[p35]

This evening I hit a blacktail doe as I was going into town for some takeout dinner. Went flying across the road and down at the edge. When I stopped and went to look, it was breathing fine, no bleeding or broken legs, but it was clearly down and didn't resist when I grabbed the legs and dragged it out of the road. By the time I finished dealing with the trooper's reports, etc, it appeared to be still breathing but hadn't moved and was looking like it was slowing down.

What's the right thing to do here? I could have gotten out my carry weapon (Security Six .357) and shot it, but there were a lot of houses in the area and I wasn't 100% sure it was a goner given the lack of visible injury. I suppose I could have cut the throat or something too, but again I wasn't convinced it was a goner. The Animal Services guy I called said he expected that it was doomed from internal injury, and all they could have done was shot it.

So, any comments about the right way to deal with this situation? Happens all the time around here.

[pax]

The ethically-correct answer is to put the animal out of its misery. The odds of it surviving after having been hit by a car are almost nil, and it will suffer until it finally dies.

The legally-correct answer, most places around the Sound, is to leave it alone to recover or die on its own.

Take your pick.

pax

[Stand_Watie]

2nd vote for what Pax said.

A good sharp pocketknife or hunting knife is a better alternative for dispatching a wounded deer if it's lying on the asphalt and there's a chance of a richochet, or rather than getting in trouble of firing a firearm in a densely populated area.

Also a knife is silent and the sound of gunfire tends to bring out lookie-loos...I know of police officers who have encountered great amounts of popular sentiment against them for dispatching wounded deer with their service weapons, because of the 'bunny-hugger' thoughts of some.

[mustanger98]

Here's my take, but take into account I live in the old Confederacy and we do things a mite different here.

There was this little four-point buck got hit right up the road from me and he was laying close to the road a while and in sight of a house who's owner we don't know. This was a few days ago, BTW. One of my Daddy's co-workers got his brother to go up there and shoot it and afterward they found they couldn't salvage the meat. That aspect aside, with the possibility of running into trouble with anti-hunters and ARAs from out of town, it's probably best around here to have have the sheriff or game warden (aka "conservation officer") to meet you on the scene and see what's legally best and most expedient. If you don't, the homeowners within sight might call the law on you; something about "hunting" within 50yds of the road, private property and what all else.

A friend of mine was telling me she and her husband (who I also know) ran into a similar situation. A cop came out and the guy tried to talk him into putting the deer down. This time, the deer had both front legs broke and thus couldn't get up. The cop wouldn't shoot him because, according to him, it wasn't worth how much paperwork he had to go through if he fired his weapon. So, my friend said, her husband got his own gun out and shot the deer. She didn't say anything negative happened after that.

[Art Eatman]

This is one of those deals where the laws are not written with the ethics of "clean kill, minimize suffering" in mind.

As they say on Friday Night Fights, "Protect YOURSELF at all times." Sadly, it's a case of protecting yourself from the legislature/game department.
It's up to the individual to learn the laws/regs for this situation.

Art

[Fumbler]

I talked to a cop while in a university owned forest within city limits.
Some kids found a doe that trippe don barbed wire and was paralized from behind the front legs down. The cop called his CO and asked permission to use his firearm and was denied it because of the paperwork they all would have to do. He told us that he would have let us shoot it if we were there at the time and had a firearm. he ended up breaking its neck.

I think in p35's situation I would have cut its neck, or tried to break its neck if I didn't have a knife (which is never, I always have a knife). Whatever method, I would have killed it instead of leaving it there. In addition to ending the suffering it could do something like crawl into the road and someone else could hit it and have a major accident.

[p35]

Any techniques/trick for cutting the throat without causing more suffering and/or getting covered with blood?

[Bravo11]

I have wondered about this also, especially the part about putting one down with my carry weapon. I concluded that the best way is to cell phone call the Sheriffs office and let them get hold of the Game Warden.
Most places have someone who will take the deer and put it to good use.

[Smoke]

Call the game warden.

Around here if you call the game warden and inform him about what happened, you may be able to take her home and eat it.

Smoke

[Rickstir]

I live in the wilds of N. E. Missouri. I have, in the last seven years, hit four deer. The first one bounced off the right front fender, rolled onto the hood, hit the windshield and rolled on up over the top. I got the car (explorer SUV) stopped and dug out my pistol. Went back to look for the deer and it was gone. No blood, no trace. The last three (latest one 2 weeks ago) were DRT. But I would call the sheriff and let him know the situation and volunteer to shoot the animal. Up here they would probably go ahead and tell me to do it.

ps, my new Dodge 1500 4wd has a very sturdy brush (I call it deer) guard on it and suffered no damage from the last impact. The deer didn't do too well.

[Highland Ranger]

In Jersey, we call fish and game and they take care of the critter. Never did it myself but my understanding is they put them down.

[Spinner]

My guess is that the deer had little chance of recovery. A solid hit with a moving vehicle is most likely to result in serious internal injuries. I would have thought that if the animal doesn't jump up and run off of its own accord then its serious and its likely to die without serious and complicated intervention (like surgery).

If it were me I'd be inclined to put the deer out of its misery but I would use a sturdy branch, tyre iron, baseball bat, whatever to break its neck or crush the back of its skull. If you ever get questioned about it you can say it must have happened in the impact (however unlikely that might be). Its pretty hard to argue with a conservation officer that the deer's throat got cut in the impact.

Spinner

[mustanger98]

I mentioned this thread to my Daddy a while ago and we discussed it a little. His observations are, aside from the fact that if you do cut something throat you will get blood on you, if you jump on something like a deer to cut its throat, it WILL fight and you can be seriously injured. (This is a lot like how many people don't realize a little calf can hurt you.) Every move you make and don't get the job done, the worse it gets. The deer will kick, thrash, and generally make the job more difficult. This just goes along with the fact that a deer is a survivor by nature. Jump on a buck and all that thrashing can assure you of recieving puncture wounds which can be fatal. When you go to cut a deer's throat, you grab it and get it done, or don't start to.

No, better use your sidearm (if applicable) after consulting the game warden or local law enforcement.

[Sunray]

"...getting covered with blood?..." Not a chance of that not happening if the deer is still alive. Cutting the throat will cause copious amounts of blood to spurt all over the place. Including you.
Up here, there are so many deer getting hit by assorted vehicles that the cost to insurance companies has skyrocketed. Especially in Southern Ontario where there are miles and miles of corn and soy bean fields. No natural predators other than coyotes.
Our cops are not allowed to use their service piece(they don't have suitable bullets in them anyway and the cop would likely miss) and the CO's are few and far between. There's no such thing as a 'truck gun' or CCW either. The law says you can keep any deer you hit after reporting the collision, but there's nothing about putting one down that is in pain.
I know a guy who hit one in downtown Mississauga(suburb of Toronto with a great big river valley that's full of deer). Cop shows up. Couldn't shoot it. No CO's in downtown Mississauga at night. It took a half hour for the deer to die. The cop didn't know it was legal for the guy to take the deer and go home. In the borrowed BMW with a busted windshield.

[Otherguy Overby]

Every now and then you'll see someone field dressing a deer by the side of the road in the Ozarks.

PC has yet to catch on around here... :)

[41mag]

have you ever heard of a "carbaque"
cut the back straps , set on exhaust manifold pretty quick its dinner time

[meathammer]

if you jump on something like a deer to cut its throat, it WILL fight and you can be seriously injured.

Agreed. My Dad hit a deer years back, the deer ended up in the ditch in very bad shape, but still alive.
He called the sheriff from a house nearby. The sheriff arrived on the scene and agreed with my Dad that the deer needed to be put out of it's misery.

So, my Dad gets his knife out, goes to deliver the coup de grace and the deer thrashed out it's legs. Well, one of the hooves managed to connect with my Dad's hand and made a nice cut. :uhoh:

Obviously the deer had some fight in it still. The sheriff decides he better shoot it, and he did. Dad did get to keep the deer at least.

I agree with the others that said to notify or have one of the authorities there first before doing anything with the animal. (They will tag the animal, laws here in WI say you must have tags for any venison in your freezer. Otherwise it is poaching.)


--meathammer

[Byron Quick]

Getting blood all over yourself cutting some animal's throat?

Depends of how you do it and where you stand. If you saw into the animal's neck standing above the cut or in front of the animal, then yes...you're going to get blood all over you.

However, if you stand behind the animal's head and neck while holding the edge away from your thrust...thrust into the animal's neck at the point where the anima'sl jaw is closest to it's vertebral column. Then cut away from you and completely through the animal's neck. All of the blood will spurt away from you.

At the most, you will get some blood on your hand and forearm. Roll up your sleeve before you do it. It's no biggie.

As far as that goes, can you locate the carotid arteries on a human? If so, use the same palpation tecnique on an animal. Thrust your knife into the neck perpendicular to the carotid pulse. You won't have to cut its throat and it will live all of 15 seconds longer.

[Mannlicher]

if you have to ask such a question.........................

[12-34hom]

Rickstir, do you Quail hunt??

If so, what are the #'s of birds around your neck of the woods.

12-34hom.

[mustanger98]

If you use Byron Quick's method (no reflection on the author- just the method I question), you better know where you're headed and get it done as fast as possible. But still, how many deer are going to lay still while you get on 'em. If you jump on a buck, you're above and behind the anlters. Do you really think he won't throw his head up and back from the split second you start?

[Stand_Watie]

If you use Byron Quick's method (no reflection on the author- just the method I question), you better know where you're headed and get it done as fast as possible. But still, how many deer are going to lay still while you get on 'em. If you jump on a buck, you're above and behind the anlters. Do you really think he won't throw his head up and back from the split second you start?


I would suggest, if using Mr. Quick's method (which would be my preference if killing an injured deer in an area that a firearm might cause you difficulties), that if you have a buck with antlers you grab ahold of the antlers with your off hand to prevent the buck throwing his head back and possibly putting your eye out...any other deer I'd suggest grabbing the back of the head or the muzzle with your off hand. Even a deer with no antlers could easily smash your nose, knock out your teeth or split your scalp with it's head, thrashing around in it's death throes.

p.s. My dad has a great story about running into a big doe and putting it in the back seat of his Studebaker to take home and eat...a few minutes later he felt warm breath on the back of his neck and checked the rearview mirror to see a big pair of bambi eyes looking back at him...he dragged it out of the car and slit her throat with his pocketknife.

[GigaBuist]

Wow... I came here to ask the exact same question. In my pre-firearm, pre-knife, pre-cellphone days I hit a deer and watched it twitch and suffer and it wasn't a fun experience. I called 911 to report the thing (it was on a semi-busy city street) and it was taken care of by the time I got back to the scene.

My "little" cousin (22 - Female) smacked a deer the other day I just found out, so I relayed some of the info presented here. She didn't even stop to see if it was suffering, but she's a girly-girl -- no surprise there.

I suppose in her case, no firearm, no knife, the best choice would be to just try and smack the thing in the skull with a tire iron. Any other ideas for those that aren't optimally equiped to deal with such a situation? Me, personally, after seeing the suggestions on here about slitting the throat I wouldn't really hesitiate to go that route since I don't mind blood, I've always got a knife on me (3" or so) and I do think I could figure out where to cut even though I'm not a hunter.

Tire iron seems (seems, that's all I'm saying from my uninformed position) like it could caue more harm if the person delivering the blow is less than 100% committed to killing it, or lacking in muscle strength. Just wondering if there's a better option there for those that are a bit squimish and won't arm themselves.

Maybe running it over, again, with the car trying to land the wheel on the head would work. Don't know if that's a 'humane' thing to do though.

[Atticus]

"This evening I hit a blacktail doe as I was going into town for some takeout dinner."

That sounds like the problem AND the solution right there.
Hit it twice...gut it... eat it. :)

[captain obvious]

...seems like most of the guys here would finish it off (either .223 or knife) then throw it in the truck and gut, clean, and eat it. I don't have any ethical quarrel with that ;)

[Ol' Badger]

I say "WooHoo" and then I close one eye, because I only have one headlight still working ;)

[Byron Quick]

Let me fill in a little bit here. I'm not going to jump on a deer. I know of a guy that did that. From what I understand; he won't do it again. And yes, you control the deer's head. Also, the only times that I have ever done this, the only sign of life the deer was showing was breathing. I'm not approaching a deer that is moving with only a knife. Most of the game wardens and LEO's around here wouldn't give you any trouble about dispatching a deer with a firearm on the road. I hit one within the city limits years ago. The city police definitely take a dim view of firearm discharges for any reason. I drove up to it on the shoulder. It was moving enough that I wasn't going to try using a knife. I waited a few minutes until it laid its head down and then I drove directly over the head. Went back with my knife to check but it wasn't breathing.

[jamz]

My brother in law up in Maine "got" his first deer just yesterday this way. A co-worker's wife found it on the side of the road while she was walking the dogs. The stern and aftermost legs of the animal were all twisted up, so it wasn't going anywhere, but the major components were still together, so it could have survived, suffering, for quite some time. The game warden was three hours or so away, so the warden gave my brother in law permission to dispatch it with a rifle.

Beautiful 10 point buck, too.

[Matt G]

The bunny huggers would throw a fit if they heard you did it, and would go apoplectic if they saw you do it, but the quietest, fastest method of putting a dying deer down may just be your tire iron. Legal, safe, and expeditious. But it feels miserable to do. A long mag light works well, too. Baseball bat is even better, if you happen to have one in the trunk. Surprisingly, an expandable baton like an ASP is really pretty poor for the task, in my experience.

[Kharn]

What about using an entrenching tool to do the job? It'd seem like it would be sharp enough, but you'd have to get closer to it than a baseball bat.

Kharn

[Battlespace]

My neighbor is a state trooper who usually works the 3rd shift. He responds to almost one deer hit a night and simply puts them out of their misery. He told me that even if someone on the scene had a firearm of any type and used it he would proably let them go, but others would cite them for discahrge of a firearm on a road, wanton endangerment or some other charge.

[Kinsman]

First, I would never approach a wounded animal. Not even a cute 'n' cuddly deer...they can hurt you. All this talk about throat-cutting etc. is killin' me. Has anybody here ever tried this? Sounds like a good way to get your ass kicked by a deer.

The legally advisable thing to do would be to call "the authorities" (Game Warden or Sheriff). Practically speaking, at least where I live: dispatch the animal with your sidearm; it's the humane thing to do.

[Erich]

I remember my first day as a prosecutor in the Four Corners area: my boss showed up with a cow elk in the back of his truck. He'd hit her, and he put her down and cleaned her before coming to work. I asked him if he'd called the fish cops and he looked at me like I was crazy.

[pinblaster]

:D
Follow up with a kick to the groin .
Hit it again
Run and hide behind my mother .
Tell him to stay away from my wife .
All of the above .
:D :neener: sorry , I couldn't stop myself

[Pumpkinheaver]

Usually a consevation agent or poice officer will finish it off around here.

[Frohickey]

You mean you carry a gun, but you don't carry a knife? :eek:

[Byron Quick]

All this talk about throat-cutting etc. is killin' me. Has anybody here ever tried this?

Yes, I have. But like I said, I pick the ones I try it with carefully. If they're moving beyond breathing then I don't attempt it. And I do stuff like throw rocks on them or punch them with the fishing rod out of the toolbox before I approach them. I've seen deer scratch behind their ears with their hind legs. Also, I've used Matt's method with the tire iron. 2X4's work pretty good but I've never used one on a deer, just other animals.

[pinblaster]

I was just thinking , an axe would be great for finishing off an injured deer . I would imagine , most people don't keep an axe in thier vehicle , but now that I think about it , it might not be a bad idea . A medium size utility axe doesn't take up much space , and it would be there when you need it and could be used , if needed , for any roadside emergency .

[John Deere]

A large framing hammer between the eyes, is quick, silent, and doesn`t involve an open wound to stir up anyone who might cause you grief otherwise. A lot of the morons around here would rather stand around pi$$ing & moaning about the poor bambi and watch it suffer for three hours while waiting for a vet to come and put it down,but if you try to be humane, and end that animals pain, they start screaming murderer, and other things that don`t need to be repeated here. Letting an animal lay in agony like that is the same as torturing one in my book, but, I guess being an "enlightened" bunny hugger gives one the stomach to indulge in such cruelty.
Regards,