Is it legal or ethical to dispatch wounded game with a knife?

[Hog Buster]

Outlaw 81

Many years ago, as a kid, I was bitten by a crippled squirrel and got Tularemia. I was one sick kid. For years after I carried a large K-Bar and lopped off squirrel heads.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Somebody has to say it. This is much ado about nothing. I can’t count the times I’ve had to wring a neck or cut a throat, of birds or game that had been just crippled. Not only is it ethical and legal, it’s the moral thing to do, you shot it, finish the job.

If you don’t have the stomach for it, don’t hunt, but a little blood on your hands won’t hurt you. You don’t have to dispatch wounded critters with a gun shot, carry a knife. A hunting knife, not one you use to clean fingernails with. Don’t have a knife? Crippled small game can be readily killed by breaking their neck. You’ve got hands, haven’t you?

Wounded large game, deer, bear, hogs, etc. might rate another shot, depending on the circumstances. But, I can’t get over the thought of Bubba the Dove hunter pumping a 12 gauge round into a 4 ounce wounded creature flopping around on the ground. Pick it up, wring it’s neck, stuff it in game vest.

That's exactly why I don't hunt birds... I can't stand the thought of consistently wounding them with the first shot and having to kill them by hand.
I have nothing against those who do it and I understand that wing-shooting is always going to be a "wounding" proposition, it's just not for me.

 

[Hog Buster]

peetzakiller

That’s basically the same reason I don’t bow hunt. I just don’t like the sight of an animal running off thru the woods in pain with blood spurting out of its side. I’d rather see it have a quick death, dropped in its tracks from a well placed shot. I do my best to achieve this outcome.

Unfortunately any form of shotgun hunting produces some cripples, it's just something you have to live with too enjoy the sport. Dispatching them quickly is as accommodating as it gets........ After all, what’s humane is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

peetzakiller

That’s basically the same reason I don’t bow hunt. I just don’t like the sight of an animal running off thru the woods in pain with blood spurting out of its side. I’d rather see it have a quick death, dropped in its tracks from a well placed shot. I do my best to achieve this outcome.

Unfortunately any form of shotgun hunting produces some cripples, it's just something you have to live with too enjoy the sport. Dispatching them quickly is as accommodating as it gets........ After all, what’s humane is in the eye of the beholder.

Indeed. Interesting, isn't it.

 

[jimbob86]

I understand that wing-shooting is always going to be a "wounding" proposition,

Oh, I'd guess better than half the birds I've dropped were dead when they hit the ground (either from the shot or the fall)..... but then again I like full or modified chokes ......

I'd hazard a guess that a razor sharp broadhead hurts less than about 1 ton of blunt force trauma...... and bleeding out does not hurt at all..... light-headed and "floaty"feeling, but not painful........

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Oh, I know a lot of them are dead when or before they hit the ground. I've had to kill a few small critters "hands on" though and find it quite bothersome. I've had to do it with deer too but it's rare, maybe 1 in 20, which means every 5 years or so, and I enjoy deer hunting a lot more than birds. Like I said though, I have nothing against it, certainly don't think it's immoral/unethical in any way, just not for me.

I agree about the broadheads too... I've seen several video kills of animals that acted like they never knew anything happened and just dropped dead. One where the arrow went through a deer and stuck in a tree. The deer calmly walked over and stood there sniffing the arrow until he dropped dead. I have killed a few myself that jumped at the impact, ran 20 yards and stopped to turn around and look at me like nothing had happened, then they just tip over.

 

[Art Eatman]

My chore at around age seven or eight was to catch a hen for our dinner. Obviously, I was pretty young when I learned that in order that I eat, something's gonna die.

Doesn't matter what it is, animal or veggie: You wanna live? Something's gonna die. Been that way for quite a few gazillion generations.

Seventy years have gone by since those days of learning about reality. Reality seems not to have changed at all.

Ethics is all about making the kill to happen as quickly as possible--while realizing that there's no such thing as 100% perfection. Perfection is that goal which will never be achieved, but one which will always be attempted.

Legality? Varies all over the place, from state to state.

 

[Jeff F]

Ethical, sure. Haven't you ever herd of a Butcher Knife. I have slaughtered and been around a lot of animals slaughtered on a farm for the table, pigs, goats, steers and sheep. All we ever used was a big heavy bladed very sharp knife.

 

[Daryl]

Its both legal and ethical. There's no state that has a law against going caveman.

Actually, Arizona has a list of "legal weapons" for each species and hunt type. I've not seen "knife" listed there.

I've no idea if it's legal to finish an animal with a knife here, but I doubt a game warden would push the point (pun not intended). If an animal is crippled enough that you can finish it with a knife, it's pretty much your's.

I've finished a deer or two with a knife. They were down, incapacitated, but still breathing. No sense in ruining more meat with a bullet, so I simply administered a slice and let them bleed out in a few seconds.

Have also used a handgun through the neck to do the same job. Any centerfire handgun is legal here, and it doesn't take much with such a shot.

Daryl

 

[RevGeo]

It's not any different from fishing IMO. You reduce the animal to possession and then it's your duty to dispatch it. I've caught many large fish while fishing on the ocean and after getting them in the boat they must be dispatched. Either with a club or a knife. Same thing with a game animal. Unfortunately sometimes a shot goes awry and the animal doesn't die right away. Sometimes a well shot animal doesn't die right away.
I've seen heart shot animals run a long ways, as I'm sure many others here have. When I have to kill a wounded animal I usually back off a little, if possible, and shoot it in the neck, heart or the base of the skull. It can be messy but death is messy.
I agree that killing the animal as quickly as possible with whatever weapon is available is the ethical thing to do, even if it results in a confiscation of the game.

George

 

[michaelcj]

GUYS GUYS GUYS, for heaven's sake! Do any of the states you live in allow you to bleed and field dress your game using a KNIFE?? Or am I missing something?

MJ

 

[Art Eatman]

michaelcj, there are way too many weird laws and regulations which are out of touch with outdoor reality. I can see why someone who's likely fairly new to hunting would wonder about what's allowed and what is not.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

GUYS GUYS GUYS, for heaven's sake! Do any of the states you live in allow you to bleed and field dress your game using a KNIFE?? Or am I missing something?

MJ

Dressing your game using a knife is completely different. It's already dead. You could hang it in a tree and go Samurai on it with a sword if you want... that doesn't mean killing one with a sword would be legal.

The problem is, in this and many other instances, laws are no longer written with the assumption that everything is legal except that which the law specifically disallows. Nowadays, if it's not SPECIFICALLY spelled out in the law as allowable it is assumed to be illegal. Common sense doesn't apply. We, the hunters, know what's right, what's traditional, what's obviously necessary but it means nothing to the unthinking, "letter of the law", overzealous prosecutors and, unfortunately, many field officers.

 

[michaelcj]

Point taken Art... meant no disrespect, just found the discussion strange. I've been a cop for going on 30 years, one of my oldest friends [and hunting partners] was a state game agent for almost as long. I can't remember a circumstance where either one of us would have had an issue with a hunter dispatching his wounded game in a quick and humane way.

Bow and BlackPowder seasons can be a bit confusing in that the possession of a modern firearm would be an issue, but I was having problems with the KNIFE issue.

When I started hunting with grandpa [before I could shoot] guess who got to learn something useful [field-dressing], which also let that "lucky" youngster feel like he was an important part of the harvest.

I guess I focused in on the comments regarding using a knife to
finish wounded game and thought "well of course" and the knife would continue immediately to bleed and field dress the animal and treat the meat he gave us with respect.

Guess I'm having a grumpy Sunday morning.. Apologies

MikeJ

 

[michaelcj]

Peet, Guess I get a little touchy as one of those legions of "over-zealous" officers who everyone is so down on. As in my previous post to Art, I can't think of a situation where any of the cops or game officers I've known over the years would have an issue with a quick and humane finish of a wounded game animal. The only exceptions would be the blatant violations like " Honest officer I only had this .458 out here with me during Bow season cause I'm kinda scared of spiders" .

As far as a game check station having issues with a knife wound on a field dressed carcass ??? CSI isn't that good even on TV.

MikeJ

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

I can't think of a situation where any of the cops or game officers I've known over the years would have an issue with a quick and humane finish of a wounded game animal. The only exceptions would be the blatant violations like " Honest officer I only had this .458 out here with me during Bow season cause I'm kinda scared of spiders"

Problem is, michealcj, that as hunters we don't know if we're getting a reasonable veteran officer such as yourself, or Barney Fife who is looking to hassle everybody over every single thing he/she can.

I've seen both kinds in my days afield, luckily the smart, reasonable officers far outnumber the few who choose the profession for the wrong reasons.

Answering the OP, I think it's ethical do dispatch game with a knife, though a bit foolish for most people if you still have a firearm.

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Peet, Guess I get a little touchy as one of those legions of "over-zealous" officers who everyone is so down on. As in my previous post to Art, I can't think of a situation where any of the cops or game officers I've known over the years would have an issue with a quick and humane finish of a wounded game animal. The only exceptions would be the blatant violations like " Honest officer I only had this .458 out here with me during Bow season cause I'm kinda scared of spiders" .

As far as a game check station having issues with a knife wound on a field dressed carcass ??? CSI isn't that good even on TV.

MikeJ

Why does everyone take those types of comments to include every officer? You are obviously NOT one of them. Most officers are NOT one of them. That's not the point.

It's the one officer who IS one of "them" who is the only one needed to cause a problem. No regard for common sense, tradition or intent. They're not the majority but there are too many of them.
Unfortunately, in any of these discussions, the important factor is not the majority of reasonable, common sense officers... It's the lowest common denominator. Since I can't know when or which officer I might encounter, I have to be ready for the worst.

 

[Daryl]

It's the one officer who IS one of "them" who is the only one needed to cause a problem. No regard for common sense, tradition or intent. They're not the majority but there are too many of them.
Unfortunately, in any of these discussions, the important factor is not the majority of reasonable, common sense officers... It's the lowest common denominator. Since I can't know when or which officer I might encounter, I have to be ready for the worst.

This is why we have courts.

An officer's job is to charge someone that he believes committed a crime. A judge and/or jury must decide whether the charges are legitimate or not.

An officer can't convict in the field. He has to prove his/her case in court.

That's why the older, more seasoned officers understand things better. They have better things to do than spend every waking minute in court, trying to prove wrongful allegations.

Daryl

 

[Art Eatman]

Sorta gone wandering away from the issues of the opening post...