Yeah, I never thought of it either. I shot my very first deer on my very first hunt, and was inexperienced, my Dad wasn’t a hunter and I was learning on my own. Gutshot the deer and was tracking the blooodtrail. It was muzzleloader season and I didn’t even take my gun with me during the tracking job (beginner mistake) I had to ask permission from two different landowners to go on their property to look for the wounded animal. I was lucky to run into an experienced man that helped me find the deer and help me humanely try and end it’s suffering. He was just out scouting so neither of us had a weapon. I’ll never forget it, he told me to put my foot next to his on the lungs and bare all my weight. At the same time he was patting the deer saying “you’re done, you’re done” Many lessons learned on my very first hunt. I’m glad to have learned these lessons when I was younger so my kids will know what to do.
I had a trap line in H.S. I must have run 50 traps twice a day with a friend. I did a lot of that standing on the chest thing on smaller predators, raccoon’s were a tough one. Choke stick with a lot of control and stand on the lungs.
I don’t regret doing it, as for the most part the ranch would have been over run with coyote’s, coons and fox’s and in one way or another they were all pests to domestic livestock. I sure know I couldn’t do it again though, seen to much, did too much, hell I don’t even hunt anymore.
I used to get mad at my Dad because he wouldn’t hunt with me, I understand it now.
Absolutely agree