I shot a hen!

Status
Not open for further replies.
TimJ said:
Do you hunt with a dog? It's not that unlikely. Knowing what my GWP has done makes me think that it happens very often with labs and springers. Heck I even grabbed 2 roosters last year by hand just to see if I could. Wild birds, just buried under cattails and snow.

Last fall I flushed a hen that flew 75 yards and collided with a power line. A couple other hunters saw it happen, they were as surprised as I was. They had just recently talked to the CO about keeping a dog caught hen, they were told in no uncertain words to never have a hen in possession. No matter how it dies.

Tim
Click to expand...

Yup hunt with two of the most active spaniels you will ever see. I know it can happen. Hasn't with mine as they tend to flush, not grab.

In the scenario you state, you did absolutely nothing wrong as long as you didn't take the bird into possession. It's the same as hitting it with your truck. Remember, I am not advocating taking the bird into possession when accidentally shot, just report it and let the CO decide and show anyone watching that you have morals. Last word I will say, just let me defer back to the certified instructor who posted earlier, tell him he is wrong. Are any of you Norwegian?
 
If states would post what the fine will be for accidently shooting a hen, and when it occurs you could mail your fine in with your 12 year old watching, and sleep better knowing that you have paid your fine and the state can use part of the money to purchase another hen and use the rest for hunter education or wildlife habitat. I think for hunters would do this instead of just letting the coyotes be the benefactor of their mistake.
 
Accidents happen and you man up and do the right thing and hope the officer understands. Failure to do so, is wanton waste and will lead to an even bigger citation if caught. It is also unethical to shoot a bird and leave it lay. Hell these days, you never know who is watching and you may become the next poster child in an anti hunting ad.
 
BlaserD said:
its a bird, yes beuatiful and majestic but a bird, everyone one of you saying you would call the CO would be better off just donating some money every year to fish and wildlife, but absolutely no reason to stop a hunt or inconvience them when they have bigger problems...just my 2 cents:10sign:
Click to expand...


It is not your position to decide whether or not they have bigger issues to deal with. Using that logic, why even have the law. You notify the CO and let them decide.
 
"If states would post what the fine will be for accidently shooting a hen, and when it occurs you could mail your fine in with your 12 year old watching, and sleep better knowing that you have paid your fine and the state can use part of the money to purchase another hen and use the rest for hunter education or wildlife habitat. I think for hunters would do this instead of just letting the coyotes be the benefactor of their mistake."

Bingo. This is a great conversation. I've heard this same conversation many times in a duck blind. In that last big incoming flock of ducks, someone in the party accidentally makes his last bird a hen instead of a drake, so you're "one over" in hens. If the fine weren't $500 and probably loss of your license for a year or more because of this "federal offense," someone in that group would likely reach in his billfold and take his lumps. But when fines or punishment become poorly-defined or excessive, the laws tend to make law-breakers out of more-or-less ethical guys.

The right "ethics" answer is still and always to call the law on oneself, but the excessive penalties, or unclear penalties, don't necessarily push hunters in that direction. And I would argue that whether the fine for shooting one hen mallard over the limit was $500 or $100 is not the difference in whether one intentionally shoots, or does not intentionally shoot a hen. But it may make a difference in self-reporting.
 
ranchodeluxe said:
That would be considered predation, no CO I know of would write it. Kind of far-fetched anyway as wild pheasants don't tend to sit still for a dog to grab, possible, but unlikely. I suppose if you want to get into what-ifs, how about you are driving down the gravel and a hen flies in your window and dies?
Click to expand...

That's BS that a wild pheasant won't sit still for a dog to grab, etc.. One time in SD my setter was on point and would not release after we stomped all over in the over waist high grass trying to flush. I turned, took a step and felt something squirm under foot. I stepped right on a hen and broke it's back. Watched as it lay there twitching. Rung it's neck to finish it off and tossed it in the weeds. Stuff happens.
 
I have had my Labs bring me both live and dead hens and they were definitely wild birds. Does it happen every trip? No, of course not. I would guess though that over the last ~45 years it has happened maybe 10 times. As I said upthread, some were able to recover and fly off. Some just got the quivers and expired.

It's never happened with a wild cockbird though; the dogs have only brought in live or dying hens. (Too bad; it would help my shooting average to have a rooster brought to bag without a shot! JK.)

So back on topic: when a dog single-handedly catches and brings in a dying hen, who calls the CO? Me or the dog? Do I have to pay the dog's fine?





:)
 
My uncle did that in 2007. Once he lifted his foot she took off just fine--though to be honest we were shocked considering the sheer size of the man who stepped on her:rolleyes:


------As far as the CO thing is concerned and how they will respond it's been said it depends on the officer and I agree. Years ago we had a situation where a guy had to shot a critter he wasn't licensed for. After the hunt I talked with an officer on what he wanted us to do. The first thing he asked was "did you remove it from the field". I responded "no".

He said "then leave it and move on. If you took it out of the field than it can get sticky".

Now there's another member who bumped into the same situation a few years back. He did the same thing by called an officer to see what he should do. He was cited/fined for wanton waste.

One says tomato the other says toe-ma-toe
 
Last edited:
There are arguments to be made on all sides. It boils down to ethics and standards. I hunt with my 13 year old daughter a lot. If it were me, I would turn myself in, or ask the CO what to do. It has happened 3 times to me. Dog brought back (caught)two wounded ones. I kept them alive in my vest, took one to the little ranger station at the conservation area I was at. (No one was there, had to wait on someone to get there). They took it, said thank you to me, and I went on my way. No fine. But the bird was still alive. The other I called in and told the CO what was going on. He said, if its still alive put it back in the field. Again no fine. The third one, a guy that I was guiding for shot one. His first pheasant hunt. I was younger, didnt really know what to do as I wasnt even carrying a gun. He pulled the breast out of it and left the rest. I told him he could still get in trouble having that breast in his pocket. He said if they check me, I pay my fine but Im not going to waste it and make 2 mistakes today. That seemed okay to me. Against the law, and no way I was going to carry it for him, but that was his rational thought about it. Different people have different standards and that's o.k. Laws were also made by men with opinions.
 
PheasantWhisperer said:
Different people have different standards and that's o.k. Laws were also made by men with opinions.
Click to expand...

That's the whole grey area thing and with many situations in life there's a lot of grey.

The laws that made it illegal to shot hen pheasants came into play after we were aloud to legally shot/kill hens. The law, once in place was intended to stop the harvesting/killing of hens to promote their overall population.

A pheasant hunter who shoots a hen on accident did just that. Shot one hen on accident. His intent wasn't to harvest numerous hens for the sake stocking up on meat then selling it at the market (for example).

Anyway, just be careful out there. Obviously do all you can to Identify the bird and rock-and-roll on the roosters.;)
 
I would personally feel a lot better about taking it home and eating the bird than throwing in a ditch and walking off because I was scared I might get a ticket! I have always believed if I was going to take an animals life I damn sure wasn't going to waste it, if you kill it I think you should eat it! If the CO doesn't believe I did right by not wasting game then I'll take the ticket! What would the CO do if you call them??? Probably confiscate it and put it into "evidence", give me a ticket and later throw the bird away anyway. Now if some clown had a cooler full of hens and was shooting them on purpose different story. Accidents happen and I will deal with them in a way that I feel good about.
 
A lot of interesting discussions here. I doubt we all come to the same conclusions about this. However 1 thing I do know for scientific fact is that RanchoDeluxe just upped the probability of him shooting a hen this year by 176% :D

I have seen dogs catch wild hens before. It happens. I would like to think that calling your GW would result in an honest conversation and a "thanks for letting me know, enjoy the rest of your hunt today" However there are just enough Barney Fife's out there to make an ethical man think twice about doing it. Case in point:
http://billingsgazette.com/lifestyl...cle_0528c589-8e85-5d00-a2be-df219ebf1d2d.html

In the end I say, don't shoot a hen, and you will be fine. However the better lesson here is probably get to know your GW before the season begins. Then if and when a situation arises he knows you are a serious sportsman and whatever you did wrong was truly and accident and your not an unethical hunt r trying to get away with something.
 
Seems a broken system when the honest individual is scared of the outcome of a simple mistake. And shooting a hen for a hunter can and will continue to happen! If we didn't get excited to see the explosion of birds out of a cattail patch we wouldn't be out there hunting! In the excitement accidents happen, whether it's two birds with one shot or a misinterpretation due to light or whatever? Don't disregard what is mortally correct in fear of a ticket. Don't throw it in a ditch and say it's in the name of the law, respect the animal we Hold so great and show it the respect of using its life that it gave for something greater than the ditch and take it to the dinner table! That's just how I feel!!
 
A lot of great reply's and ideas, until the Department of Fish and Game, comes up with written rule, such as "call and report it to a CO within 24 hours, so they can keep track of accidental hen shootings, and no fine or ticket will be issued" then their will be a continued waste of a bird. As for me if I accidental shoot a hen, I will leave it lay and send the state licensing department a $50 bill and a note, for my mistake so they can purchase a replacement hen and use the remainder for conservation. I will be able to look at myself and say I did what I thought was right and fair.
 
odenney said:
Just throwing out a question for discussion. If you accidental shoot a hen, what do you do with the bird? (1) Leave it as it was an accident and to be caught with it you would be fined. (2) Take it as it was an accident and no use in letting it go to waste. (3) Take it and report it to a Game Warden and he may let you keep it or he may fine you (4) Other
Click to expand...


We take it home and clean it, hope we don't get fined. we don't hide it while driving home. But it has been 10+ years since anyone has shot a hen in our groups of hunters.

We had 2 different dog get two hens opening weekend on different days, we took both home and cleaned it. Hoped if we got checked we wouldn't of got fined.
 
I agree with "Pheasanthunt" I would feel a lot better about eating it than wasting it! We were given morals before laws! I still feel usually my morals lead me well!
 
Also,
I have seen two hens hit telephone wires, and drop dead, I thought it was a once in a lifetime thing. I guess it happens more than a guy thinks. Took the one home and at the time I never thought I could have gotten a ticket, or at least never thought any warden would have given me a ticket.

Then after reading Discussion on this site about 2 or 3 years ago, about a similar incident, realized I could get a ticket. and it really depends on the game warden. But last year when the hen hit the wire and dropped dead I still picked up the hen and brought it home. Just don't like to waste pheasant.


Also, when this topic came up 2-3 years ago. the majority of responses were to let the bird lay in the field, if shoot illegally or if dog got it. So is our forum becoming more responsible? or is or forum just saying they are more responsible? :)
 
Cant remember the last time it has happened but shooting a hen accidentally, compared to intentionally for additional meat or thrill is much different. What is the point of calling a CO on yourself just to take money out of your own pocket? What good is that going to do, the damage has already been done. Bringing the CO into the mix is not going to bring the bird back to life or really do anything other than make him aware and take money out of your pocket on a trip that you're probably already spending enough on. If you know it was an accident leave the bird behind and hope it becomes dinner for some scavenger (which it most likely will). As long as you know you are in the wrong and shooting hens isn't your MO that's enough for me. The real penalty is you are now out a handful of roosters next year given the hen makes it through winter and has a successful hatch. That is the real penalty.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top