Wounded deer
 

If you saw a deer that was shot by a poacher out of season, and there was 0% chance of survival, would you ease the pain and shoot it? I don't know if I would. I would want to help it expire quickly and painlessly, but would I be considered a poacher?

RE: Wounded deer
 

I wouldn't shoot it. To me, if you take game out of season, or by methods not allowed where you hunt you are poaching. Intent doesn't matter in the eyes of the law. IMO

RE: Wounded deer
 

Would you be considered a poacher....Definitely not to anyone that is familiar with hunting. If you come upon a wounded animal that is going to suffer, I know my first intention is to put it out of it's misery. However, in the state of Michigan this is against the law. If you come upon a car deer accident, and the deer has no chance of surviving and is struggling, you still have to wait for an officer to arrive and allow them to put the animal down. That law kind of sucks but I'm sure there is reasoning to it.

RE: Wounded deer
 

Well the law is pretty clear like it or not. If you shoot a deer out of season without a permitt to do that deer is considered poached. doesn't matter the reason in the eyes of the law. Like the above post says. if the deer is lying there you are supposed to call the authorities and they will come and put it down if that is what they decide to do.

Don't get into the thinking that you know what is best for the wild life. I've seen all kinds of animals hurt, some of them so bad I didn't think they would make it. Some I never saw again and some I saw all healed up and doing fine. How does anyone really know how bad an animal is hurt? You would have to catch it, X ray it do all kinds of test on it and have a vet interput the results for ya.

I always shake my head when people think a deer should be put down because it appears to hurt to live. All you are really doing is looking for a reason to kill something. Hunters don't really need to do mother natures work, she will take care of the deer in her own way.

mercy killings are not really needed at all when it comes to wildlife.

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Guess I never really thought about the fact that everything happens for a reason.

RE: Wounded deer
 

A wounded thread 30 days before the season. ARRRGGHH.

RE: Wounded deer
 

I think there are exceptions. The letter of the law and the spirit of the law on occasion can clash. I do agree animals can survive injuries that boggle the mind. However there are some injuries that occur where they obviously are not going to recover from and then I think the humane thing to do is put them down.

For Example, I arrowed a doe one time (during season) that had horrific injuries from being hit by a vehicle. Both front legs were broke and the bones were sticking through the skin and dry. Her hooves were turned completely and permanently backwards and though her body was trying to heal she was full of infection where the bones were mending. She was totally emaciated (I have seen more meat on a chipmunk) and it looked like perhaps a dog or something had bit her in the behind. The odor coming from her wounds was enough to knock down a moose. When I finally figured out what I was looking at, I put an arrow through her and ended her suffering. It was a sight I have never forgot. She was at least a half mile from any road and judging from the progression of her wounds she had been in this condition for a week or more. It really was one of the saddest things I have witnessed in the animal kingdom in many years of studying nature.

With that in mind a year ago or so (out of season) a young doe was laying in a hay field next to my house. The first day I saw her I didn't think much about it. She had her head up and seemed alert. Low and behold she was in the same spot the next day. Then I had a suspicion that she is more than likely injured. Sure enough when I stopped, she tried to struggle to her feet but just wasn't strong enough to get up, she could only flail. I backed off and called a number for the DNR. I got a machine and left a message. I reluctantly worked around the place all day and in the afternoon one of the neighbors stopped to tell me about the injured deer on the adjacent property. I told him that I was waiting for a visit or a call from the DNR before I would do anything so I wouldn't get a citation but inside me I felt guilty. I felt like I was doing something that I knew wasn't right. To this day I am ashamed that I let that deer suffer for most of the day. When my neighbor left I had all I could stand and loaded up one of my guns and shot that poor thing. I felt so guilty that I decided to shoot it from a distance so it wouldn't try to get up and experience anymore pain. It still stuggled some when it saw me coming but it couldn't get up. One shot and the pain was gone.

You know the DNR never did return my call that I am aware of. Call me a poacher, a softy, a criminal, whatever you want, it won't hurt near as bad as denying my own conscience. There are a number of things in my life that I am ashamed of. Letting that deer suffer that long is certainly one of them. I know better, but I was so concerned about my image, violating a law that I could be cited for and branded a poacher, that I let it stand in the way of my convictions. I don't think I will make that mistake again.

RE: Wounded deer
 

Antler Eater, Great post, I couldnt agree more.

RE: Wounded deer
 

I'd definetly call the ministry first and tell them the siuation ,but by no mean's destroy it without them being there ,as B2Simple said in there eye's you could be the poacher and not a concerned citizen and you'll be the one paying for some one elses crime .The ministry or the police need to know first and they'll have to investigate the situation first .The last thing you want to do is show up at a butcher shop with a shot animal out of season ,because that will make you the poacher in their eye's.

nubo

RE: Wounded deer
 

if its on my land and it will die then i would. one year i found a deer that had a busted up leg hanging by the skin. it was in season so i shot it and ate it. is that not alot like eating a cow that fell on some ice broke its back. thats the beef i was eat to this day

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In Pa ,believe it or not the PGC dont respond to wounded deer hit on the road.They tell you to call the local cops. I think not all laws are always ethical. I will put any animal out of misery when injured.

RE: Wounded deer
 

In the context of your question..NO. If I were to shoot the animal it is against the law here and could be charged which includes fine, loss of hunting rights for 1 year and permanent record. Furthermore if shot by a poacher originally I could also face charges of obstruction of justice and the above mentioned infractions. What I would do is call the TIPS line and help the CO's in anyway I could.

Ethically I think we all know what we would want to do in this situation but legally it could nip you in the butt.

RE: Wounded deer
 

In the context of your question shoot the poacher first then put the animal down. Just joking. If its on my property I am putting it down. Here in Missouri the sherrifs departments won't come on private property to put down and animal. They will however respond to car vs. animals on the road if the animal is mortily wounded. If you call the conservation department to take care of it you may wait weeks to here from anyone. One of 2 things I would do on private property: 1) Call the Game warden at home. - Get much better responce this way. 2) take of it myself.

Sometimes a higher law exist other than the law of the land.

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Where did you pull the last part of that statement from? Are you a psychologist? [:'(][:@][:'(]

RE: Wounded deer
 

That is a tough question, "break the law" or "do the right thing". When I say "do the right thing" I mean end the animal's suffering. I personally would put the deer down especially if you are on private property or deep in the deer woods. I feel you would be giving due respect to nature by showing mercy to one of its creatures. As a further sign of respect you could even bury the deer in a shallow grave, or just let it be food for the other woodland creatures. Just my two cents...

RE: Wounded deer
 

Ive only been put in this situation once, but it was in season. I walked up on what I thought was a dead deer but turned out to be a young b-buck that had its front shoulder shot to hell with bones and meat sticking out everywhere. He was too weak to move and obviously in alot of pain. At one point I snuck around him in a creek bed and popped up over the bank 5ft from him. He had enough energy to raise his hind legs to try and stand and then just fell and stared at me staring at him.
I felt so bad for this animal I turned around and made the mile walk back to my house and returned with my 870. I stayed just out of his view to keep from worrying it more and put a slug through his head to make it quik.
I'd have to say that if I ever saw a deer in that situation again, in season or not I would definately put the thing out of its misery.

RE: Wounded deer
 

tuff call I think I would put it down but I would also call the DEC first just to cover myself
if it was in season without a doubt I would . A few years ago I put a small button buck down that was hit by a car cost me a tag for very little meat but at least his suffering was over

RE: Wounded deer
 

For all of you "letter of the law" and "how do you know if he's going to die" guys. I got a scenario fro you. When I was about 14, I was out squirrel hunting one day. I heard a dog coming from what sounded like a long way off. After a minute or so the dog sounded a little closer. I assumed it was running a deer so I started to walk in that direction to get a glimpse of the deer. I didn't walk more than 20 yards over a small rise when I saw the dog. He was lying there on the ground not more than another 20 yards from me. The dog was lying there starving to death and literally rotting. I could not imagine that the animal was still alive. I have seen animals that were dead for a week that were not as decomposed as that dog was. He was literally starving and rotting to death. It had orginally sounded like he was a couple of hundred yards off. Well really he was only 40 yards but he was so week that he could barely bark. As he heard us talking he mustered up enough strength to bark a little louder. When I got close I threw up. Between the smell and the thought of this poor animals lying there for the last month decomposing alive. The animal appeared to be paralyzed. It was truely sickening. Well I shot the dog and put the poor creature out of it's misery. I figured it had suffered enough. It was time to end it's suffering. What I did was illegal. However, I did it then and would gladly do it again, even if it meant loosing my hunting license for good. I could not in good conscience look myself in the mirror and know that I had left that animal out there to conitnue suffering needlessly. I would like to hear which side of the fence everyone wouled be on in the above scenario.


To answer zaks question, I don't know. It would depend on the situation and how bad the animal was hurt. If the animal was down like after a wreck or something and I knew the animals couldn't get back up, then I would finish it off. If the animals was not down just severely wounded I would assume it had a 50% - 50% chance and let nature take it's course. The law and doing what is right and ethical don't always go hand in hand. I am going to do what I think in my heart is right. If that happens to be against the law then I will pay my fines etc. JMO

RE: Wounded deer
 

Yes, I would just shoot it and move on. Why waste time thinking about it when you could shoot it and be back on your way in under a minute. I killed a 13 point 6 years ago that had a broken hip from a car. I did keep his rack just because he had 6 brow tines on one side. If it wasn't for that I would have just left him for the critters.

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Well it depends on the situation, but I will simply say that one way, or the other, the animal will have its suffering ended even if I got busted for so called poaching.

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I strongly disagree with you Bees, last winter my buddy and I were taking down stands a couple weeks after season had ended. We kept hearing dogs yelping and barking, and ever once in a while a loud, long bawl sound. We thought that it was a goat or sheep bawling. This kept going on for 30 minutes or so and we became curious to what it was. We were atleast 1 1/2 miles from any road and house, and we were the only ones that were supposed to be in the property. After a period of time we decided to go check it out. As we came up to the yelping, barking, and bawling, we came up on a pack of medium sized wild dogs tormenting a young button buck. When the dogs realized our presence they darted. The deer tried to take off but couldn't, b/c his 2 front legs were broken and most of his rear end chewed off. At this time, we were a good 30 minute walk away from the truck and a 20 minute drive back to the house. There was absolutely no chance of this deer's survival and there is no way we could have just left it lay there to suffer from starvation, or the dogs nipping away at it until it had a slow miserable death. All we had was a knife, so we both decided to cut his throat. It was a very hard thing to do b/c he just layed there. We did the deed and he expired quickly. If I would have left that guy laying there helplessly, I would have a had a lot harder time handling it than I did from doing what I did. I still wish we would have never had to be a part of it. Although we put him out of his misery, it was still a hard pill to swallow, but I still feel I did the right thing.

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Good job MILLERTIME10!!:D I would do the same thing.

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but if it wasnt on my land as much as i wouldnt want to i would let it be