ORIGINAL: Outdoor Adventures

Shooting a protected buck is a mistake plain and simple and will probaly cost you $500 if caught. Probaly why some guys would rather let them rot and go look to shoot another.

 
You simply either don’t know at all what you are talking about or you are just doing your best to mislead people into doing something that causes them to get in big trouble for not reporting a mistake kill.
 
We handle hundreds of mistake kills every year and very few of them get charged with anything more than a $25.00 mistake if they tag and report the kill as the law requires. Generally the ones that get charged with an illegal deer are the ones that sneak it home, doesn’t report it and then tries to claim it was a mistake when the WCO shows up. Yes, there have been a few others that claimed mistake that I didn’t accept like the guy sneaking a big ten point out in the middle of the night that he claimed he had thought was an antlerless deer, (because that was the only tag he had left). The tracks in the snow around the kill site didn’t come even close to the story he told. I have charged a few others with an illegal deer, instead of a mistake, when they took the deer home, skinned it and butchered it without bothering to report it as a mistake until I showed up. Yes I believe some of them did make a mistake when they shot it but they made an even bigger mistake when they gambled on not getting caught with it after they failed to report it as a mistake kill.
 
Even when we find it was pretty careless of them not to have counted the points correctly we accept them as a mistake unless there are other factors that indicate it was simply an illegal kill, someone saw them and turning them in or they simply failed to report it as a mistake until the WCO was knocking on their door. And, yes those that leave it laying the woods and fail to report it as a mistake are ALWAYS going to get charged with an illegal deer when we are able to prove they shot it, and you would probably be surprised at how easy that is sometimes.
 
R.S. Bodenhorn      

ORIGINAL: RSB

ORIGINAL: Outdoor Adventures

Shooting a protected buck is a mistake plain and simple and will probably cost you $500 if caught. Probably why some guys would rather let them rot and go look to shoot another.

You simply either don’t know at all what you are talking about or you are just doing your best to mislead people into doing something that causes them to get in big trouble for not reporting a mistake kill.
 
We handle hundreds of mistake kills every year and very few of them get charged with anything more than a $25.00 mistake if they tag and report the kill as the law requires. Generally the ones that get charged with an illegal deer are the ones that sneak it home, doesn’t report it and then tries to claim it was a mistake when the WCO shows up. Yes, there have been a few others that claimed mistake that I didn’t accept like the guy sneaking a big ten point out in the middle of the night that he claimed he had thought was an antlerless deer, (because that was the only tag he had left). The tracks in the snow around the kill site didn’t come even close to the story he told. I have charged a few others with an illegal deer, instead of a mistake, when they took the deer home, skinned it and butchered it without bothering to report it as a mistake until I showed up. Yes I believe some of them did make a mistake when they shot it but they made an even bigger mistake when they gambled on not getting caught with it after they failed to report it as a mistake kill.
 
Even when we find it was pretty careless of them not to have counted the points correctly we accept them as a mistake unless there are other factors that indicate it was simply an illegal kill, someone saw them and turning them in or they simply failed to report it as a mistake until the WCO was knocking on their door. And, yes those that leave it laying the woods and fail to report it as a mistake are ALWAYS going to get charged with an illegal deer when we are able to prove they shot it, and you would probably be surprised at how easy that is sometimes.
 
R.S. Bodenhorn      

Good for you it's your job to catch those who intentionally break game laws. Some WCO do recognize a honest mistake and some don't. Tuna explained how his friend got screwed over for a honest mistake.I hear a lot of guys complaining about the antler regs. Probably why the PGC has once again changed the requirements. Outlaws will always be outlaws but when a honest hunter is forced to make a decision that could send him financially into a tail spin what do think the odds are of him reporting it hoping he gets an honest and understanding wco to investigate ? I would rarely find deer left to rot but now more and more are showing up. Why ?

Just wondering,In the case of the deer taken in the reason for this thread, since he saw nothing wrong with taking the 9 point buck,would he be perceived as "hiding the deer" or would a mistake killing penalty be in order?...WF

I have had many turned in as questionable and once I looked at it and had the hunter measure the antlers or points it turned out to be a legal harvest.

So you never gave a citation then for a questionable buck, ever, that was turned in ?

ORIGINAL: Outdoor Adventures

I have had many turned in as questionable and once I looked at it and had the hunter measure the antlers or points it turned out to be a legal harvest.

So you never gave a citation then for a questionable buck, ever, that was turned in ?

 
I have always given hunters the benefit of doubt when there was any doubt or question about the legality of the antlers. I have never cited anyone for an illegal deer when they turned in a mistake unless there were glaringly obvious reasons and supporting evidence to prove they only turned it in after they got caught with an illegal deer and then just tried using the mistake as a defense for what was obviously an intentional illegal kill.
 
R.S. Bodenhorn

ORIGINAL: RSB

ORIGINAL: Outdoor Adventures

I have had many turned in as questionable and once I looked at it and had the hunter measure the antlers or points it turned out to be a legal harvest.

So you never gave a citation then for a questionable buck, ever, that was turned in ?

I have always given hunters the benefit of doubt when there was any doubt or question about the legality of the antlers. I have never cited anyone for an illegal deer when they turned in a mistake unless there were glaringly obvious reasons and supporting evidence to prove they only turned it in after they got caught with an illegal deer and then just tried using the mistake as a defense for what was obviously an intentional illegal kill.
 
R.S. Bodenhorn

I answer I expected

The buck was NOT LEGAL it was the biggest 6PT I ever saw BY 6 PT I mean 2 huge brows and 2 huge forks on both sides,the left horn had 3 kicker below the brow tine all kicker where over and inch and 2 where 2 inches or better. Trouble is it did not have 3 points on the main beam excluding the brow,it only had 2 points per side.This deer may be 1 in a 100,because with all that main beam ANYBODY would have thought it would be legal.Funny thing about this the deer was driven to the 20 some year old kid(on the ground)by the older guy,so I'm guessing the kid didn't look it over to well.Them again some guys just don't read the rules,and the rules are sometimes not so clear.Go read the AR rules on page 45 and 53 do you think there clear? I think PGC should have had two different pages one for the 3 point area and one for the three and up area (as to not confuse anyone) Just my to cents.

There ya go folks more grey regs from the PGC. Now I know why many refere to the digest as the Comic book.

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Ok Trout how many points does this buck have and does he have browe tines ?

work at 8AM.. so that's enough of OA for me tonight .... 

In the first year of AR, there were some 55 odd cases in the state of PA that resulted in $500 fines for protected deer being shot. 35 of those were in WMU 1A. Seems like an abnormally high number to me.

As it turns out, people who turned themselves in and presented the deer to pgc personel expecting a $25 fine, were escorted back to the scene and a judgement call was made as to whether or not they should have been able to identify the deer.

Others who turned themselves in, were simply given a blanket statement. "The law says identify your target. Here's your $500 fine". No investigation period.

This type of "shoot from the hip" justice is what breeds distrust of the PGC as a whole. I really wish that there was much more PR training or people skills reqirements for the job. It would do wonders for the public image.

Yea it is a sad STATE to hunt in! I see a dink 5pt chasing a doe the last day at 20 yards THATS LEGAL,yea thats right 3 up and 2 up no brows,maybe a 10 inch spread.The kid kills a huge 6pt w/3 sticker over and inch under the brows and it's not.You got to love Ohio,Ny,and WV. I just might hunt Ohio the first day of gun season and just go DEER HUNTING.

Just a thought about dead deer being found, maybe one finds less of them now because there is not many there to begin with. Could be a reason ....WF

Big Tuna I could not agree more PEE AYE sucks.Since AR I have found atleast 10 bucks left in the woods.One winter after hunting season I watched two Bucks together several times.They looked like twins the left sides had A big Y and A long brow tine the right was A huge looking spike.I know these racks were 3.5 years or older.The base of antlers were huge.Except for A junior hunter they would never be legal.These scrub bucks are left year to year to breed. Sorry but AR's do not work.Unless you have complete control to manage land.That means shooting undesirable deer so they do not breed.I did not hunt PEE Aye last year first time since 1965 I was 12 then. I will be moving out of this state in A year or so.I used to support the PGC but saddly this state has the stupidest game laws I have yet to read.Here is A example they want kids to start hunting.My Grandsons live in NC one is 2.5 one will be 1 next week.I bought both of them there hunting and fishing license for life in NC.It cost $375 for each child.They can always YES ALWAYS hunt or fish in NC even if they change residency.Dose PEE Aye offer anything like this? We all know the answer. Instead you have WCO's looking for leads to arrest hunters on this web site.Thats about the most tastless thing I ever heard from A WCO.But hey its PEE AYE. PGC tries to make as much money from Fines and Anterless Tags as they can.This state is losing hunters faster than any other I wonder why? See YA in Ohio or WV. Go DEER HUNTING and Good LUCK!

ORIGINAL: surffishn

Big Tuna I could not agree more PEE AYE sucks.Since AR I have found atleast 10 bucks left in the woods.One winter after hunting season I watched two Bucks together several times.They looked like twins the left sides had A big Y and A long brow tine the right was A huge looking spike.I know these racks were 3.5 years or older.The base of antlers were huge.Except for A junior hunter they would never be legal.These scrub bucks are left year to year to breed. Sorry but AR's do not work.Unless you have complete control to manage land.That means shooting undesirable deer so they do not breed.I did not hunt PEE Aye last year first time since 1965 I was 12 then. I will be moving out of this state in A year or so.I used to support the PGC but saddly this state has the stupidest game laws I have yet to read.Here is A example they want kids to start hunting.My Grandsons live in NC one is 2.5 one will be 1 next week.I bought both of them there hunting and fishing license for life in NC.It cost $375 for each child.They can always YES ALWAYS hunt or fish in NC even if they change residency.Dose PEE Aye offer anything like this? We all know the answer. Instead you have WCO's looking for leads to arrest hunters on this web site.Thats about the most tastless thing I ever heard from A WCO.But hey its PEE AYE. PGC tries to make as much money from Fines and Anterless Tags as they can.This state is losing hunters faster than any other I wonder why? See YA in Ohio or WV. Go DEER HUNTING and Good LUCK!

+1 !!!!!!!!!!