Who get's the rack?

[patvetzal]

I don't really care who shot it, I would hang ANY rack rather than see it go to the dump. Even old racks from camp after the shooter has long died. A good looking rack looks good no matter who it came from.
Of course I am of the age when I can appreciate a good looking rack on a fourteen, forty or sixty year old....

[Mdiddi]

Shooter but if he doesn't want it it goes up at camp shed.

[geo27]

Shooter chooses take home or leave it at the hunt camp.

[Dythbringer]

Shooter should get first option for it. I would take a rack which either the shooter or the camp doesn't want. My lab loves to chew on them.

[GW11]

Where things get dicey is when the buck is hit by one guy first, then downed by another guy a little further on. I've seen this happen in my old camp. Hunters not too far apart, the hounds bring one in close and the deer runs down the line and is shot at by more than one guy.

[Fox]

Where things get dicey is when the buck is hit by one guy first, then downed by another guy a little further on. I've seen this happen in my old camp. Hunters not too far apart, the hounds bring one in close and the deer runs down the line and is shot at by more than one guy.

That should be the camp rack then, unless they are civil with one another.

My uncle had this happen with a monster, 16pt and took 8 rounds in the bread basket before it went down. Every single guy in the camp shot at it and nobody could say if it was a 30 cal or a 270 that hit it. I should ask him what happened to the rack but I assume if any buck deserved to stay at the camp that would be the one.

[JBen]

Haven't done a lot of camp hunting, but this subject seems to come up a lot. While "shooter first option" has merit I wonder if it's the fairest.

Multiple shooters as above is one potential problem. Especially if any of the shots/wounds leave fatality in question. Whose shot was it that downed it?

But I also wonder about less tangible things.
Its just above freezing, damp and miserable and one guy has been doing a lot of the pushing/drives.
Its arguable at least to me, that those doing the drives do more to put the buck in the shooters way, than the shooter who happened to be in the right place that day.

Not sure if there's a right or wrong. Knowing myself, if I ran a hunt camp I might give thought to a simple lottery system at the start of the week. First name drawn has first dibs (guys who may not want anymore can pass, there by increasing the others odds).

True,we all want any rack on our wall to be one we ourselves shot.
I'm thinking if I'm sitting a stand, sipping warm coffee, fairly dry and comfortabl, not busting a sweat, and a nice 10pter or more comes busting out into my shooting lane... All I've done is pull the trigger, someone else did all the work

[ysyg]

The shooter is the one that gets to decide what is done with the rack. If it's his personal best, he would keep for sure, all others would get offered up, then donated to the camp if no takers. That's how we do it, no issues yet.

[greatwhite]

Shooter keeps it.

Just curious to hear some feedback from everyone about how the camp rules dictate who gets to keep the rack when shooting a buck? Any gang I've hunted with, the shooter always gets the rack, regardless of who tags the buck. Personally, that's the way I see it also. I wouldn't want a rack from a deer I didn't shoot.

[Dythbringer]

Where things get dicey is when the buck is hit by one guy first, then downed by another guy a little further on. I've seen this happen in my old camp. Hunters not too far apart, the hounds bring one in close and the deer runs down the line and is shot at by more than one guy.

If it came down to it, I would vote for the first shooter. A deer with a shotgun/rifle hole in it is dead even if it doesn't know it yet.