I would not shoot the live one. I hunt for the sport of it and would not feel to fulfilled shooting some deer thats stuck and cant move. I would feel better setting him back to the wild for me to hunt another day! Now i' m not saying its unethical - to each his own. this is just my take on the whole deal.

As far as the deer probably dying anyways, why would he. I dont get this whole stress theory. If thats the case why arent people dropping off like flies all over the world from stress? It doesnt make sense. You see marathon runners collapsing from exhaustion just to get some water and rest some and they are ok. Why would the deer die if he is able to walk away and rest up. Maybe if the animal has been there for a few days i could see em being too far gone but in thast case you could free him and at least see if he runs away.

the way i see it, if he can walk away he will survive. i dont buy into the theory that 99% of these cases result in the deer dying later after being freed. Man, i have seen deer that were hit by cars getting by.