Barile, Your post confirms something I have suspected for years. Four years ago I was helping a guy track a gut shot a deer. When we found it he had traveled about a mile and had bedded up and been pushed many times (public land). I noticed this deer had crusty deposits by what I imagined were tear ducts. I was so bummed when I saw this, I was convinced the deer had suffered and was certain it had been crying. I did not want to apply human traits to an animal but that is how it seemed. This was before I had ever harvested a deer and even though I know bad hits happen it made me determined to not take bad angle shots like this guy had done. So far I have been fortunate, all my harvest have been short recoveries.

James Vee, One day I was driving home and saw a young man in a ditch cradling a button buck. I stopped and saw the deer was dieing but it seemed at ease. This fellow was no hunter and asked if I knew how to end this deer’s suffering, I said yes but I did not have my knife. A lady who lived near by came over and said she called the police and got the run around. They said it was a conservation problem or sheriff’s problem. She called a number they gave her (I don't know which) and they said they could not come out right away. Soon another guy stopped and came out of his truck with a hammer. I told the young man that I was not staying to watch this and he might want to do the same. It is hard to see this stuff but it happens. Nature is cruel, if anti-hunters understood how people like us respect these deer I don't think it would change their minds but it would take away from their argument against hunting. You won't forget this incident but try to categorize the experience as a fact of life.
Bill