Cat killed our target buck

kickerbuck

kickerbuck

Active Member
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I found this buck in July and had a hard time keeping tabs on him. He was in some nasty country and I finally found him a few weeks back right at dark. My kid has a youth tag that started 5 days earlier than the general hunt so I thought we had a chance at him. After walking in about 5 miles on the other side of the canyon from where I had glassed him from my kid went down to get water at the spring and found him dead at the spring just above the last place I saw him. His nose was crushed and you could see the bite marks. Super depressing a little but it is Oregon and the Steens unit so no shortage of cats just deer. Anyway kind of amazing to find our target buck to begin with then actually find his horns. He was super cool heavy Horned 4x7 with lots of mass. My kid is 0-3 as he is waiting for the right buck and he would of fit the bill.

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Woah 😳 awesome buck! Kind of disappointing I’m sure to find him like that, I guess the deadhead is kind of a cool consolation prize
 
That was a bummer. Bet your heart sank when you saw and realize it was that buck.
If you call fish and game will they allow you to keep the dead head?
 
No, it has to be for public use or display like a College, School, Hunter Ed class, ect. No private use. Trust me I had to talk my son off the ledge bc he was hell bent on taking it home with us ugh........................ And yes it was very heartbreaking to find him dead considering we walked 5 miles out and hunted in the area for 2 days looking for him or any other mature buck.
 
No, a valid tag does not allow you to keep the dead head we would be in unlawful possession of it. Very gray area for my kid to tag and keep it, he wanted to keep hunting and try to get his first buck.

And yes the deer numbers and deer sign are AWFUL! And Tog I know you know where we were there should be deer everywhere, but they're not there!
 
kickerbuck said:
No, a valid tag does not allow you to keep the dead head we would be in unlawful possession of it. Very gray area for my kid to tag and keep it, he wanted to keep hunting and try to get his first buck.

And yes the deer numbers and deer sign are AWFUL! And Tog I know you know where we were there should be deer everywhere, but they're not there!
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Well if he can't fill his tag before the season ends, at least you can tag the deadhead.
 
kickerbuck said:
No, it has to be for public use or display like a College, School, Hunter Ed class, ect. No private use. Trust me I had to talk my son off the ledge bc he was hell bent on taking it home with us ugh........................ And yes it was very heartbreaking to find him dead considering we walked 5 miles out and hunted in the area for 2 days looking for him or any other mature buck.
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Liberal states are the worst😂
 
Buckfever34 said:
Dumber than a box of Biden’s cereal you can’t keep the head as a pickup.

Rule would just make me have to become a criminal no way I’d leave it behind.
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People were shooting bucks on the winter range and then going back and claiming to be winter or cat kills. The State Police made numerous cases on these big bucks being poached so eventually the was a law and regulation put in place concerning dead heads with horns attached to the skull.
 
Exactly, it makes sense you can't just haul a pickup load of heads back to town. but I didn't know the law had changed so you couldn't tag them.
 
schoolhousegrizz said:
Liberal states are the worst😂
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Might want to check your state regs. I think it's illegal in every state if you don't have a tag, you can't take the dead head...

I know it's illegal in NV.

Here's utahs code. Looks like there is an app you can download to report and get e tags for deadhead.

Screenshot_20241004_052520_Chrome.jpg
 
Here's nevada.

I know this is a big deal in a lot of states. A buck like in the op could certainly get someone in hot water if they don't go through he proper channels to posses them.

I hate it when there is bad or missing information out there. Just hope some of these snippets keep people out of trouble.

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That sucks. I feel sorry for your boy. I have had similar things happen to me over the years. I can understand the objective of these laws, but examples like this I feel should have exemptions through a warden. Its hard to turn up those remote bucks. You might have been the only people aware of him, which is cool.
 
That is a bummer...not worth breaking the law and taking it home. Sometimes looking over your shoulder forever just isn't worth it. Take lots of pics with your boy and that should be good.
 
mevertsen said:
Might want to check your state regs. I think it's illegal in every state if you don't have a tag, you can't take the dead head...

I know it's illegal in NV.

Here's utahs code. Looks like there is an app you can download to report and get e tags for deadhead.

View attachment 160014
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Whoops…..I picked up a deadhead at Posey lake in 1983. I hope the statue of limitations is still standing.

Damn, I feel like such an outfitter. :(
 
Bluehair said:
Whoops…..I picked up a deadhead at Posey lake in 1983. I hope the statue of limitations is still standing.

Damn, I feel like such an outfitter. :(
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Doing something and owning it is one thing. I'm not judging that.

But just pointing out to people that think it might be alright, really isn't, or has specific rules attached.

I really don't like when there's misinformation out there on these forums, when the rules are clearly defined in various state laws.

It would suck to get in trouble over something stupid like picking up a dead deer.

Heck. Who knows if the law existed in 1983 in most states.

Warden - "Why do you have that dead head?"

Me. "Some guy on MM said it was OK. "
 
Don’t know what the Colorado rules are. But years ago I found a dead 5 point bull down a canyon in a crappy spot I was chasing bulls. I took a bunch of pictures. Few days later I ran into a warden. It was obviously dead for a while. After I explained where it was and showed the pictures the warden wrote a note and signed the back of her business card giving me permission to go back and get it.
 
Pretty sure kickerbuck knows the rules in Oregon. Great buck and it’s a real bummer that it died that way. Not many bucks like that left in Oregon anymore. But still a cool memory with your son!
 
If you made a YouTube video and gave the buck a name while he was still alive then I think you could keep the deadhead in Utah, right?
 
Not unless it changed recently. You can’t sell them unless they’re plugged.

Or maybe that’s AZ. I can’t remember for sure anymore. They might not even plug them anymore.

As far as I know, deadheads are legal (things change fast around here). I’m sure they would fall under the antler season though.
 

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