The only thing I told both of them is that they would have to find a ride home if they shot a buck. Obviously I am not going to take the kid or leave the kid in Ballinger. But I would have left the dad there if he was flying solo.

I would have shot the horns off of that buck as soon as I saw them. I would have told the DB that since you and your family could no longer enjoy that animal, he darn sure wasn't get to keep it. He would have left my ranch right then and there, no questions asked. We would have packed up and been gone before the dust settled. Drop the DB off at the coach's house. Let him give the DB a ride home. This is a good example why I am very careful who I invite to my ranch. Man that makes my blood boil just reading it.

You were treated with total disrespect but there was no reason to make his child uncomfortable. No sense in billing him for the buck, he ain't going to pay for it. that's a tough lessen to learn. Some people deserve a good old fashioned butt whoop'n.

No amount of $'s or work will replace that buck.
$1200 wouldn't make me or my wife happy he didn't control himself and turned from a dad taking his son hunting into a typical antler crazed "hunter".

Of course before your wife had a chance at him a neighbor might have shot him, or, he could've just wandered off never to be seen again like deer do

You said yes when asked by the coach if his friend could come along.
IMHO at that point he became a guest just like the coach was. You could've said no.
If the guy that shot him was never on the property the buck would still be around and alive, maybe.

It's sad to see what a set of antlers will do to a person on either side of a situation like this.




Antlers.
For decades creating hard feelings, ruining friendships, causing no guest policies and higher hunting access prices, building more high fences than the illegal immigrant problem and the #1 cause of poaching.

It's all antler insanity.

This thread has probably soured a few landowners against inviting people to hunt on their place. Of those that have seen this I wonder how many landowners will invite someone without making sure all of the rules are written and signed off on?

In this case, you probably will have to write it off as experience, lesson learned. Tighten the screws on stupidity before there is a chance of them getting loose.

Agreed. He was a guest. You are absolutely right about never knows. Had I not split them up Dad/son this story would be different all the way around.

BTW we coached together on the same team. So it wasnt like I was trying for favors. Just happened to be one of the first dudes we met when we moved.

Tough situation I wouldn't want to be in your boots.
My wife would expect me to make another nice buck materialize out of thin air.

To me friends and taking kids hunting are more important than antlers.
IMO when you forget that you start down a path of putting a value on things that in the big picture don't mean squat.

wow. thats pretty sad. i don't even know what to say. i can tell you that you were a hell of a lot nicer then i would have been. just goes to show that some people are idiots, and somehow, even faced with biligerant idiocy, some people can maintain total compsure. kudos to you my friend. let us know how it turns out

Just like the above post....Kudos to you for not flying off of the handle. I would and have in similar situations. Would not have been a pretty sight. Too late now, the buck is dead. I doubt you will recover anything from it's loss!
That is why I invite NO ONE!!

I don't think I would of been able to restrain myself is someone was that big of idiot on my place even if his kid was there. That's just unbelievable. $1200 is a drop in the bucket for what he should have to pay you

Anytime someone asks if they can invite someone after they have been invited, I have something come up and cancel the entire trip. I would have the guy sign something that obligates him to pay and let him know that there are other owners involved that want to be compensated for the ranch's loss. After getting my money, there would be no more social exchange with this POS. Might better check his bags and see if he took some of the silverware or went through anybody's billfold while everyone was asleep. No real difference. He stole something that is irreplaceable.

We invite people, but it has to be someone you know you can trust before you get there. The only friends of mine that have come hunting on our place are people I roomed with in college, lived with them for 4 years, hunted together. I dont have a worry in the world with them.

Weather the other guy was a guest or not is no question, you said he could come he is a guest. I think you did no wrong, how were you suposed to know he was going to do what he did. I sure think you could have some legal recourse on him, especialy because you kept your composure, if you would have blown out of control then I think it would be a lost cause.

Like the other fella said, Shooting him would be a bad call and I wouldnt, I would be really mad though, and would be getting something out of him.

matt

That's a tough one. Since you apparently have several witnesses who could testify that you gave clear instructions and rules to that guy, I think you should take him to small claims court. If you send him a bill, he won't pay you. Take him to small claims court and get a judgement against him. A judgement does not force him to pay you immediately, but he will have to pay you before he buys or sells property. He cannot close on a property deal until the judgement is paid off.

Whether he pays you or not, their is no way in he11 he would get to keep the deer.

So what did this guy have to say for himself anyway?

I'd also like to hear what he told you for why "only shoot does" wasn't clear to him.

I'm sure all of us want to hear the answer to this one.

I had a similar thing happen a few years ago. Talked to a friend about hunting and she made the comment about getting her son into it. Worked out to have the Dad & 10 y.o. son come out to see if he could get a deer. They asked to bring another boy, so I said sure. Well, it wound up being the two Dads with guns, planning to do all the shooting. At the time we needed to thin some does so I went through the same speech you did. I even told one guy that there was a 1.5 y.o. 7-point that I was seeing every day that he would likely see.

Couple of hours later -boom, boom, boom! The second Dad & son come out of the creek telling us about this big buck he just shot. It was the 7-point and this jackass had the nerve to ask if he should get it mounted. I restrained myself, too, but let him know he peed in the punchbowl. Oh, they offered to take us to dinner and all that b.s. I told the Mom that I started the conversation with initially how pissed I was and she said she would make sure they did something about it. Neither of which never happened.

So, that soured me on guests, too.

I would get on the coaches back about his buddy and tell him in no uncertain terms that you expect to be compensated and see what his reaction is.

That is at the top of the most selfish things a hunter can do. What is wrong with people? How can someone be so friggin' selfish?
I mean what? Really? REALLY?

The person i feel sorry for ,is your wife
That could have been her once in a lifetime big buck kill, and you can never replace the memories that ya'll would share, after the kill
Now as far as the $$ goes, i agree that he should be responsible enough to pay monitary damages(same as poaching in my book)set forth by the state, but honestly dont think you will ever recover any $ for the buck, sorry JMO
The coach shouldnt have ever invited his friend and son either, that was Very Disrespectful of him

This is nothing in comparison to what "friends" will do but I had a slightly similar situation where a friend that claimed to have hunted before shot the first night. Major case of ground shrinkage as I drove by to pick him up.. I picked up his kill with one hand.

ugh

i would have kept his buck, and made him pay

That was my thought when you said they were seeing deer and not shooting. He knew exactly what he was doing. The bad thing is you know you will never see any money. Jerk

I would have canceled the trip when the coach asked someone else to go. Once the man shot the deer, I would charge him the $1200.00 which is a fair price. If there is reatliation at school by the coach, I would be to the school board in a heartbeat

# 1 rule I have always followed is one invitee can never bring another on a deer hunt unless it is a fee based hunt. Maybe a dove hunt but that is it after many questions and licenses are checked. No deer or turkey ever, period... Heck, I have guys with fishing holes and if you invite someone else, you will never be invited back yourself. You were way to generous yourself so live and learn I suppose. Who knows what the idiot was thinking.