Mercy Killing

[El Destructo]

I was out this Morning in wait for my Monster Mule deer that I keep getting fantastic Pictures of on my High Dollar Game Cameras...SD Cards don't taste for Crap...LMAO...anyways...I sat till I could not handle the frigid temperatures any longer...13 degrees with 35 mph winds will go right through You...so I packed it up and decided to drive the Lease Roads...and stop and glass all Canyons along the Roads...well I did this for about three Hours and was all warm and toasty with a Hot Cup of Coffee in my Hands...when I parked at a big Draw...got the Binoculars and was glassing the Canyon Walls...and I see this Mule deer Buck on the side of the wall ...eating some Sage Brush....and He had no Clue I was even there...He was just a young Buck...2 1/2 year old...maybe 150 pounds...8 pointer with one Brow Tine broke off at the Base...I was just about to move on and glass the rest of the Canyon when this Guy went to move up the side of the draw...I noticed that he had a pronounced limp...so I decided to watch Him a bit More to see what the deal was....He would step with His Left Hoof...and the leg would stop ...but then He would sink down about 4 inches..then he would move His Right Leg...and it just moved all Wrong...there was too much movement at the Shoulder...He looked like He was really struggling to stay Mobile...I watched Him a bit more..when finally He was out of the deep grass and I could see Him Better....He was walking on the Side of His Left Leg...the Ankle Bone was sticking out...and the Hoof was at a 90 degree to His Leg... I still could not figure out from this distance (300 yards) what was wrong with His Right Side...So I decided that He needed to be put down...there was no way that He would recover from this broken leg...and He was going to suffer for a long time until he either got infection and died...or the Coyotes had a meal of Him alive...I grabbed my Weatherby 7mm...steadied the Gun on the Window frame...and put Him down... I walked over to where He fell...and rolled Him over to look at His Injuries...The Bone was protruding from His Leg...He was walking on the Joint itself...and on the Right Leg...His Shoulder Blade was broken...the Leg just twisted like it was not even connected...I gutted Him...and drug Him back over a half mile...did I mention that this was a 300 yard+ shot...across a deep Canyon...not a straight walk for sure.... I loaded Him up...took Him Home...and when I skinned Him...I could see that there was no Bruising...and the Shoulder was trying to Heal...but being that he was moving all the time it would not...I figure that He must have fallen off a slope or Canyon Wall a while back and broke the Leg and shoulder...I was first thinking that He may have gotten hit by a Car...but I am leaning more towards the Fall...the way the Injuries looked...anyways...He is no longer in Pain and suffering  now...wasn't the Buck I wanted...but was the Buck the Good Lord seen fit to give Me.

[Ryano]

Looks like you did that poor guy a favor.  Nice shooting. Were the front quarters ok ? I'd be afraid of infection.

[Cacatch]

Good job, Mike. Glad you and him were made to cross paths for mutual benefit.

CP

[El Destructo]

Thanks CP..so am I....He didn't deserve to suffer...

Ryan....I skinned out and sliced open the left arm...the meat all looked good...and smelled fine....but will not risk it it with my Family...the right shoulder had no open wound...and the broken shoulder blade was not cutting into the tissue...so I am keeping it....the heart....liver...and that left quarter are all cut up...and I am going to make doggie jerky out of its....My Basenjis love Venison too...

[Pat B]

Good for you Michael. You're an honorable sportsman! 

[Parnell]

Great post.

[El Destructo]

Thanks Parnell...He would have been a Beautiful Buck in 2-3 more years...but Nature can be cruel at times...I was just glad that I was there to see how He suffering...and even though there was nothing I could so to mend Him...I could end His slow and cruel death.

[Thwackaddict]

Good on You michael! Steward of the month No animal should be left suffering.Many a hunter woulda said ahh hes not big enuf and coyotes will get him,makes me sick!Hats off to you

[Ryano]

I'd of done the same thing Mike. I shot a small doe putting on a drive a several years ago that had her one hind leg blown off by another hunter from several days maybe a week before hand. She jumped up in front of me and just tried to limp off so I put her down. She was all full of infection, stinky and nasty. I was going to leave her in the woods, but my bother took her and was able to get a little bit of good meat out it. The smell was enough for me to not want to eat any of it...

[Stingray45]

Great job El D! It's to see that hunters still operate this way and  do honorable things when they need done. Would have been very easy to just say "eh I'm gonna wait for the big deer I've been hunting". Another thing this makes me think of, especially when you mentioned what was going to happen to the buck if you didn't take him. Either he gets infection, eaten alive by coyotes or starves to death because he cant get up around to feed himself. This is the side that the anti-hunters don't see, how cruel nature can be at times. Good work and look at the bright side, you have meat for the table and the big boy you were hunting will be older and bigger next year.

[El Destructo]

Thanks Guys....yeah I just wasn't brought up to ignore anythings  sufferings....I could no more have let this young Buck go...than I could have  left the road hit one go three years ago...I had to stop and drag him off the highway ....when the truck that hit him....just kept going...and I put  my Mulie Tag on him also....after I cut his throat....and ended the suffering.

And you are correct....that big boy 3 year old....will look a lot nicer  next year as a 4 year old....as long as he makes her through this next week....

[cracker]

Good deed Mike. My son put one down that some idiot shot with bird shot and a .22 riifle Some time the kid makes me proud.Ron

[El Destructo]

Good deed Mike. My son put one down that some idiot shot with bird shot and a .22 riifle Some time the kid makes me proud.Ron

That's what Sons are good for.....I know I was one once too.....

[JW_Halverson]

It is almost a year ago I put down that three legged doe in my backyard, I still think of that poor gal and her overwhelming drive to survive.  I look at these deer nowadays as powerful beasts of nobility and determination, very much worthy of serious respect. 

Thanks for posting this El D.   I know you aren't doing it for glory or a pat on the back, but as a way of challenging all of us to step up to a higher standard as the front line in wildlife conservation. 

I deeply respect you for what you did.

-john

[El Destructo]

Thank You JW....you know if people had half of the charicteristics as a wild animal does...what a different world we would Live in....