Well Doc, I think you did the right thing puting it out of its misery. Their is no reason for that poor animal to lay their and suffer all night because some desk jockey politician writes a law saying otherwise. These animals deserve better than that.

And as far as this guy goes, I would be honked off too. He knew what he was doing when he did it. He saw brown and went for the kill. Obviously very poorly at that.

Yes, the line between ethical, and legal is sometimes a little blurred! But, the line between tresspassing, and other illegal activities, and ending a wounded animals suffering, is pretty clear!

come on guys, cut NY a little slack. i mean he may be a bit of a wingnut, but he does seem to be interested in Bigfoot. And seriously, i think that's kinda cool, so he may be salvageable.....A week in the "War room" with the southern Illinois Cajun/hilljack/yankee contigent would straighten him out, at least a little....At least i could teach him how to say "I'm wrong" in Cajun French.

Good try Jag, but remember, when you are roaming the creek bottom in thepitch black with an AA battery powered lightchasing a wounded deer, you may not see those posted signs too well.

I think your being unreasonable DD. The guy has killed ONE deer, and you take him out, expect him to identify a BUTTON buck, at 50 yeards no less, then treat him badly when he shoots it. I have killed 40+ deer and at 50 yards it is still sometimes hard to identify a small doe from a button buck. I don't understand what the big deal is if it was a legal kill, is Tennessee running out of deer? I just don't understand why you would treeat this guy like that, and make him feel like he did something bad, when he was probably excited to have killed his SECOND deer ever! I mean, you've shot what, 6 or 7 this year? And a few of them 1.5 yr old bucks, but your killing this guy for shooting a 6 months old buck? I don't get it.

A good hunter has scouted his bounderies too!

Now BHF, I'm not talking about waiting until morning to start your tracking job because of a suspected marginal hit or for other reason. I'm saying that ifI got this wounded deer in the flashlight,and ifputtin him out of his misery is possible I'm gonna do just that...and pay the ticket with a clear conscience if the case may be. and I'd bet most here would do the same. Legal aspect be darned in this case and I bet ol NYB is a softie that would do the same as well

I too don't like any animal to suffer. I also believe that this is part of the sport. If some can't except the fact that this is a possibility then maybe some shouldn't be in the woods. Remember this is just my opinion!

Also you might not just be paying a ticket, you might not be doing what you love to do for a long time! You might lose you favorite gun, truck etc.... Your taking a big chance shooting/hunting at night! JMO!

Some folks need to get their terminology straight. This isn't a case of hunting at night. They trailed the deer and found it. After determining that the first shot wasn't going to be fatal for some time, they put it down for good. That's totally different from backing out after making a questionable shot in order to increase your chances for recovery. I've read enough posts from DD to believe that the second shot was safe to take, and the best option. It was a bad deal all the way around, but where would this thread be going if they'd walked out after finding the deer only to have it get away for good?

Scouting boundaries in the daytime is one thing. Sticking to them in the dead of night while looking at the ground for blood sign is another. And if, as you indicated, ending the suffering of an animal is worth the wrath of a game warden, then why is the wrath of a landowner, who may not actually even give damn, so important. C'est bien complique, hein?