Waterfowl Ethics

[HD]

This is a situation that really happened to me.....
I was out duck hunting, back when the limit on Mallards was 3.
A large flock came in over my decoys...I pulled up and only shot once.
And 5 fell to the water dead. I consider it a freak occurance, but none the less it did happen.
After the poll has closed, I will post what happened to me in this situation.
Granted, it's not one of the options.
But just looking for "what would you do" type of answer.

Hunter

OOPS, I just noticed the spelling errors on the poll....#3 is suppose to say "Pick up your limit and leave the others"

Sorry, I was in a hurry....

[TNT]

i would hope that the group next to me needed a couple more birds and hand them thier way, it wouldn't do any good to just leave them, and a CO would have to write you up for over the limit, tough spot to be in, but as one CO told us years ago, even when you need just one more bird to fill out, make sure to shoot a the edge of a flock to assure that only one comes down , and that no others are hit when shooting.

[Pegg]

I had a CO tell me before that they have had it happen before and to always call. They had some one shoot and the same thing happened and they did not give any kind of ticket but had the food donated.

[1duckcrazy]

Wow that is a tough one and really makes you think. With the new laws on Bluebills this year that could come about more than we want to know.I can't wait to hear what the outcome of this was.
I like TNT was told to pick my bird on the outside and stick with it but I do see how it could happen. I know when we hunt in a group we all pick the sides of the flock or birds coming in and keep close track of who gets what and when things go good for the day and we could fill out only one person will shoot at a time. Good post!

[northeastdan]

it is a pickel, A friend and I where out and had 4 left to fill a bag for both of us when o flock of teal  buzzed my decoy spead, we both shot once and 5 fell dead. we gave another party one on the way out but wolud have gotten a ticket if the CO showed up. next time I will call the CO.

[ChrisWallace]

Karma always comes around, Id rather call the co, tell him what happened, eat the ticket if I had too. If it was me, I broke the law,ill man up to that, but I do need to know what my target is and what is beyond, thats basic firearms safety.

[Cody Gruchow]

first say  then pick up your 3, CO once told me if you shoot say a closed season bird like this year the canvasbacks are closed and come in with lets say green heads that shooting it was an acciedent but picking it up would be illegal. now i wouldnt want those birds to go to waste so i would make a few calls first, then at the end if i couldnt find no one to take them i would call the CO.

[HD]

Now that the poll has closed, it's time to post the rest of the story............

I was hunting in the Chengwatana WMA near Pine City, and went with one reason in mind, to get a green head to mount.
My usual hunting buddy couldn't go, so I was hunting by myself. And I arrived at my usual spot, unloaded the truck and proceeded out on the water.
I set out my decoys, then pushing my boat up in to the weeds for cover and waited.
I had talked to the CO several times during the course of the year, so I knew his truck, and he knew mine.
I seen him driving down the road and parked on the opposite side of the slough. He got out and took out his binoculars and was glassing the pond.
There were 3 other trucks that were in the lot, they came after I did and were positioned around the slough.
Just as things got settled down a huge flock of mallards started working the pond. All of the other duck hunters were blowing like crazy on their duck calls to get their attention. So, I chose not to. They made a swing my way, now just above the water. I picked out a huge drake on the outside edge of the flock, and just as I shot, the flock turned on a dime and converged into a small group, that’s when all of the birds fell to the water. I put my gun down and just looked in amazement. Once I relized what I had done, I let out a few curse words that I'm sure the whole pond heard. Knowing that I may be in trouble, I just pushed my boat out of the weeds and picked up the decoys and ducks. I didn't even bother paddling towards my truck, but headed straight for the CO's truck and pulled up on shore. That guy was laughing so hard he had tears running down his face! He had seen the whole thing through his binoculars. Once he stopped laughing, he offered me a cup of coffee and said, “You might as well take a seat and enjoy some coffee, cause your gonna be here awhile"
Man, I thought I was in BIG trouble.....So, I asked him "How big of a fine am I gonna get out of this?  Then I said, "Cause it was an accident, I didn't try to do it" He just sat there with a smile on his face and said "If you would have made a bee line for your truck, I would have fined ya, but since your being honest, we're gonna sit here and drink our coffee until the other hunters come in, if they don't have their limit, your donating some ducks to them"

So, we sat there and bs'ed for the better part of 4 hours until all of the boats were in. And just about every hunter had a crack to make. One was, "Great shooting Tex!" 
Well, I did get to keep my huge drake (that I have on my wall) and I did donate the other ducks to the other hunters. And, I became really good friends with the CO, and he has been to my house for dinner since......and he still to this day gives me  for that one shot!

So, that's what happened to me, and through that experience, I have learned to be honest about these types of things. Stuff happens, and for me, it's better to face the consequences than feel the guilt later. And you never know, you might make a friend out of the deal.....Like I did.


Hunter

[Mayfly]

Good story. It also makes the mount that much more memorable!!

[Bobby Bass]

The true stories are always the best stories. What are the odds..

[deadeye]

Hunterdown,
No fair, you didn't tell us you knew the CO was watching you all the time.  Something tells me people will react differently IF no one is watching.   

[Dotch]

Great story hunter and I agree w/deadeye that the story might have a different outcome for some based on the results of your poll. It does illustrate however that honesty is still the best policy and you never know who might be watching you. CO's and USFW officers have some really nice spotting scopes, from personal experience. 

[HD]

Yep, you guy's are right! That's why I didn't tell the story, because I didn't want to sway the answers.