Was forced to make a decision today that I'm not proud of but know it was the right thing to do. I shot my smallest deer ever today. The day started off great with a lone doe coming through and then two nice shooter bucks I was able to video for awhile. One buck behind my tree at 5yds but no shot, but real nice to see that I'm in the right area.Then some turkeys and a couple more does, while I was videoing the turkeys this poor soul limped onto the scene. A few years ago i passed a shot, actually froze up trying to figure out what was wrong, it was a doe with either a broken back or two broken back legs. As I watched that poor thing drag itself through the wood i swore I wouldn't let it happen again. Well that brings us back to today, this buck fawn was either attacked by dogs or hit by a car I'm not sure. I quickly made the decision to disperse him, came to full draw and ended it at 29yds. I don't really have the right words to describe how I feel about this decision, but I do know I felt right. My actions (I feel) shortened his suffering and at the very least will give a few pounds of venison for my family.How do you guys handle these situations do you get involved or let nature be nature? Any chance this deer survives this? Mods I hope these pics are OK and apologize if they are not. Joe [ (http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg177/Joe-Mart/P1000217.jpg) (http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg177/Joe-Mart/P1000218.jpg) (http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg177/Joe-Mart/P1000222.jpg)
Well done!
Nothing wrong with ending its suffering.
Well done :thumbsup:
I did the same thing a few years back
Good decision, I would have done the same thing. He would have most likely been food for coyotes if you hadn't made him food for you.
Looks like a car wreck victim, you did good. If there is general infection the meat may be off. Even so, good choice and well done sir.
I have mercy killed probably a half dozen whitetail. All where salvageable but then I butcher my own.
You did the right thing, and can be proud of that. :thumbsup:
Great job.I second the car wreck.
Yep, What they all said.
well Done! You can share my campfire anytime! Great decision.
I would have did the same thing.
Good job!
No question the right thing to do...
JDS III
You did right !!
ya done good,Joe!
IMO, Joe, you did good. This guy was coyote bait for sure. Several years ago I watched a young buck get hit while I was on my way to hunt. Hit hard, it kinda ran as its back end went down and that was as far as it was going to go. I pulled over, strung up my LB, went out and put one thru its lungs. I put a tag on it and loaded it up I later found out it was illegal, but the CPO let it go after he saw the trauma and my tag on its leg.
Below are a couple of pics of a doe fawn I shot last year with my .54 TC Renegade. First pic shows a small 1/4" hole in the front of the now swollen foreleg. The second pic shows the back side of the same leg. She came in carrying the leg up high and I decided that would be the one I'd take, as the ML tag is for meat anyway. There's no way to know for sure, but I suspect a .22LR.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Fletcher610/DSCF0325.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v450/Fletcher610/DSCF0323.jpg)
You did right Joe
You made the right decision. Good meat in the freezer and one less deer to be suffering until it dies. Good job! -Lee
easy decision for me on that one..you did right!
you'll be able to sleep tonight knowin ya done right ;)
You done right. Be careful of gang green though.
Joe..Be grateful our gracious Lord gave you the honor of ending the deers suffering quickly before coyotes found it. Hold your head high. You are a gentleman and a true sportsman. Excellent job!! Cotton
Luckily I've never ran across that in the woods. No doubt you did the right thing. I have found a squirrel ON CAMPUS that needed relieved. That was a sticky situation, but I don't think location should change what's right and not right.
Having "dominion" over animals has countless perks. There's also a few responsibilities.
Ya did right.
Joe,
You have my respect for doing the right thing! Anyone who would dare to look down their nose at you can cram it!!! Hold your head high even if the meat is bad and its possum bait you ended this little guys suffering!!!
-RHiNo
I would have done the same thing.
Good Job!!
I even ended it for a rabbit that got hit by a car and was still alive. I think you made the right decision.
You did the right thing, Joe. I would advise to be a bit careful of the meat in case of a systemic infection from those wounds.
you did the right thing. Here is a story for you. When I was in college, I was on my way back from bowhunting, when I hit a doe deer on a well used road. I was only going 25mph. The deer was not dead and was in obvious pain. I got out of the truck and grabbed my bow. I shot her in the lungs and she was dead in seconds. Some ******* saw the whole thing and pulled over and said that I should have "let nature take it's course" I told him that there was absolutely nothing natural about a deer being hit by a ton of steel and that it was an unromantic, and unfair way for such a great animal to die. He shook his head, said something to his wife and rolled up the window on his BMW. I hope that guy went back to Chicago where he belonged, and ate a nice red juicy stake that evening.
You did the right thing. I have put down three deer in similar circumstances. One had a broken back leg from a slug and showed signs where coyotes and/or dogs had already found her (chew marks on her leg and flank). The other two were obvious car accident victims.
:thumbsup: :archer:
I'll go one further. My brother and I used to hunt together, one year hem took a impossible shot at a deer that was way too far away with a 45-70. He ended up blowing the front legs clean off this poor whitetail and it pushed it's self through literally miles of knee deep snow. Because he should have known better my father wouldn't let him back in the house till he found and recovered the meat from that deer and I haven't hunted with him for anything in 15 years! You did the only humane thing and if you had done anything else you would not be welcome to hunt with me. I find there are too many sport killers in the field these days and too few who uphold the values Trad archery and hunting in general are built on.
PS doesn't look like you'll loose that much meat to me just trim back till you get a nice even color remove all blackened or white/ yellowed flesh. General rule of thumb for any game if it is odorless or smells good it is. For example a friend of mine recently shot a 7 foot brown, normally an inedible critter. But this year we had almost no salmon run and the bears have been eating berries and moose all summer. Well his was the first fall brown I couldn't smell from 30 feet away I've ever seen......and it tastes great!
You definitely did the right thing. Well done! ;) :thumbsup:
:thumbsup: You are welcome in my camp anytime :campfire:
Good job and you did let nature be nature! we as preadtors are part of the picture to thin out the weak! i have done the same things many times in 35 years of hunting,but that's another story for another time! You done Right!!! :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
righ thing to do , good decision
:clapper: :clapper:
Well done Joe.
Good call. I have never been in your shoes but wouldn't hesitate if I was. It is what I call in my mind the hand on my shoulder which in my case was the grandfather that took me to the woods and explained right and wrong. Somethings need no justification they are right or they're not. This was right. I would be proud to share a campfire with you...and some of those tender backstraps.
No question-right decision. Have finished what others started several times over the years. you did the right thing.
You did the right thing,I hate to see a animal suffering,unless its my exwife!!!
Hold your head up with pride, you did what had to be done! :notworthy:
Karma will reward you some day.
Unfortunatly in my chosen career I have had to put down many,many deer that were hit by cars and it is never fun or glamorous. I would not hesitate for a second to do the same thing you did. Well done!!!
Looks like a dog/coyote attack to me (they go for hamstrings and anus), and I like the way you think. I love the light drag of a fawn, the tender meat, the clean innards..just wish there was more meat, but that adds to the drag. You ended suffering, and got some fine fare for it. That is reward enough for anybody, friend.
He was a fat little rat, wasn't he! :D
Killdeer :wavey:
You did good!
I would of done the same thing
You did the right thing.
Hey guys just a little update. The deer is not a buck fawn it is a doe, what I thought was the male gender hanging was actually a large hematoma (butchered that word) or pocket of blood. Definetely a car victim judging by the broken bones. Well now the little pink backstraps are marinating in a teriyaki & onion marinade for dinner. Joe
Contrary to popular belief/opinion, this thread and each reply to it clearly proves that the terms "Animal lover" and "hunter" are not mutually exclusive.
As hunters, no one loves animals more than we do. If we could get the antis and non-hunters to understand this simple concept, the whole hunting vs. anti-hunting controversy would not exist.
QuoteOriginally posted by Soilarch:
Having "dominion" over animals has countless perks. There's also a few responsibilities.
Ya did right.
Soilarch, Gotta welcome you again. That is a very important and well stated truth which bears repeating
Ron
No question; you made the right choice. I've had to dispatch many animals caught in poachers snares and damaged too severely to survive. No pleasant, but necessary.
Ed
TGMM Family of the Bow
Yes you did the right thing..
did the same on a 1.5 year old 5 point a few years back that had a broken front leg. Sucks to have to kill such a young animal but I would rather that then see any animal suffer.
good job!
What else could you have done?Looks like theres still a mess of salvageable meat there. :thumbsup:
I wouldn't have hesitated on a shot like that. A couple of years ago I was bowhunting public land during the Nov. gun season (legal in my area). I had a doe come running towards me. Right away I could see that something was off but I couldn't see anything unusual. She ended up cruising behind me. I had a single shooting lane behind me and as she trotted through I held off shooting because she wasn't slowing down. The opportunity was gone in seconds and as she ran through a thick patch I clearly saw that her back leg was broken and part of her stomach was shot open. Ten minutes later I had a group of guys come crashing through looking for their deer. Turns out one of the group had shot it at first light and they had been chasing it the whole day. I felt sick about the whole thing.
In the future I would not hesitate take a shot on an injured deer. I say good job on doing the right thing.
you did the right thing iam sure god would have thought so. :notworthy:
Sometimes the best you can do is the least you can do.
You need to be proud, you did the right thing. I did the same thing a couple of years ago to a doe that only had 3 and a half legs that was limping real bad. I felt it was the right thing to do, and would do it again. Congrats on the harvest.
Good choice and I know our DEC will give ya a new tag if ya bring the deer in to them and may even let ya keep the meat. Shawn
Absolutely shoot the deer, good job would have done the same in a heart beat
Not only the right thing to do ,but the only thing to do!!! Good job.
The humane thing is always the right thing.
I would be proud to share a camp with you. It is a mature and gracious way to give back to the forest that which we take granted everyday that we were out there.
Steve
Way to go and thanks for sharing!
That deer may have lost lots of weight while fighting off infection, which would have made for a very bad winter. That's if it would have not been killed by another predator.
you did good.
Don't feel ashamed to do the right thing. Though it was small, it'll eat way better than any "trophy" buck.
I used to work at a bar and late one night the manager came in and pulled me aside. She had come across a car-hit deer on the way back from the office and asked me if I would go put it out of it's misery, of course I said yes and took off. When I got to the scene a decision had to be made, do I use the 357 and wake up the neighbors or use the Maglight? The Maglight got the call, did it's job and I went back to work. Upon returning she asked how I did the deed and I told her, she then asked "How could you do it?" refering to killing the deer, I replied "How could I NOT do it?" The subject never came up again.
Always the right thing to do in my opinion. We owe it to the animal not to let them suffer. It just shows you how resilient they can be.
Ditto!(nut)
I think you did the right thing.
:clapper: that was right.
Joe, you were a GOD send to hthat animal. You did good
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
David
I did the same thing before to a doe that had its back legs broken by a car. I knew that it had to be done but I was still sad about it.
You did the right thing IMO.That poor creature would have been coyote bait at best or face starvation if you had not interceeded. Some times a hunter has to put the best intrest of the game oabove their own
your ONLY choice
Tough decision, but the right one. Totaly selfless, which is what being an ethical hunter is all about.
Gerry
Yep you did the only thing that could be done ! I wouldn't even consider it a decision.
Looks like a pack of coyotes tried to drag him down. I kicked seven coyotes off a button buck a couple of years ago. His rear end was all torn up like that. He was dead before I got over to him or I would have done the same thing.
you made the right choice in my book. Thanks for your ethics.
Way to go, by the looks of him he was in pretty bad shape! In this case I would of done the same thing!
:thumbsup:
I've put several deer down that were car hit. One got hit and all of its legs were broken. I was headed to a hunt and saw a guy pulled over. The deer had been hit about 10 hours prior to me getting there. You could see where the deer flopped around on the road bleeding. I strung my selfbow and shot it. I was told by the police not to do that untill they get there.
But I just can't let them suffer. I've killed 2 others (one I hit) with a knife to both lungs.
You did good. Even if you don't get any meat I think its the right thing to do.
I agree completely with your decision. A quick end to suffering and food for your table.
I would of done the same thing!