Hunters, please......a rant.

[rb288]

Let me start by saying I have hunted.
I don't hunt anymore due to various reasons, but I support hunting and have participated.
But....
yesterday, I was driving on a back road around Knox when I saw a small doe standing on the side of the road.
I slowed down to make sure she didn't spook and run into me.
She started to run and I noticed she had a massive gunshot wound just below her right front shoulder.
The leg was just hanging on, like the upper leg was shattered.
When she walked, it just swung there.
There is no way she was going to survive and she was obviously, in alot of pain.
Someone had shot her, not killed her, and let her get away wounded.
Right or wrong, legal or not, I took my concealed carry and tracked her down and put her out of her misery.
It was the right thing to do.
Hunters, please, make sure of your shots and when you shoot, track them down to make sure they are down.
I understand that it is possible to lose your deer after shooting, but seeing this lady just made me sad, and mad.
This poor girl suffered. She shouldn't have.
Rant over.

 

[binkerton]

That was good of you to put her down humanely. But sometimes these things happen and it is terrible. Hard telling what went wrong but could be just a honest circumstance of bad luck. That doe could've been running for miles with that injury. Makes tracking nearly impossible if they dont stop and die. As far as the shot.... maybe she moved at the last second, maybe something was in the way that didnt show up on the scope. Hard to say.

 

[42769vette]

It can absolutely happen. It sucks for the hunter.

Kansas mule deer tag filled (and warning for bow hunters).

What a roller coaster for Kansas Archery this year. I slipped in on a stud on a Sunday evening. At 22 yards he was slightly quarting to me. Not bad at all, but I do/did shoot mechanical heads, so I needed to miss the shoulder blade. I put the arrow the arrow exactly where I wanted it. He...

www.indianagunowners.com

 

[Farmerjon]

I have not recovered some in the past and have worried about them being wounded. It happens, I'm sorry you saw and experienced what you did. When she was first shot, the adrenaline dump in her body carried her a loooooooooong way from the position she was in. And if you did not have a hunting license or use the correct caliber of handgun, you actually could be cited for hunting without a license or improper gun.

 

[42769vette]

I have not recovered some in the past and have worried about them being wounded. It happens, I'm sorry you saw and experienced what you did. When she was first shot, the adrenaline dump in her body carried her a loooooooooong way from the position she was in. And if you did not have a hunting license or use the correct caliber of handgun, you actually could be cited for hunting without a license or improper gun.

Yes, he was probably in violation of the law. I've done the same thing, and law be damned, he did the right thing.

 

[Farmerjon]

Yes, he was probably in violation of the law. I've done the same thing, and law be damned, he did the right thing.

I understand and have humanely put animals out of their pain.

 

[Old Dog]

I did the same thing. Deer was hit by a car and piled up in the road ditch. Car left scene. It was a nice 8 pt. buck and could not get up when I approached it. .45 slug ended the situation. I called Sheriff and advised of situation, I was dressed for a formal meeting and could not take the deer home. Sheriff made a call and someone picked it up. Made me angry that the car was in such a hurry that they couldn't deal with it.

 

[jsn_mooney]

If she had been shot with a firearm, legally, she had to have been that way since Sunday evening. What deer can live through amazes me.
Glad to hear that you did the right thing

 

[Cameramonkey]

If she had been shot with a firearm, legally, she had to have been that way since Sunday evening. What deer can live through amazes me.
Glad to hear that you did the right thing

You assume the hunter was hunting lawfully. I dont assume because people are idiots.

 

[jsn_mooney]

Yeah, that's why I said legally, but right on

 

[Mark-DuCo]

If she had been shot with a firearm, legally, she had to have been that way since Sunday evening. What deer can live through amazes me.
Glad to hear that you did the right thing

It really is amazing. When I was younger, about 15 years ago I'd say, I shot a nice 6 pt buck in bow season. Thought I had a good shot and we tracked it for almost 2 miles before losing the blood trail. I was pretty upset as a kid to lose a deer. The next year I shot one of the biggest bucks of my life so far.

When we got it home and started cleaning it I noticed it only had one lung, the other was plastered to the rib cage. The was also a big growth on that side. My dad and I cut it out and dissected it. It was my broad head and about 3 inches of my arrow from the year before! It is the only deer i had shoulder mounted and my arrow is around his neck. You can even see the entry wound scar on the mount.

So that deer went a year with at least a sore shoulder and only 1 lung. He was healthy as ever and chasing a doe when i shot him the second year. They truly are tough animals.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

It really is amazing. When I was younger, about 15 years ago I'd say, I shot a nice 6 pt buck in bow season. Thought I had a good shot and we tracked it for almost 2 miles before losing the blood trail. I was pretty upset as a kid to lose a deer. The next year I shot one of the biggest bucks of my life so far.

When we got it home and started cleaning it I noticed it only had one lung, the other was plastered to the rib cage. The was also a big growth on that side. My dad and I cut it out and dissected it. It was my broad head and about 3 inches of my arrow from the year before! It is the only deer i had shoulder mounted and my arrow is around his neck. You can even see the entry wound scar on the mount.

So that deer went a year with at least a sore shoulder and only 1 lung. He was healthy as ever and chasing a doe when i shot him the second year. They truly are tough animals.

That's an incredible story. Makes me think of the deer a hunter took and when he started field dressing he discovered half an arrow had grown into the bone of the deer. If memory severs the arrow basically became part of the ribs.

 

[Expat]

Back when I used to float hunt rivers for ducks/geese, it was really sad the number of dead deer I would see along the river that had not been recovered.

 

[Leadeye]

Been hunting a long time and have had the good fortune to recover everything I've shot.

 

[Tom Threetoes]

Years ago while deer hunting I jumped a doe with a front leg dangling from from the skin and swinging to and fro, later I felt bad about not putting her down. Exactly one year later in the same spot my dad and I jumped a doe with 3 legs. She was missing the right front leg just as the one from the year before. They are tuff critters.

 

[1nderbeard]

Losing a deer stinks for the hunter and the deer. It's just part of hunting, and ethical hunters do their best to eliminate it with good shot discipline. I'd like to assume most hunters take reasonable shots but we both know that's very generous.

Just this year I heard 2nd hand a guy who emptied a 5 round mag deer hunting. Knowing the guy was using 450 bushmaster in AR 15, he had to have been praying/spraying. Personally I wouldn't ever hunt with a guy I knew was so irresponsible. Not only because I might wind up with a 45 caliber hole in me, and also because I think it's unethical to hunt like that.

I try to live by the 1 shot/1 kill principle, and have done that with 1 lost deer so far. I've only shot 5 times in my deer hunting career and have recovered 4 all within 50 yards. I did wound one, and never found it. It stunk, and I basically hung it up for the season after that.

 

[Ark]

I know of a couple of expensive fixes that had to be performed on public infrastructure where I used to live, due to errant rounds during the fall season. Maybe don't use genny sheds as backstops, mkay?

Nobody likes to admit it but there are a LOT of hunters who can't do PID and can't hit the broad side of a barn even when they do find a target.

 

[DadSmith]

Let me start by saying I have hunted.
I don't hunt anymore due to various reasons, but I support hunting and have participated.
But....
yesterday, I was driving on a back road around Knox when I saw a small doe standing on the side of the road.
I slowed down to make sure she didn't spook and run into me.
She started to run and I noticed she had a massive gunshot wound just below her right front shoulder.
The leg was just hanging on, like the upper leg was shattered.
When she walked, it just swung there.
There is no way she was going to survive and she was obviously, in alot of pain.
Someone had shot her, not killed her, and let her get away wounded.
Right or wrong, legal or not, I took my concealed carry and tracked her down and put her out of her misery.
It was the right thing to do.
Hunters, please, make sure of your shots and when you shoot, track them down to make sure they are down.
I understand that it is possible to lose your deer after shooting, but seeing this lady just made me sad, and mad.
This poor girl suffered. She shouldn't have.
Rant over.

This is another reason why I shoot them in the head. They drop where I shoot them. No adrenaline rush, and no running to the next country.

 

[snapping turtle]

I had a west highland terrier (RIP SID) that recovered some unbelievable deer for people who had shot them either poorly or negligently (in a few cases). DOG WILL HUNT(inserted primus reference)

As far as the river or creek steam. A good 90 precent of those deer were either recovered within sight of water or in the water. How he could smell a deer in the water without anything above water except maybe an ear I have no idea.

Sorry you had to put one down. I myself gut shot one that SID recovered the next morning. Shot within the last minutes of legal shooting light. All I can say is those coyotes did a job on it overnight and only the rack could be salvaged. Had to take a doe to fill the freezer that year.

 

[natdscott]

This is another reason why I shoot them in the head. They drop where I shoot them. No adrenaline rush, and no running to the next country.

Careful with that, brother.

There is a time and place for shooting at the head, but there are many more times that are not appropriate. Gotta know the difference and stay on the right side of stupid.