Shooting Wrong Deer

September 17, 2015

Question: If you are out hunting and shoot a spike by mistake, what should a person do? What kind of trouble could a hunter get into for that if reported to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)? (Steve C.)

Answer: If you shoot a spike deer by mistake, you should immediately contact your local CDFW office and/or your local wildlife officer to report it and explain what the situation was that caused the mistake. You may still be cited for wrongly harvesting an animal that you are not authorized to take, but if you instead try to conceal the animal, don’t tag it, take it home or leave it in the field without field dressing it, you may be cited for additional violations that entail higher fines. You could even have your hunting privileges revoked.

Hojoman, While deer hunting, I once saw a Blacktail buck (North of Berryessa) that had a normal 8" spike on one side and a mushroomed antler on the other side. The mushroomed side did not "fork" per se, but it was probably 1.5" at the flattened top end. Would this have been a legal buck? I passed on it, as it clearly had some growing to do.

Nope

No

The old school way to measure a legal buck was: ya goota be able to hang a wedding ring off the fork.

The old school way to measure a legal buck was: ya goota be able to hang a wedding ring off the fork.
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Whose wedding ring, Tinkerbell or King Kong?