stepping over a line

[Homunculi]

seems that one of the guys at the range has stepped over a line he should not have ...
mark one of the long time guys up there finally got himself a doe and had it hanging in the garage while we were getting ready to butcher it
Dean was in the garage with his son and his sons bow ...
as we were heading into the garage Deans son shot the deer with his bow under encouragement from Dean.. ruining some meat .. then Dean took a photo and posted it on facebook saying " look at what my boy shot"

none of us are very happy with Dean right now and considering asking him not to come back to the range or any of our houses ...


as mad as we were sunday mark is the only one who said something about it .. the rest of us held back on saying anything ..

your thoughts if you had a friend or so called friend that did something like this ????

[Deebz]

I can't understand what possible reason anyone would have for shooting a deer that was already dead, short of scientific study as far as equipment goes. (I saw Tred Barta shoot a dead pig to test the effectiveness of his hand made bow, arrow, and arrow head... i'm ok with that) Secondly, being that the deer didn't belong to him, that's basically destruction of property on top of being incredibly disrespectiful. Thirdly, I find it rather horrifying that a person would encourage that type of behavior in a young hunter, especially his own son.

If this were my deer and my property, this Dean guy would definitely no longer be welcome. In a group situation, I'd think seriously about removing myself from engaging in any activities with a group of guys who were ok with this.

[Homunculi]

deebz none of us are happy with him right now esp mark ...

i just think what he did was wrong ... and not a good example for his kid
we will see what happens when all the members get together and we really get to hash this over ...

[Ohio farms]

I would be pretty angry if someone put an arrow in a deer that I had harvested. I work very hard, as I'm sure you all do, to have somebody ruin my venison like that. Bad example to the youngster too. I can't imagine anybody that I hunt with doing something like that, but if they did they would hear about from me.
I've never heard of something like that happening...it's a new one for me.

[JPH]

I'm not sure I understand what kind of setting this took place in. You said "range". Why was there a newly harvested deer in the garage? Is this also a hunt club? Who owns the property? Are there rules for membership?

I'm a solitary Midwestern hunter. I hunt from home or my own solitary camp, so there is no need to set rules beyond my own code of conduct. My family roots however, are in the Adirondacks. I grew up with stories of traditional, north woods deer camps and I was blessed to participate in a few before Grampa died. Safe conduct and etiquette were extremely important. For example, the new guys did the dishes and bringing a loaded rifle inside the cabin or tent was an automatic DQ. I'm also told that my grandfathers word was enough to grant a person forgiveness or total banishment. He was a fair, honest and incredibly tough man. I think things were handled a little differently back in the day...there is something to be said for that.

[Woods Walker]

"He was a fair, honest and incredibly tough man."

The apple didn't fall too far from that tree, did it?!!

I was "schooled" by the same type of "tribal elders" in our hunting group. As they say, it's the heat of the fire that makes the steel strong.

[JPH]

"He was a fair, honest and incredibly tough man."

The apple didn't fall too far from that tree, did it?!!

I was "schooled" by the same type of "tribal elders" in our hunting group. As they say, it's the heat of the fire that makes the steel strong.

I appreciate the complement but I'm afraid they broke the mold. Warts, old nightmares from the Battle of the Bulge and all, Gramp was a giant among men. I miss him daily.

Mind if I share a quick story and then we can get back to the question at hand? Stop me if you've heard this one. I was fifteen and my dad brought me back to the Adirondacks for a hunt with Grandpa. We were staying in a tent on the Boreas River, where it crosses the Blue Ridge road in late November. If you know where that is, you've spent some time in some rough places. You also may also be wondering why in the heck someone from fertile farmland would ever want to hunt in such a harsh place. The only thing I can say is that is where Gramp wanted to camp and hunt and that was the end of it. Anyway, the temp had dropped below zero and everything had frozen. The chili my dad had made and brought into camp was a solid block but he did his level best to thaw it out. What came out was chili with ice chips and blackened burned bits floating in it. I was fifteen and spoiled so I complained about the food and balked at eating it. Gramp sat silently and chewed his pipe stem for a good 15-20 minutes while I sparred with my dad over the quality of the food he was good enough to cook and prepare for me. Finally Gramp spoke up without even looking up at us. He just said, "Joey, if you're hungry enough...you'll eat it." And that was it. Not a profound statement at all. His words never were. But it was the way he said it. It carried the message that he was speaking from experience. He had been hungry and had eaten far worse to survive and he's had enough of my complaining. At the same time, I knew he loved me very much and never wanted to hurt or embarrass me. That being said, the message carried the promise of one or both if I kept running my mouth. Needless to say, I shut up and ate my chili and loved and respected my grandfather all the more.

Back to the point at hand. I'd say the offending party probably needs to find a new place to take his boy shooting because the next time he pulls that stunt might not end well.

[kellory]

". I'd say the offending party probably needs to find a new place to take his boy shooting because the next time he pulls that stunt might not end well." that pretty much sums it up for me as well.

I miss my Grandfather as well. that quiet strength, and that love beyond word, will follow me to the grave.

[Homunculi]

well another member opened his mouth ... was sort of upset about Dean but admitted a very bad thing .... he shot a 3 point buck last month and to save his buck tag he tagged it as a doe ...

so this makes 2 members that will be excluded from the range in the meeting this weekend ... i do not like this new ohio game check system .... too many ways to get away with BS ...

this range is less than 2 miles from my house ... i really want to stay there vs. driveing 24 miles to the next range ... but if these members cannot be moraly sound in their beliefs i will have to leave ...
i guess i will find that answer out this weekend ....


sorry i am just really pissed about this crap ....

[Homunculi]

While at the meeting some things were brought up about dean and his boy and it was mentioned that no one should have a deer on the owners property without permission (mark had that ) for us to help him process it .. Dean is asked not to return to the range at all... And the other member that boasted about tagging his 3 point buck on a doe tag was asked to leave the range and not return...

There was about 10 of us to split the costs of the targets and help keep the yard of the owner clean and mowed now there is only 8 of us left ... This " range " as I call it is just some work buddies and parents of the owners kids friends ...

We do not wish to have people around that will do things like what dean did nor some one who is breaking game laws to save a tag ....
So it will cost us a few extra dollars for inserts lights and time helping keep the lawn...
No big deal for me or anyone else ...

I am just happy I do not have to go somewhere else to play with my bows and not have to get used to another place and meet new people

We all agreed on this and the offending parties are not very happy with us but the only ones to blame are themselves