[catman529]

On my way to school today (freshman in college) there was a cop pulled over on the side of the road, with no real room to pull over so everyone had to drive around him slowly. Found out he was sitting there next to a deer in the grass by the road that had obviously been hit, and was still alive. It was a doe and looked in a lot of pain...even looked like it was convulsing some. But alive enough to keep its head up....I felt terrible that the cop hadn't just shot it in the head or something...he was sitting in his car filling out paperwork. Maybe has something do do with not shooting a firearm by the road? I dont know but common sense says put it out of its misery, I hated to see it suffering like that. Would have been good meat too....

 

[catman529]

Well the deer was gone on my way home but that was 10 hours later...hopefully someone put it out soon after we saw it. Too much legal crap that sometimes gets in the way of common sense and basic ethics.

 

[catman529]

Yeah if I had a good knife and came across a suffering deer with no officers to dispatch it, I'd go out of the way of regulations a bit to end its suffering. I might have a bit more respect for the wildlife than for the legal issues that would cause unnecessary suffering. But then...deer get torn apart by coyotes and that's natural and doesn't bother me....maybe it's the fact that it was a road hit and the deer just sits there, not the meal of coyotes but a helpless suffering deer that should be shot and dressed for the freezer. I wonder if someone took that deer home to eat. I hear does are especially good eating. I haven't yet tried venison, I cant wait till I get the opportunity.

 

[catman529]

catman- next time, if you have a knife, pull over and offer to put the doe out of it's misery. you'd be surprised what officers will let you do... I would bet that he'd let you go ahead and end it for her. He might've even let you take it once the Conservation Dept was contacted...

Probably so, and in Tennessee you can take a deer that was road killed if you contact the TWRA first (I think so) and report it. It's in our hunting laws....not sure if it applies to deer you didn't hit with your car, but they'd probably not have a problem with it.

 

[catman529]

Oh I'd break the law poaching animals to feed my family way before I'd break the law to end an animal's suffering. If it was between the suffering of family or the suffering of an animal, I'd put an end to the former first and worry about the deer another time.