Settle a quick debate..

[digger dogger]

maybe when you’re talking about rifle, but almost every bow hunter I know will leave the animal and not push it after an evening shot..

so the question is valid..

I expected people to say, after they found the downed animal.. but this can quickly be complicated..

last day of the season, you don’t find the animal that night but you find it the next morning, you clearly aren’t going to cut your tag for a day outside the legal season…

that’s where the debate started.

legally by the regulations, you are told NOT to cut your tag unless you’ve retrieved your game…
so if you follow the law in this situation, it makes you break another law.

interesting conundrum, I’m sure it’s not common but I’m positive it’s happened.

Last day of season, I’d leave a msg with a CO, or rapp line my intentions the next day, and my info.
Then go look for the animal, then cut my tag once found.

[browningboy]

Tag isn’t cut until the animal is at your feet

[Norwestalta]

You can absolutely shoot after dark in BC. You can shoot 24 hours a day 7 days a week. You can’t hunt more than an hour after sunset to an hour before sunrise though.

I asked many CO’s that exact question over the years. Invariably the answer is “well you aren’t really hunting anymore. It isn’t a question of fair chase, because you’ve already hunted the animal and wounded it, now it is about recovery.”

Well that's interesting. I guess at the end of the day if you're pinched it'll all depend on the Co's discretion and possibly a lawyer be needed. I would call the Rapp line anyways

[Redthies]

last light last day is a conundrum, finding it wounded but alive, would have to let it walk, by the law

It’s unlikely a CO would charge you for dispatching a wounded animal that you legally shot at last light the next morning. It would be a dick move. You would definitely get a stern talking to, and be left to sweat it out for a while, but in the end, animal welfare should trump all.

[HarryToolips]

It’s not an issue for the CO, for him it’s easy. Cut the tag before you retrieve your animal it’s a fine.
The bigger issue is that you’ve now given a CO a reason to investigate you, because the more plausible explanation (since it’s clearly spelled out in the synopsis- retrieve your animal, THEN cut your tag- is that you shot something thinking it was legal, cut your tag, then got cold feet and walked away from it.

It states in the regs that you must not be in possession of a big game animal without a properly cancelled species license and it states immediately after the kill, and before handling the big game animal, cancel the appropriate species license, but it doesn't specifically state that you can't cancel it prior to retrieval (but please correct me if I'm wrong, but I review the regs more frequently than most I know)..

However, it does state on the back of the species license itself, that 'pre-cancellation partial cancellation, or over cancellation are considered improper cancellation...so IMO, that's the answer..

[wideopenthrottle]

when standing beside it before getting bloody...when I take out my knife to gut it the leatherman scissors also get used cut my tag...I might reposition it first maybe to look and snapped a pic but only if way back from a road

[Norwestalta]

It’s unlikely a CO would charge you for dispatching a wounded animal that you legally shot at last light the next morning. It would be a dick move. You would definitely get a stern talking to, and be left to sweat it out for a while, but in the end, animal welfare should trump all.

Yes it would be but again how do you prove you shot it during legal light a finished it off in the dark? These guys deal with liars all the time. Personally I wouldn't take a chance on the guy being understanding or not.

[KodiakHntr]

it states immediately after the kill, and before handling the big game animal, cancel the appropriate species license, but it doesn't specifically state that you can't cancel it prior to retrieval (but please correct me if I'm wrong, but I review the regs more frequently than most I know)..

However, it does state on the back of the species license itself, that 'pre-cancellation partial cancellation, or over cancellation are considered improper cancellation...so IMO, that's the answer..

Not sure what you are asking here? You specifically answered what I think is the question you are asking. Cutting your tag before retrieving your animal is, by definition, “pre-cancellation”.

Until you have proven it is dead by retrieving it, you don’t know that you have killed it. “No person shall kill, cripple, or wound game without making all reasonable effort to locate, dispatch, retrieve, and include it in their bag limit.”
Until you have located, then killed, then retrieved the animal you don’t know that killed it. Canceling your tag prior to fulfilling all three of those steps is “pre-cancellation”.

That said, I’m not going to lose any sleep over what you do with your animals and your tags, I’m just pointing out that you are doing it incorrectly in the eyes of the law, and it could bite you in the ass one day.

And to be honest, I’m not even sure what it is that you think you are gaining by cutting the tag prior to retrieving your animal, other than gambling that the shot went where you thought it did, that your bullet did what it was supposed to do, and that the animal didn’t fall into a spot where you can’t find it…

[jikkyo]

IMO, it doesn't have to be complicated. Our whole hunting system is basically an honour system. Same as driving or criminal justice. If I shoot an animal on last day and last light and have to leave it overnight, so be it. I'll head out first light next day and recover the animal. Cut my tag when I confirm the animal is dead. It would not even cross my mind to call the CO for permission.

[HarryToolips]

Not sure what you are asking here? You specifically answered what I think is the question you are asking. Cutting your tag before retrieving your animal is, by definition, “pre-cancellation”.

Until you have proven it is dead by retrieving it, you don’t know that you have killed it. “No person shall kill, cripple, or wound game without making all reasonable effort to locate, dispatch, retrieve, and include it in their bag limit.”
Until you have located, then killed, then retrieved the animal you don’t know that killed it. Canceling your tag prior to fulfilling all three of those steps is “pre-cancellation”.

That said, I’m not going to lose any sleep over what you do with your animals and your tags, I’m just pointing out that you are doing it incorrectly in the eyes of the law, and it could bite you in the ass one day.

And to be honest, I’m not even sure what it is that you think you are gaining by cutting the tag prior to retrieving your animal, other than gambling that the shot went where you thought it did, that your bullet did what it was supposed to do, and that the animal didn’t fall into a spot where you can’t find it…

Not asking anything, I was just merely confirming that you are indeed correct..I have only canceled one tag prior to retrieving the animal, in a gesture of good will so to speak..I did end up retrieving it anyway...was also based off the assumption that it would indeed expire, as I knew exactly where I hit it, hence why I was including it in my bag limit at the time (I was a new hunter at the time)... but thanks for the verification, and this thread is good for everyone to learn those particular intricacies of the regs..