I went out bowhunting last night. I have one antlerless tag to fill, so I just hunting for meat. I was doing some spot and stalk on a herd of deer. I got about 45 yards from them when I stopped. Seen a couple does and one nice 10pt buck. Even though I wasn't going to shoot the buck I was more interested in it and was watching it more than the does. Then they must have caught wind of me or something, because they all started snorting and the does ran off, but the buck stayed. He stood there for a couple minutes which was very odd for a mature buck to do. Then he started walking and I noticed one of his back legs was mangled. He could hardly walk. Was all humped up, and was obvious he was in a lot of pain. I probably could have ran him down if I wanted to. Then it got me thinking, what should I do if I had a shot at this buck? Should I put him down and be a humane hunter or just let him suffer and eventually die since it would be ethically wrong considering I don't have a tag? I've been raised to put down any animal I see which is in a position like this. I've done it with a lot of my own pets and other animals, but never a deer. It's not like I would keep the deer if I did shoot him, just put him down and left for the coyotes. The spot is in the middle of a 2 mile section, on the edge of my property line. I may not see him tonight, but then I might, i don't know.
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