tschaef

I've seen footage of deer in big trouble out on the ice with no threats around at all. Depends on the ice conditions, it may be that this deer exhausted itself just trying to walk across, but its hooves kept slipping out from under him and he laid down and froze in, it happens when there is a thaw and slippery with water on ice! Up here in Ontario we routinely see news stories about rescue efforts for geese that have literally frozen into the water. The deer may have been dead (or near-dead) and then been found by predators, but unable to run.
Regardless, I agree that falling to hunter is not as cruel as mother nature can be.