one day i saw a young bull moose feeding on top of a small hump, ten minutes later i drove by again and saw him with his head stuck beetween the very bushes he was eating, some time in the ten miniutes he had sliped gotten stuck and strangled to death.

And some say hunters are cruel...

"Nature's law of tooth and claw are far crueler than any death I could ever bestow" -Fred Bear

Deer can jump real high as we all know. There is this 20 acre water well field that is all fenced in, close to where I currently live. It is at least 6' chainlink toped with three strands of barbed wire and is full of hay and grass. It must be topping 10' tall. I always notice big bucks and doe in it feeding as I drive by and it amazes me everytime that they can clear that height. A few months back I came across a young buck that got tangle up and the buzzards, coyoties and wolves had a go at him.

I've got a little 26 acre spread and have decided to hand build a jackleg fence around the perimeter.
There is old barb around part of it that will need to be removed.
I haven't witnessed what others here have but can imagine the scene.
If I had multitude of acres or sections of land the fence I'm contemplating would be inconcievable.
Nature is beautiful and sometimes cruel.

Yes, seems like a bad way to go.  And it's not restricted to animals jumping over fences.  Several years ago on opening day of bow season I found a barred owl that dove into the shadow of a cedar tree in the moon lit night and broke its neck on the fence wire connected to said tree.  Then just today I was out shooting stumps and scouting my favorite hunting spot and found a hawk hung in the barbed wire.  My best guess is that he was diving at prey near an open spring back in the woods.  Unfortunately it was also along the property line.

is it that life is hard or is it that their is just some bad things that happen

Most of the animals don't die in their sleep dreaming.

On my way to work one morning, I saw a deer that had apparently misjudged jumping a cemetary fence. The kind made w/ square stock every 6" w/ pointed tops. He was hanging w/ one right thru his brisket. It had just happened as he was still bleeding out. At least he didn't go to waste, another guy was right there claiming it.

I occasionally find a whitetail leg just like that... tough to think of what the animal must have gone through before it died.

Crazy how things work sometimes. I just read this thread last night and this morning while out shed hunting I was telling my buddy about the elk leg in the fence and maybe 5 minutes later we find a deer leg in a fence. Nothing else left. Kind of strange after just reading this thread.

In some of the bad winters we've had in the past, I've seen deer remains in the fences surrounding the hay that farmers feed their cattle up where I hunt. Got stuck trying to get to food. I've heard of people round these parts that have had to finish off deer that were almost dead. Haven't seen it in the last couple years though, probably cause of the overhunting of the area that's gone on, not enough deer to get stuck...  

dang fences they are changing to a critter friendly fence here but they still get hung up sad to see when they get hung up thou

QuoteOriginally posted by Bear:
To those of you who say nature is tough, barbed wire ain't nature.

Good thought Bear, I certainly agree with ya!

The early cattle men thought barb wire would be the death of the business,kind of differant now. I like slash gut and aspen worm fences better myself and they keep my brother employed. A 7 rail worm fence sure keeps the elk out better than wire and you don't have to lay it down in the winter. Around her alot of people notch the ears of game they cut out of fences,I'm always surprised how many deer I see with perfect v's in there ears. Dose anyone else notch ears or heard of it or is it just a local thing?

QuoteOriginally posted by wollelybugger:
Most of the animals don't die in their sleep dreaming.

Contrary to what most of the Disney-fied portion of the world would think!!!!!

Great point!

I had a buck get caught in a 4 in cattle wire fence behind my house this year. Unfortunately for him it was during deer season. But he did not have to suffer a slow death.

We put the third and fourth strand of our wire fourteen to sixteen inches apart to prevent deer getting caught.  Lower strands are closer together.

Stuff happens, but this problem is preventable with a little forethought.

Sad deal. I know someone who oddly ran into two whitetails in the same predicament. They were both too badly injured to save. Local MDC sees it all trhe time. After making the call, He put what He could of them to good use. Sad, but just reality sometimes.

Ain't always fence though, came across a young bobcat wedged in the fork of a tree. Looked like he mismanaged his leap or slipped or something. Would be prolonged demise methinks. Poor guy.