3 tips for great hunting etiquette

3 tips for great hunting etiquette

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THE GREAT OUTDOORS — Utah's general deer season is in full swing, and with only six days left (the hunt ends Oct. 30), hunters who weren't successful on opening weekend will be pulling out all the stops to bag the trophy buck they've stalked for months.

Sadly, the rush to fill the freezer with fresh venison can sometimes bring out the worst in some people. To help you have a great hunt this year, let's take a quick refresher course on hunting etiquette.

Dump the guts

Regardless of how you harvest your deer's meat (gutting or boning it out), it's common courtesy to do so right where the animal died. While it may be easier to clean the animal in a parking lot, or even at a game check station, it's best to dump the guts in a remote area in the mountains. No one wants to arrive at a parking lot or trailhead and smell a ripe pile of deer remains.

Share the mountain

Remember, you're not the only hunter out there trying to fill a tag. Do your best to stay out of the way of other hunters, and don't make unnecessary loud noise while walking through the forest. One of the most frustrating things for hunters is to have a big buck in the sights, only to watch it spook after hearing other hunters somewhere down the trail.

Additionally, it's important to remember that unless you have permission to hunt private land, we all share the same public lands. You may have scouted an area heavily for months before the season, but if you're not there first on the day of the hunt you can't force another hunter to leave.

We're blessed to have so much public land on which to hunt, but it's just that — public. We all have to share it.

If you shot it, track it

This bit of advice does more to keep the spirit and tradition of hunting alive than it does to make the hunting experience a pleasant one for others.

If you shoot a deer, but you didn't kill it and the animal takes off running, it's your duty as a hunter, sportsman and steward of public land to follow the animal until you can find it.

Dismissing the shot by thinking you hit the deer in the leg, or not at all and just spooked it, isn't only an un-sportsmanlike way to hunt, but it also teaches children the wrong way to honor the land and animals that are such a huge part of our heritage and traditions here in Utah.

It may take several hours — or even a day or two — to find the animal you shot, but it's the right thing to do. A few years ago, I helped a friend of mine find a buck he'd shot three days earlier; at that point we had hunting dogs and a dozen people out looking for the animal. It was finally found, tagged and cleaned.

Hunting is one of the American West's greatest traditions and it's up to every hunter to uphold the values and standards of hunting. Whether it's your first year or 50th out hunting Utah's Rocky Mountains, don't forget to be courteous.

Do you have any hunting etiquette tips? Share them in the comments below.


![Spencer Durrant](http://img.ksl.com/slc/2583/258385/25838585\.jpg?filter=ksl/65x65)
About the Author: Spencer Durrant \---------------------------------

Spencer is an outdoors columnist and novelist from Utah. His debut novel, Learning to Fly, was an Amazon bestseller. Connect with him on Twitter @Spencer_Durrant or on Facebook.

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