Shots on TV?

[ozarkgunner]

I've been meaning to post this for a while. And then there is an article on CNN.com. I was watching the "Tougher in Alaska" show, the one about the Alaska State Troopers. It was either in the episode or part of the show intro. A moose was hit on the highway and it's back legs were broken. A state trooper was first on the scene to deal with the accident. The driver of the vehicle was ok, so the trooper went to deal with the moose. He decided there wasn't much to do but to dispatch it. I expected to just hear a gun shot while the camera was pointing of scene to the side of the road or something, but it stayed on the trooper as he stood about 10 feet away and put one round in the mooses head.
I did not expect the kill shot to be shown. I expected the usual, like with hunting shows. You see the hunter taking aim, and the target. But when the shot is taken the camera always pans bake to the hunter or something else. And then goes back to the animal on the ground.
After that episode I was expecting to hear some big up roar from PETA or something for showing graphic violence towards animals on tv or something.
Any one else think the same thing? Would you have been surprised to see the actual kill shot?

 

[Warhawk83]

Not at all surprised,and it's usually just the "ninny" hunting shows that do that crap. I don't watch the ones that do. As hunting is becoming more popular they are showing kill shots more.

It does surprise me that PETA didn't complain that the trooper didn't let the moose die an agonizing reprehensibly long death rather than be put down.

 

[FROGO207]

The show was shot as I think a documentary. In that end the brutal side of things were shown unless a person was involved due to legal reasons.

 

[RDCL]

Does not suprise me at all.....and it's not just a "gun issue". I've even seen some animal documetries in which a lion or tiger would be shown stalking prey......and at the moment they make their kill.....the camera cuts away.

Russ

 

[hso]

Would you have been surprised to see the actual kill shot?

Nope

I thought it was a well balanced depiction of one of challenges rural LEOs face all the time.

 

[wishin]

Yes and no. TV broadcasts geared toward family audiences are inconsistent in that regard.

 

[KarenTOC]

I don't watch hunting shows, but I do watch TV lol. Just knowing how TV works in general, I think it's possible that aim footage doesn't always result in kill footage. TV wants the most attractive and dramatic scene they can come up with. Could be that when Mighty Hunter actually fired the kill shot he didn't look as ruggedly handsome or intense, so they spliced two separate incidents together. Heck, he might have even "aimed" after the animal was already on the ground.

 

[Acera]

It does surprise me that PETA didn't complain that the trooper didn't let the moose die an agonizing reprehensibly long death rather than be put down.

PETA would much rather have seen the driver put down, and the moose life flighted to the nearest trauma center.

 

[X-Rap]

It's amazing how many people think that these animals can somehow be doctored and rehabed. I once help a National Park Ranger drag a deer out into the woods after he put it down. Some nice people in a station wagon stopped to look at the pretty deer as is pulled itself along with its back broke. The Ranger had to actually ask the father to move along, the whole family hadn't a clue of what had to take place. The Ranger who seemed pretty country savy said that was not uncommon.

 

[EddieNFL]

I've seen lots of kill shots on hunting shows.

 

[acdodd]

Neighbor had a small deer try to jump a 6' fence and broke it's pelvis.
He let it stay there all night before he called 911.
I tried to talk him into doing something sooner but he said it was getting better. See it's trying to get up he said.
I would have shot it but if I did some of the neighbors would have accused me of poaching.
Damn Seattle libs.
Cop came out the next morning and shot it.
He had to go back and shoot it a second time because he failed to kill it the first shot.

 

[Steve Marshall]

Which is worse? A Seattle lib, or a neighbor who, at minimum, doesn't somehow take care of business. Just calling a kettle black?

 

[acdodd]

Which is worse? A Seattle lib, or a neighbor who, at minimum, doesn't somehow take care of business. Just calling a kettle black?

A Seattle lib by far.
There is NO WAY I will go onto my neighbors property and shoot a down deer without his permission.
Even with his OK it would still be a gamble.
The other neighbors would have called 911 and complained that I was poaching deer.
That deer suffered all night and that was wrong however it was the neighbors call not mine.
The last thing I wanted was problems with a guy next door.
Been there and it was not fun.

 

[RS14]

It does surprise me that PETA didn't complain that the trooper didn't let the moose die an agonizing reprehensibly long death rather than be put down.

They actually support euthanasia when the alternative is a long, painful death. They provide it, even.

"Because of the high number of unwanted companion animals and the lack of good homes, sometimes the most humane thing that a shelter worker can do is give an animal a peaceful release from a world in which dogs and cats are often considered “surplus” and unwanted. PETA, The American Veterinary Medical Association, and The Humane Society of the United States concur that an intravenous injection of sodium pentobarbital administered by a trained professional is the kindest, most compassionate method of euthanizing animals."

They generally frown on shooting as a method of euthanasia, because of "the potential for extreme pain if the person handling the gun is not competent, if the animal is struggling, or if the bullet is deflected and the animal survives."

Source: http://www.peta.org/MC/factsheet_display.asp?ID=39

However, given the circumstances, shooting was no doubt the best way to euthanize the moose. There's no chance of moving it painlessly when it's injured, it's in great pain anyway, and it sounds like the officer did a fine job of sending it on its way.

 

[Steve Marshall]

At a minimum, you should have called the Fish and Game or local police. To knowingly let an animal suffer is a travesty. It's all to easy to shift the blame for such callousness to your neighbor. Because he didn't do the right thing is no excuse for you not to.

 

[Rickstir]

I have dispatched two injured deer in my neck of the very rural woods. Wouldn't hestitate to do it again if needed.