What Would You Do?

1. You are deer hunting from a tree stand near the corner of your property and posted land. After several days of waiting, a beautiful deer comes into range. You take a careful shot, but it turns at the last instant and runs. You find hair and blood, so you start off to track the wounded deer. The trail leads directly onto posted private property. No one is nearby.

Questions:

• What do you do? List three possibilities. Circle the best choice.
• Does the dilemma have a clear right and wrong answer?
• What could you have done prior to shooting to prevent the dilemma?

2. You are grouse hunting with your father’s friend. As you are pushing through heavy cover, you hear two rapid shots. A minute later, your hunting partner arrives, holding a hawk in his hand. He comments that it’s a “funny-looking grouse.” You immediately tell him that it’s a protected hawk and illegal to shoot. Just then, a conservation officer approaches. Your partner stuffs the hawk under a rock and starts to walk away. The officer comes to you, asks for your license, and inquires about the shooting.

   Questions:

   • What should you do?

3. You are woodcock hunting over a well-trained pointer. You have noticed and read about the decline in woodcock in the last 30 years. You have shot a few resident birds so far this season. Today, however, you have hit the flight birds. You have your three-bird limit by mid-morning. At lunch, a friend stops by and proposes an afternoon hunt for woodcock.

   Questions:

   • What should you do?
   • If the friend instead proposed a woodcock hunt the next day, you could take three more birds legally. Should you go? Should you take your limit?
   • What kind of dilemma is this?
   • What other solutions can you create

4. You have been scouting spring turkeys and have located a vocal tom. A friend from your school has a sister who is excited about hunting and has just passed hunter education. Your friend tells you that she is having no luck locating any toms and asks if you know a good spot where she can take her sister.

   Questions:

   • What do you do? (List three possibilities.)
   • Circle the best choice and discuss why.
   • Is there another way to deal with this?

5. You are the parent of a new hunter. After weeks of preparation for the youth waterfowl day, you head to the duck blind. Just after legal shooting time, three ducks come whistling in to your decoy. Just as you are saying, “No shot, blacks!” two shots ring out. One bird drops and another sails away, clearly hit. The limit is one black duck due to declining numbers in the flyway.

   Questions:

   • As the parent, what would you do? List three possibilities. Circle the best choice.
   • Is there anything you could have done prior to this incident to avoid the dilemma?