[fabsroman]

I hate those bastards all the way around. Don't get me wrong, I hunt hard but I obey the laws. It wasn't always like that, but I was younger and wasn't taught otherwise.

In my profession, I see people trying to bend the rules and others that break them completely. I just wish we had enough law enforcement and IRS agents to inforce everything.

Okay, that is my rant on the shooting over the limit and shooting out of season.

Regarding the civility of the whole thing, that pisses me off too, just not as bad. I used to dove hunt with a group of my dad's and uncles friends. Those guys would call every bird as their own. I would shoot a bird, see it crumple, hear them fire, and then watch them go out and pick up the bird. They never even asked if I got it or not. If I were to knock down a bird without anybody else shooting and it was only clipped, these guys would keep it if they got to it before me, it tried to fly away, and they shot it.

Back then, it was fine with me because I got to shoot all day instead of just for a couple of hours and I didn't want to argue over a dove. Still don't want to argue over a dove, duck, or goose. I have thought about the scenario of arguing over a big buck and probably would call the game warden if there was an issue.

The game laws are a little grey on what counts as your bag limit. I have heard some game wardens say that wounded birds count, others say that downed birds count even if you cannot retrieve them, and still others say that only the ones reduced to your possession count. For instance, whose bag limit does that bird count toward? The person that knocked it down or the person that finished it off and took it home? I would guess the latter.

At the end of the day, I think everybody should offer the recovered game to the initial shooter and let the initial shooter decide if he/she wants it. To me, killing a wounded bird isn't sporty at all and it should be given back to the first shooter.

Now, what about a wounded buck? There is a ton of grey area here. Was the first shot a mortal shot, would the first shooter have been able to recover the buck if it weren't for the second shooter (i.e., would the buck have gone across the county before dying), for close were the two shooters to each other, how long could the buck have lived after the first shot? Believe it or not, there is actually case law on this in some states.