see if the turkey hunting in my area is legal. I’m always dismayed at what I find.

By the by, I didn’t miss the point about tracking the deer and I agree with you — you are better than most for doing what you did and do. At the same time, I often hear “we left the deer until morning when we could better track it.” It’s not anthropomorphizing to suggest that deer suffered a great deal in those hours the hunters were away. I know you’ll never be able to explain to me in a satisfactory way, but I can’t fathom how one could go and eat dinner and have a few laughs when you know an animal you shot — whose life is in your hands — is languishing in the dark with that type of injury.

For me, that’s the inherent problem with sport hunting. It’s an elective injury that often (not always) but often does not relate in any way to necessity. And it can be handled any which way, as the writer Phillip says. You can choose to track the animal or not. It should be a mandate. I mean you take it upon oneself to take a life. And then, you have the freedom to choose whether or not you carry out that mission? I think we humans ought to be better than that. I know you’ll disagree, you’ll argue for a hunter’s freedom, a hunter’s choice. I think life and death matters should be more grave than that.

But again, the turkey with the arrow in its side is fresh in my mind, as he’s still wandering about. We’ll probably only be able to retrieve him once he’s so sick from the infection that he can no longer be saved. That hunter didn’t do what Phillip did — didn’t take the “sport” seriously enough to realize it was probably a bad shot and that turkey hunting with a bow is a very tricky thing. I personally think turkey bowhunting should be illegal. There’s no easy way to kill a turkey with a bow and there’s no licensing stipulating one needs to have the competence to shoot at them. There are no regulations about how adept one has to be to shoot at living things. That to me is just plain wrong. Whether you believe animals have feelings or not.