ORIGINAL: livbucks
Seems ironic that I tried like hell to kill him all seasonbut didn't want to when he was "tied to a tree". If I would have been able to free him that morning and then seen him at my stand later in the day, I wouldn't even blink twice about putting an arrow through his ribs. Something to do with fair chase and ethics I guess.
I agree with you 100% ......I was faced with a similar situation just last year. I was walking through a brushy area on my way back to the truck during gun season. I saw antlers sticking up from the brush, I shouldered my rifle and got closer, only to find one of the nicer bucks I had been watching during bow season, laying there obviously in pain. I tried everything I could do to spook him, to see if he could get up, but he couldnt. He was obviously hurt beyond help. So after sitting there for literally 20 min debating what I should do, I decided to use my tag and put him out of his misery. (Thinking at least the meat will go to use.) So I shot him and went over to see what was was initially wrong with him. He had a huge hole in his brisket right in front of his shoulder, so big I could see into his chest cavity from standing 5 feet away. He was laying down in the mud I guess to try and stop the bleeding. So I gutted him checked him in and took him back to the barn to cut up. As I was skinning him, I noticed 2 areas on his hind quarters that were "puffy". As I sliced them with my knife, a pancake batter looking stuff oozed from both of them. He had been shot the previous year in the hind quarters with a 30 cal bullet (it was still in him) and that had gotten infected very badly. I called Maryland DNR and they sent an officer out to look at it, and he agreed with me that I should not eat the deer. But when I asked if I could have another tag he said NO! I told him I was trying to do the right thing, but he said he still coulndt issue me another tag. [:@]