Did I Do Wrong?

[Protrucker]

Yesterday, I was out behind the house trying to fill one of my tags. I really want a buck, but there is a much better chance of taking a doe back there right now, & I was ready to do that. About a half hour before sunset I heard something off to my right behind me. I turned slowly & saw a deer moving through the woods. I got ready for the shot, but quickly realized that it was a very little one. Then I noticed that it was dragging it's left hind leg. It has obviously been injured. (probably either hit by a car or shot) I put my sights on it & thought about taking it just to put it out of it's missery.(I doubt that it will make it through the winter) I was really looking for a bigger deer & didn't wan't to spook others from the area by shooting so I passed on the shot. As soon as I passed the shot up & the opportunity was gone, I started thinking that I should have put the little thing down. What would you have done?

 

[Canerod]

I usually don't post much, but on this one, I just gotta. IMO, our responsibility as hunters requires us to cleanly and humanely cull out any injured deer. If you have a tag for it, put it down. If you don't have the tag, call your local warden and get a clarification. Sometimes they will come and shoot it, or give you a tag to check it in with. Here in Maine, we only get one tag with our license, and i'd use it on an injured deer in an instant, no matter if it was young and puny or old and stringy.

Again, it's just my opinion.

Canerod

 

I would have taken the deer and it's my belief you should have also. Your shot wouldn't have spooked anything out of the area. Many times my wife or I, and several friends, have taken a deer only to have the others hang around or on occasion a bigger buck walk up on us while cleaning the deer.

 

[playfarmers]

We have taken Deer like this, and we have shot Deer that where badly wounded and just disposed of them. My wife tagged a small Deer that slipped and broke it's pelvice one year.

 

[freetrapper20]

This is a judgement call none of us look forward to making. Deer don't just always get hit by cars or shot. They fall down, run into fences, etc. Slip on ice, wet roads and fall down ravines at times too. (Seen many dead deer at the bottom of icy ravines when I used to live up north.) Twice I've seen 3 legged deer running thru the woods without a problem. Two seasons ago one of the guys I hunt with shot a very nice 3 legged 5 pointer. If I thought the deer was doomed I would have shot. If I thought it could make it I might have let it go. I wasn't there....it was your call. :hmm:

 

[Claude Mathis]

I would have killed the deer.

 

[faw3]

I think if your a hunter you shoot if not you dont I guess, I would of stamp or not. Fred :hatsoff:

 

[Trapper]

I teach the Hunter Safety Course here in NY and we teach to harvest that doe you saw. But it's a judgement call you have to live with.Now here is the interesting piece. If that doe had an infection and was not consumabel to eat, just call your local ECO and he can issue another tag to replace the one that you just used.

 

[Billhuntz]

I have seen a few 3 legged deer over the years that got around with no trouble. One doe in particular had twins with her for 2 years straight and she was 3 legged. There is no guarantee that a wounded deer won't make it through the winter. Of course I didn't see this particular deer so can't make a judgement. But don't be too hard on yourself it could survive.

 

[jtmattison]

I would have taken the deer. IMO letting an injured animal walk is as bad as injuring one myself. If you can end an animals suffering, do it.
While hunting years ago I saw a coyote trot by my stand. A few minutes later I heard a shot from the next stand over. Along came the coyote again with one leg hanging by a thread of flesh. He was out of shotgun range but I took a shot anyway trying to finish him. I over compensated for the distance and my slug went just over his back. He ran off. I felt real sick over that and gave the guy hell for shooting the thing in the first place.

HD

 

[jdixon]

I would take the shot. Had situation like this one time, wounded deer with an arrow sticking out of it, a doe. Put it down. When I went to dress it out found that much of the rear hip had become infected from the arrow wound. I left it there, didn't tag it. Back in the area two days later - the whole deer was completely gone! Guess the resident coyotes had a fest! Nothing goes to waste in the wild.

 

[Halftail]

I felt real sick over that and gave the guy hell for shooting the thing in the first place.

I'd have gave you Hell right back.Where I come from a Coyote is just about as close to being vermin as it comes and I'd shoot at one any chance I got.
As for the Deer I'm not sure I'd have shot any wounded,especially If I had no tag for it.Maybe would have the next time I seen it if it was after I'd talked to a Game Warden and got their ok.It's not worth loosing hunting privilages for a wounded Deer that might have been pretty banged up by a car.

 

[vinnynj]

im in nj we have unlimited antlerles tags i would not have even thought abought walking him goes against the idea of hunting which is to get meat it was little you get a little meat you walk him you eat potatoes tonight instead of back strap im a meat hunter always have been you cant eat the horns but you can stere the pot with them

 

[bramble]

I always try to go with the judgment of the man on the ground. I'd say you made the best decision you could where you were. Could it have been a better decision? Possibly. :hmm:
My view is that putting down the wounded deer would be the ethical decision. I'd like to say that I'd put the wounded deer down and that will be my plan if I'm in that situation. That said, if I have one shot and must choose between a wounded yearling and a monster buck??? I do confess that my good intentions sometimes yield to my baser nature.
Thanks for the post. It is food for thought, and something to be thought out before one is in that situation.
bramble

 

[davy]

Having seen the misery firsthand what a deer can go thru when injured and having to live for days or weeks hurt, I would have put it down in a heartbeat if I knew for a fact it was injured.

A short sad story ... My brother shot a deer over Thanksgiving one year, but it ran off, and after searching endlessly for a day and a half for it (we found out later that it crossed two fence lines and completely out of our reach) totally frustrated and disgusted, we finally had to throw in the towel, feeling like dirt all the while.

So New Years comes about, and my cousin shows up with a deer he had killed ... you guessed it ... same animal ... but it looked horrible, with an infected wound, we had no choice but to discard the meat. We REALLY felt bad after that seeing what the animal went through for a month! I never wanna see an animal go thru that again! :cursing:

Davy

 

[bigbore442001]

I would have shot it to eliminate the suffering caused by someone else's actions. I know that this will sound dishonest, but if you anticipate a problem with a game warden, I'd just be nice and quiet about it all.

 

[rabjr]

I definatly would end it's suffering.

 

[RC]

Bald Mtn Man.....I think you answered yer own question when you asked it,,may have felt bad usin the tag,but ya would've felt great seein the deer didn't[url] suffer.....seein[/url] how it bothers ya enough to ask, but in every situation there's a lesson..next time you'll do right..(my opinion!) and like what was said if it was bad meat the CO's would replace the tag...they're real good about that..still time left...and you'll feel good if ya stop the sufferin.....got one around the house here that limps pretty good,dang thing is always way too far away,,but she's my goal for the rest of this year,,,and put the word out to my brothers too...I'll use my tag, without hesitation....good luck! RC

 

[David Thomaston]

Bald mountain man,
I won't say if you are right or wrong, but I'll tell my first experience with a deer. For 20 years my brother had been trying to talk me into deer hunting. Five years ago I decided that I wanted to get started. I got a new rifle, learned how to shoot and my brother placed me in a tree stand about a half a mile up the creek from where he was. A medium sized doe came up right under my tree. This was the first deer I had ever seen in the woods. I was shaking all over when I fired and I thought I had missed completely. 30 minutes later I heard my brother shoot from down the creek. I had shot low and had hit her in the knee. My brother said that he heard coyotes howling after her when she came by him so he took her. We still claim one half deer each out of that hunt.
Lost too

 

[Protrucker]

Thanks for all the replies.
I wasn't concerned about using a tag for the deer. Between my wife & I, we have tags for more deer than we need to fill the freezer.
When I posted this question, I had already pretty much decided that, if I see that little deer again, I will put it down. I guess that I just wanted to see if that's what most others would do.