"Town clerk error in your favor. Collect 10 acres."

Oh no, no matter what it's technically illegal, and if caught I would expect someone to get cited.

What I'm getting at is, from a conservation side of things, though it is illegal it may not be wrong (i.e. anathema to the conservation and maintenance of VT deer herds).

I imagine however that VT is depending on the fact that most people won't kill four deer a year, and as such, 'using' someone else's tags is likely also (from a conservation and herd maintenance standpoint) wrong.

For instance, as a non-resident landowner I can hunt my own property and take up to four deer. I doubt VT's deer herd models are expecting that to happen. Almost certainly VT does not have enough of a deer population to sustain having every single landowner, and every single hunter, shoot four deer while maintaining a healthy deer population for next year.

Game management is a weird thing. It could be that Vermont supports enough deer for every hunter to harvest 4 deer a year and maintain the herd. In that case, while what they are doing is against the letter of the law, it's still within the intent (maintaining a healthy deer population). On the other hand, it might be that Vermont is gambling that most hunters won't take 4 deer a year, and so using someone else's limit towards your own limit is not only against the letter of the law, but also the intent.

I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not even a resident. I'm just some shmuck thousands of miles away that inherited some VT property from a deceased parent many years ago. I'm also a hunter and conservationist. I honestly can't say if what they are doing is in line with Vermont's projected deer harvest, so won't pass judgement; other than to let them know that what their buddy is doing is technically illegal.

> I don't think "I've already shot four deer this year, so I'll give away the 5th" is a legal option either.

Generally speaking at least, it is not a legal option:

https://www.eregulations.com/vermont/hunting/deer-hunting

> Annual Deer Limit > > A person shall not take more than four deer in a calendar year, only one of which may be a legal buck (see below). Youth and novice hunters shall be allowed to take two legal bucks, provided that one is taken during the youth or novice season, not to exceed the annual limit of four deer.