Putting down injured animals

[Fred Fuller]

the only one whos eaten roadkill?
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Sam,

Not by a long shot. I used to work in the same organization with the author of this cookbook, if you don't have it I heartily recommend it to you. Tom taught survival to Special Forces soldiers at Ft. Bragg before he retired.

lpl/nc
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http://www.paladin-press.com/detail.aspx?ID=1401

WILD AND FREE COOKBOOK
With a Special Roadkill Section

by Tom Squier

Why pay top dollar for grocery store food, when you can dine at no cost by foraging and hunting? Wild game, free of the steroids and additives found in commercial meat, is better for you, and many weeds and wild plants are more nutritious than the domestic fruits and vegetables found in the supermarket. This cookbook is chock-full of easy-to-read recipes that will enable you to turn wild and free food (including roadkill!) into gourmet meals. 7 1/4 x 11 1/2, softcover, illus., .306 pp.
Price: $8.95 WFC

 

[Imaginos]

Never Had To

But I would have a hard time living with myself if I didn't finish off a mortally injured/crippled animal on the road.

When I was a kid, I remember seeing a black lab on the side of the highway that had a broken back from being hit. It was trying to drag itself away from the road, and you could hear it hollering inside our car as we passed. My jerk of a stepfather wouldn't stop to do anything about it. That suffering dog haunts me to this day.

When I'm driving in rural areas where encounter with large wildlife and stray domestic animals is a possibility, I change my normal carry gun for a larger caliber just in case.

 

[JAMES77257]

My buddy hit a cow about a year ago, when the deputy showed up he went to put it down he shot about 8 rounds at 10 yards, and missed every shot. We both lauged our asses off. I asked him if he wanted me to shoot it for him. He got pissed and told us to leave.

 

[JAMES77257]

deleted.

 

[JAMES77257]

deleted.

 

[JAMES77257]

Holt crap, I hit enter to space down, and ended up with a mass-posting.

Sorry.

 

[vzenmn]

''My buddy hit a cow about a year ago, when the deputy showed up he went to put it down he shot about 8 rounds at 10 yards, and missed every shot. We both lauged our asses off. I asked him if he wanted me to shoot it for him. He got pissed and told us to leave."


And there are people who would expect him to save their lives.

 

[MrDig]

About 3 years ago I was on the way home from work at 7:00 am and saw the Law over an injured deer. The ones gun was still smoking, when i asked what was going to happen to it they said the garbage man will take it to the dump. My Jaw dropped and they said I could have it if I wanted. So I took it. Biggest Buck I never shot.
I would take one out of its misery if I lived in the sticks but here in the suburbs I would leave it to the law. Too many things to overcome after the fact.

 

[SoCalShooter]

To me it makes a lot more sense for a motorist or citizen to put down an injured animal rather than make the animal wait for an officer to arrive. I am sure putting down injured animals is not high on the list. Atleast not mine.

 

[sixgunner455]

I've put them down before, and I've eaten them.

I'll be (not useing offensive art's grammaw words) if I'll let a deer suffer on the side of the road waiting for an "authorized law officer" to dispatch it, just because some ignoramus at the state capitol gets their knickers all bunched at the thought of me shooting something on the side of the road.

I hunt year-round. If I don't know what it takes to put an animal out by now, somebody please put ME out of MY misery!

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

I agree it's probably more of a legal CYA issue where their official stance is "let the PD handle it" but they wouldn't go after someone who did provided nobody was hurt with a ricochet or a thrashing animal. Could also be an attempt to stop poaching, although the simple solution to that would be to require the animal be left there and the PD called (the samaritan stay there also if he/she wants to keep the animal for food) to verify it has been hit and not just shot.

 

[Steve N]

My brother is a LEO in a small town southeast of Cleveland. Deer/car accidents are frequent in the area. He has been called several times by other LEOs to humanely dispatch deer that have been hit by cars. The other LEOs refuse to shoot the deer. And these people are supposed to be protecting us?!


BTW, in Ohio is is illegal to take the rack off of a road-kill buck, even if you just take the rack and leave the carcass. There was someone cited recently in our area for that. Too bad, the biggest rack I've seen in Ohio was laying against the median wall on the Ohio Turnpike last October.

 

[SoCalShooter]

The other LEOs refuse to shoot the deer. And these people are supposed to be protecting us?!

My brother in law an former Marine and now Army, loves animals, has no problem killing people, did a lot of that apparently in Iraq, but he can't shoot an animal. Doesnt bother me about my hunting though. Some people just dont have it in them...killing animals that is...killing humans however comes easier. Personally I think thats a little backwards but I dont worry bout it.

 

[PennsyPlinker]

Lots of opinions here. I have experience. My wife hit a deer right in front of the house late one night. It was still in the road, still alive with two broken legs on one side of its body, and bleeding through the nose and mouth. It couldn't do anything more than thrash around. While she called the game warden, I shot it twice in the head. Hard to believe, but true, no richochet hit any innocent bystanders, no other problem other than getting it off the road before someone hit it again, and possibly me! This was 9:00 PM.

At 3:30 PM the next day, over 18 hours later, the game warden called about the deer. :banghead: He proceeded to yell at me for a while. I uhhh, stuck to my guns, reminding him that the animal was suffering, it was a hazard to traffic, and he took almost 19 hours just to call me back, not to mention actually show up to dispatch it himself. His yelling degenerated to grumbling, whereupon he finished the conversation by telling me that I could have a permit for it, and that I should try not to do it again.

Right.

Edit in: I forgot to mention, he accused me of concocting the story to get a "free" deer. I invited him to come over to see all the damage to her car, the two holes in the road with blood, etc. I then asked him how far away he thought I needed to be to hit a deer twice in the head with a 2 1/2" barrelled .357 magnum. He didn't have a good answer for that one either.

 

[jak]

My brother in law an former Marine and now Army, loves animals, has no problem killing people, did a lot of that apparently in Iraq, but he can't shoot an animal. Doesnt bother me about my hunting though. Some people just dont have it in them...killing animals that is...killing humans however comes easier. Personally I think thats a little backwards but I dont worry bout it.

I think that the difference is that the deer aren't trying to kill anyone, and are just going about there business. The same can't be said about, say, the Taliban. People are a lot more willing to kill someone (or something) if said person is trying to kill them.

As for dispatching an injured animal, I would likely leave it to the authorities. If I knew how to do it, I would, but I'm not a hunter. That, and my EDC knife is only about two inches long, not much for a mercy cut to the throat.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Originally Posted by SoCalShooter
My brother in law an former Marine and now Army, loves animals, has no problem killing people, did a lot of that apparently in Iraq, but he can't shoot an animal. Doesnt bother me about my hunting though. Some people just dont have it in them...killing animals that is...killing humans however comes easier. Personally I think thats a little backwards but I dont worry bout it.

I think that the difference is that the deer aren't trying to kill anyone, and are just going about there business. The same can't be said about, say, the Taliban. People are a lot more willing to kill someone (or something) if said person is trying to kill them.

It was just the opposite with me. I thought a dead deer was a beautiful thing -- meat and hide for the family, a nice set of antlers for my memory files -- something I could look at and call up a wonderful experience.

But I can recall looking at a dead man (and the SOB had just tried to kill me) and thinking "What a waste! What a horrible waste!" It reminded me of nothing so much as Uncle Billy Tilghman's comment about watching a man turn into a thing.

 

[feedthehogs]

Did a ride along with my Nephew in Abington township PA.

Spent half the time chasing an injured deer that got hit by a car thru various neighborhoods.

I explained that while limping, that deer wasn't gonna let us get close enough to take a safe shot with his service pistol and asked if he had a rifle. No.

At that point I said all we were doing was tormenting the animal by chasing him.

Eveytime we backed off, another call came in of an injured deer resting in someones back yard and could the police come and remove it.

Public land is purchased by public dollars. How can it be poaching if your hunting on your own land?

 

[JohnKSa]

I forgot to mention, he accused me of concocting the story to get a "free" deer.

Of course, that's the whole point of the law.

If you have the skills to dispatch the animal cleanly (and without unduly endangering yourself) without using a firearm, that's probably the way to go. (Assuming you decide to ignore the letter of the law--which, by the way, I am not advocating.)

Pretty hard for them to accuse you of poaching a deer with a hunting knife, crowbar or hatchet.

 

[k_dawg]

The only time I would wait for an LEO would be if it was a protected animal, and you run the real risk of being believed to be poaching.

 

[JP1954]

Just a couple of thoughts.....I imagine the authorities that prefer to have it done by a LEO are thinking that they don't know you and your abilities or lack thereof and if something bad happens like a richochet hitting someone they could be held liable....That being said, I once knew a local deputy sheriff who told me one of their deputies was killed by standing directly over a deer when he shot it.The bullet richocheted back up at him. Another thought is if I was a bystander I would prefer seeing a LEO do it rather than a civilian because if a richochet hits me, I know the City/County has plenty of money to pay me or my next of kin...I would hate to be shot by someone who doesn't own a pot to p**s in.

 

[Davo]

Last spring around 4 am while on the ambulance we got a call for an auto vs. horse. We respond to a rural area, and nearly hit a horse that was spooked by our lights and ran off the shoulder almost directly in front of the ambulance. We missed by less than 3 feet.
We got on scene and found a hysterical woman in a compact car that was still half on top of a live horse. The horse was kicking and screaming. The damage to the womans car was severe but she was untouched, just hysterical because of this screaming horse. A dying horse does not make pleasant noises.
It took nearly 20 minutes for that horse to die, and the highway patrol had been on scene for half of that, but he could not discharge a firearm-I wish he could have. We later found out some rancher had left his gate open, which explained the half dozen horses running around that night.

 

[JAMES77257]

A deputy in my town pulled a car over last night, the driver jumps ouy with a cell phone, the deputy takes six shots at the man @ 15 yards, and no one was injured.

 

[MachIVshooter]

It was just the opposite with me. I thought a dead deer was a beautiful thing -- meat and hide for the family, a nice set of antlers for my memory files -- something I could look at and call up a wonderful experience.

But I can recall looking at a dead man (and the SOB had just tried to kill me) and thinking "What a waste! What a horrible waste!" It reminded me of nothing so much as Uncle Billy Tilghman's comment about watching a man turn into a thing.

I hear you. Hunting or varminting is quite different, as animals lack the qualities that make us human beings. That is, when an animal dies, it simply no longer has to survive. When a human dies, all they ever were or will be dies with them, and a part of everyone who loved them dies, too. Easier to stomach when that human is pure filth, but quite different from an animal, nonetheless.

I love my pets, but have no problem putting them down when the time comes (or if they vicously attack a person unprovoked, in the case of the dogs). No way I could do that with a human family memeber. No way.

Where enemy soldiers (NOT terrorists, who fight according to their own beliefs and in defense of nothing) are concerned, one still has to think that they had a family and a life before the war. Yes, they were trying to kill you-just the same as you were trying to kill them. That is not to say that one should allow him/herself to be killed in order to preserve the enemy's family-just that it's different from defending against a violent criminal.

 

[LAK]

The crazy woman in the car that hit the deer was crying her head off and yelling at me not to hit the deer with the crowbar. Her reply was that they had called the Pennsylvania Game Comission and the Pennsylvania State Police. What did this woman think? That they were going to take the deer to a veterinarian..

I envision one day in this country that some people will be able to recount experiences after road traffic accidents etc - lying on the road broken and bleeding, and noting private and state animal ambulances racing past them on the way to wounded animals - while they are still laying their waiting for the emt's and police to arrive for them.

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http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

 

[MD_Willington]

A dying horse does not make pleasant noises.

No it does not, one was hit by a B-train on the highway where I used to live, I was about 12 years old, the vet couldn't get there so the neighbour brought out the .270.

Later the Vet apologised for not being able to get to the animal in an article he wrote in a local paper and agreed the rifle was the most expedient and humane way to dispatch the animal, many "animal lovers" also wrote in and complained that dispatching the animal with the rifle was inhumane and dangerous... :banghead: