D-16 First Buck, now gone

Holy moly!!! That freaking sucks dude. I'm really sorry to hear this.

Forgetting a pen is an honest mistake, I could do it myself. You can't drag the deer to the pen?
 
It sucks and your going to have to pay for the mistake. You will learn from it.
Stuff like this happens to new hunters because they don't know the regs and then they get discouraged and quit hunting.
Take some time to read the regs and get to know them the best you can. Most of all don't let this stop you from hunting.
 
Bummer man . I keep 5 pens in my PAC plus my lucky pen in my pants..
 
Wow, this might be the first time ever on any message board where someone admitted they made a mistake.

You are a honorable dude. Well done.

Great news. There will always be bucks in that same area. Next year bring a pen and you are set.

Good job and way to be a man.
People should take notice.
 
It happens move on your not a poacher.........next time don't touch the kill go get a pen then come back and fill the tag.......but I have a feeling your never going to forget a pen.

By the way your not the first nor will you be the last...........this violation is not a threat to anyone's life just a technicality that must be followed and you learned that plus you helped a few newbies not too make the same mistake.

John
You should have a stiky for rules for newbies on deer hunting.......or something like that.......like a good story of a hunt that points out the legalities so you don't have this
This site gets a lot of newbies and the regs can be confusing for all of us
 
Wow, that suck man. It was a nice buck too for your first one. Don't let this get you down just keep it up. Hopefully you can get a pass on this mistake when you go to court.
 
I can't stop thinking about this; I'm sick over it. What a waste of a fantastic experience and possibly an amazing deer. Maybe the judge will cut you a break over an honest mistake.
 
Great buck! You will always have pictures. Sometimes I get excited and get to taking pictures and then I realize oh s?!t I have to fill out my tag! Guarantee you will never do it again.
 
Bummer man I feel for you. You actually taught me something! I didn't know you had to fill out the tag with a pen. In Idaho you just notch the tag on the month and day and you are good. I thought I could just cut out the date on my tag and I would be good. Still super sorry to hear this.
 
That sucks. I jut went and put two more pens in my pack.

MJB that's a good idea with a sticky for regs.

Anyone that teaches or knows someone who teaches hunter safety course I would like to see the basics of filling out a California deer tag and when to fill it out added to a course. I sat through a course with a friend last year and that topic was never even discussed.

Congrats on the buck!
 
Ajsnack said:
That sucks. I jut went and put two more pens in my pack.

MJB that's a good idea with a sticky for regs.

Anyone that teaches or knows someone who teaches hunter safety course I would like to see the basics of filling out a California deer tag and when to fill it out added to a course. I sat through a course with a friend last year and that topic was never even discussed.

Congrats on the buck!

This is so true. I have been to hunters safety 4 or 5 times with my friends. Not once was how and when to fill out a tag discussed.
 
Ive been thinking about this. Yes there was an innocent mistake made. The tag should have been filled out. We all agree.

Looking at it in a different way. The warden could have easily handed him a pen and said "fill it out". Would have been less work for him and a lesson learned for Cgruwell05.
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys. Yesterday was a roller coaster day. I really appreciate the responses and hopefully nobody makes the same mistake as i did after reading my story. I will never forget to take a pen anywhere i go now. I am in that guilt/upset stage right now because when it came down to it was my mistake. Does anybody have an idea to what the penalty is? I never been to court or been in trouble with the law so I have no idea what to expect. I am sure ill be out of hunting for a few years and have a sizeable fine. I am putting all the blame on myself and have no hard feelings for the wardens as they were just doing their job. They even showed me on the tag itself it says to fill out tag immediately.

Hopefully all goes well. Itd be one thing if i went out to a new spot and got lucky with a deer crossing my path. But id been tracking him for weeks now on 2 different cams. I almost knew where he'd be at certain times. And sucks because there he was at the exact location and time i have seen him on my camera.

Time to take a break for a bit but its going to be a tough one to get over.
 
I make get flak for this but that warden was a pud. he could have given the guy a warning and let him fill out and validated the tag on the spot. that is the first time I heard of such a bull crap cracked up mother F .

and yes we should carry our pens with us but how many here have we forgotten or lost our pens. it happens all the time
I do carry two pens in case one fails. let the carnage begin.

All I have to say your earned that deer. sorry this happened. and thanks for posting , that was a beauty. there will be other times. and I agree a sticky will be advised. Thank you for the post.
 

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