The One That Got Away

[Swede]

An elk hunter from your camp comes in at noon with a story about wounding an elk. It was probably hit in the paunch from what you can decipher. He says he looked all morning for it, but was not able to track it down. He plans to hunt a different area that afternoon and when you say something about going with him to see if the two of you can locate it, he declines. What would you do? In the end the elk is not found and the shooter doesn't really care. His quote is "there are more where that came from".
What do you do or say, "partner"?

[Lsb]

We don't hunt together anymore

[Tigger]

there would be some uncomfortable conversations for sure. I cannot see anyone in my party doing that. But they would not be back the next year for sure.

[Swede]

Let me throw you curve on this. What if this was his first big game hunt? He hunted quail and rabbits in western North Carolina a couple of times, but this is his first real hunt. This guy is green as they come.

[Tigger]

Doesn't change my view at all. His attitude does not mesh with me or my group. I respect the game animals so much more than the quote where he says, "there are more where that came from".

[saddlesore]

I'd tell him we were going back to either find it or spend a lot of time looking for it.If he declines,tell him to pack his gear and head for home or else where

[Indian Summer]

I would do my best to go find that elk the rest of that day and all of the next and after that

We don't hunt together anymore

If you don’t respect the game you hunt you will NEVER see my camp again..... ever.

[Old school]

We obviously have a different set of values. I’d sit him down and do some splainin’. I’d let him know that I’m going to give up a precious day of hunting to try to recover his elk. And he has 2 choices - come with me and I’ll show him how to blood trail or he can pack up and start driving home.

-Mitch

[southernelk]

I would do my best to go find that elk the rest of that day and all of the next and after that

We don't hunt together anymore

If you don’t respect the game you hunt you will NEVER see my camp again..... ever.

I had that issue come up at deer camp years ago. took a fella from work hunting on our farm. heard him shoot so I went to help him look. it was dark by the time I got to him, so getting a good location of the deer from him was difficult. we looked for a few hours that night with no luck. got back to the cabin that night and I mentioned that we would go back in the morning and look some more. he basically said it was not worth it. well, after I made it clear where he was hunting his ass did go look with me the next morning. needless to say, he never came back.

[Elkduds]

That guy would absolutely have heard from me before the hunt, about ethical and legal topics including this. No slob hunters in my camp, they can leave or I will. It is illegal in CO to not make a reasonable search for a wounded animal.

I have no doubt that abandonment of ethics would hasten the end of sport hunting on public lands in the USA.

[Swede]

My fictitious man is a rookie. He has never hunted anything bigger than a rabbit. I am not trying to exonerate or vilify him. I just want to consider the possibilities. I think Elkduds and Old School have brought out some good points about educating newer hunters.
Pseudoman may have an attitude problem no doubt. I cannot hear his voice, and we just met yesterday. But, does he know not to take risky shots? Does he know what a risky shot is? Does he know enough to leave a wounded elk alone for several hours when they are hit in the guts? Does he know an elk shot in the guts is a dead elk? Does he know there are not just "more where that came from"? He may not see another this whole hunt.

I certainly agree if it is just a bad attitude at the core of the problem, don't hunt with him and don't encourage him to ever hunt again. I would not care to spend free time around a person with that little regard for a game animal. I believe there are a lot more hunters like Pseudoman than we would like to think exist. Over the years I have come to know a few, and most are just lazy. They know better, but it takes real effort to do the right thing.

[BrentLaBere]

There needs to be a lesson learned here and with all the knowledge I would assume it could be an easy one to teach. There is a hard line drawn in the sand if someone simply doesn't know and is willing to learn compared to the rookie hunter that doesnt care if he wounds animals with no effort to follow in the recovery. I dont think there is much middle ground here either.