# What do you do when you bag underweight game? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789 "2015-10-26T14:02:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789/1 "2015-10-26T14:02:13Z")
For fish, you can just throw them back if they’re underweight. For bucks it might be easy to tell if they’re bucks or have the requisite number of points. However, for land game such as deer or bear that need to meet a minimum weight, what happens if you accidentally kill one that doesn’t meet minimum weight? Of course a lot of times I assume the hunter will unofficially abandon the game, but is this officially condoned? Would you technically be on the hook for this even though you didn’t know the animal was underweight? ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789/2 "2015-10-26T15:25:40Z")
I’ve never heard of such a requirement. You can’t estimate size without knowing range, and you assume a size (if unconsciously) as part of estimating range. Are you supposed to carry a scale? And then you gut the animal, and you’re supposed to keep the offal to prove the weight? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789/3 "2015-10-26T15:35:47Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > I’ve never heard of such a requirement. You can’t estimate size without knowing range, and you assume a size (if unconsciously) as part of estimating range. Are you supposed to carry a scale? And then you gut the animal, and you’re supposed to keep the offal to prove the weight? Here’s [one example from West Virginia](http://www.wvdnr.gov/Regulations/hunting_hrBeargr.shtm), for bears: > [@](#): > > It is illegal to: > > shoot at or kill a bear weighing less than 75 pounds live weight or 50 pounds field dressed weight or to kill any bear accompanied by a cub or to kill any cub accompanied by another bear, regardless of its weight. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789/4 "2015-10-26T15:48:21Z")
Put the gun in its paw, leave a crudely-written suicide note, and run away. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789/5 "2015-10-26T16:05:14Z")
Ah, well then they are just putting enforceable numbers on “don’t shoot a little cub”, and the distinction between a cub and an adult is so far that you shouldn’t even be close, and you really aught to know from the behavior and gait that it is a cub. So sorry, I have no idea what someone stupid enough to make that mistake is supposed to do next. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789/6 "2015-10-26T16:07:41Z")
you don’t shoot in the first place. it’s not like fishing, where you don’t know how large the fish is until you’ve reeled it in. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789/7 "2015-10-26T16:15:51Z")
You report it to the game commission, along with your explanation, if any. You fill out your tag accurately. The game commission will likely tell you that it’s ok to dress the animal, but don’t butcher it for 24 hours. That way, if they want to come and take a look at it, they can. That’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789/8 "2015-10-26T16:22:04Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > For fish, you can just throw them back if they’re underweight. For bucks it might be easy to tell if they’re bucks or have the requisite number of points. However, for land game such as deer or bear that need to meet a minimum weight, what happens if you accidentally kill one that doesn’t meet minimum weight? Of course a lot of times I assume the hunter will unofficially abandon the game, but is this officially condoned? Would you technically be on the hook for this even though you didn’t know the animal was underweight? Buck deer hunting is regulated by the minimum allowed number of antler points. The Eastern count is the points on both sides, the Western count is one side only, the one side with the most points. This is important to remember if you are from an eastern count area and travel to a western hunt. 3 points or better in the west means 3 points or better on 1 side. If you go by the eastern count and shoot a buck with a spike on one side and a fork on the other, you are screwed or at least in violation. For doe hunts you are going to be looking for a large one anyway because you are hunting for the meat. I don’t know why a hunter would intentionally settle for a little Bambi. For the second part of your question, the wasting of game meat is a separate, serious offense. You can’t just leave it in the field even if you shot a small one by accident. You can’t just take the good parts and leave the rest either. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789/9 "2015-10-26T17:01:37Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > For doe hunts you are going to be looking for a large one anyway because you are hunting for the meat. I don’t know why a hunter would intentionally settle for a little Bambi. Useless nitpick of the day - Bambi was male. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789/10 "2015-10-26T17:22:54Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Useless nitpick of the day - Bambi was male. at least in Michigan, “antlerless” means “antlerless,” not just does. ---
**Author:** ![Orwell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/dfb087/32.png) [@Orwell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orwell)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2015, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-do-when-you-bag-underweight-game/735789/11 "2015-10-26T19:43:43Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Buck deer hunting is regulated by the minimum allowed number of antler points. The Eastern count is the points on both sides, the Western count is one side only, the one side with the most points. This is important to remember if you are from an eastern count area and travel to a western hunt. 3 points or better in the west means 3 points or better on 1 side. If you go by the eastern count and shoot a buck with a spike on one side and a fork on the other, you are screwed or at least in violation. > > For doe hunts you are going to be looking for a large one anyway because you are hunting for the meat. I don’t know why a hunter would intentionally settle for a little Bambi. I’ve never hunted out west in the wide open country, but I can tell you that in the east it is very difficult sometimes to count antler points, with deer often remaining in thick brush or behind trees, or moving at a rapid gait. Not saying it’s legal, or entirely justifiable, but some hunters shoot bucks with fairly sizeable antlers only to then find out there were not enough points. In my mind, if not that of a game warden, it’s not a big deal if someone shoots a large deer with large antlers that only have three points on one side (where four are required) as a mistake. As for your second point, if antlerless deer is all by itself - again, often in brush or trees - it is darned hard to tell how big or old it might be. You often determine size by comparison - you can see one or two does are large in comparison to the smaller, younger deer nearby. Guys in my hunting party have shot small deer on occasion, because the deer were alone and it was difficult to tell how old/large they were. You still tag, harvest and process them as usual… and they are indeed legal. Bear cubs do look and walk differently than adult bears, though I suppose I can understand someone not being able to quickly judge size and age if the bear is alone. The legal thing to do would be to harvest the undersized bear and call the game commission and report the error.