euthanize or not?

[Foxton Gundogs]

I will NEVER let an animal suffer. Charge me, take me to court, I guarantee it will be a media circus, and wont go well in the realm of public opinion for the "justice" system.

[liar]

last winter i had a little mule buck show up at the horse feeder . he just laid there so i went and checked . he had been hit by a car and the coyotes had been chewing on his back end , tail was gone . i phoned the local f&w office and the lady put an officer on the line (who must of been standing right there). after i told him what i had found he asked if i had a gun . maybe i just got lucky but there was no hesitation on the officers part to give me the go ahead to finish it off . after i told him where i was he said he was headed in this direction anyways so i moved the horses , he showed up , shot the buck , we loaded it up in his truck and gone . maybe total of one hour .

i'm sure glad it went like this for me cause i couldnt of went to bed that night knowing that if the horses moved away from the feeder the coyotes would of been back to feed , and yes , coyotes have to eat to but not on a live deer in my yard .

[IronNoggin]

Originally Posted by Buckhead

I can only speak for myself.
I've never let my own animals suffer - I would take care of it.

BINGO.

Nog

[bushnell]

I'll go with what Ralph said. SSS

[Scott h]

Last fall I got off the ferry and 2 minutes later I came across a small buck that had been hit by a car with a broken back. He dragged himself into the ditch and numerous people pulled over and were clearly upset at the sight of the suffering. I hated doing it, but cutting its throat was the only kind thing to do, witnessed by eco tourists. They were grateful that it was done.

[RZR]

And yet there are those that preach that they never break the law.

[does it ALL outdoors]

Originally Posted by yoteblaster

I would discreetly euthanize it no question

Same. Can't stand seeing an animal in distress.

Shoot, shovel and shut up minus the shovel. I can't stress the shut up part enough.

AND DONT POST ANYTHING ON SOCIAL MEDIA ABOUT IT!!!

Silence is golden.

[58thecat]

I would do what was right given the circumstances and not ask for opinions nor post it etc......just asking for a squabble etc......

[Au revoir, Gopher]

How is euthanizing it any different than all the do-gooders who would want to capture it and take it to a 'wildlife rehab' facility? Nature is a bitch and outdoor folks should know that. Now if we could just get the people who believe "Bambi" was a documentary to understand that.

ARG

[altex]

[QUOTE=KegRiver;4001524]Three times in recent years I have came across severally injured wildlife.

The first time it happened I reported it to Fish&Wildlife and when they said they were preoccupied I asked if I could euthanize it myself.
I was told in no uncertain terms that I would be charged if I did so.

The second time I simply reported it.

Then last week it happened again. This one was a bit different though.
First, this time it was a baby deer, a Fawn. With a broken jaw.

And by pure coincidence, my sister had photographed that same fawn just a day or two after it was injured so we knew approximately how long it had been suffering.

In all three cases Fish& Wildlife did not respond to my call. In fact they never even bothered to call back for further details, in order to find the injured animal.

So now I'm wondering, what would other hunters do?

Would you just leave it to die a slow agonizing death or would you put it down and say nothing to anyone?

Before you decide, have a look at this Fawn and remember, it had suffered for at least three weeks at this point.
And it was so sick it walked slow, like a very old man, and never looked back at me.

That's what some people would do.Shoot , shovel , shut up.

[jrowan]

I'd probably only bother reporting injured wildlife if it was a fawn or was injured as a result of human interaction/poaching. The fawn pictured earlier with the broken jaw could have easily been injured fighting with another fawn or deer.

Otherwise that's just life and either the animal will pull through from the injury or die. Either way I'm not a vet and can't make a fully informed decision. Sure a F&W Officer isn't a vet, but they probably have enough experience with injured animals to know. The same might be true for some hunters, but the problem is how would the F&W Officer know your judgement is correct? This is likely why some people who have friends that are F&W have been told to put animals down, because they know you and trust your judgement.

[tractor1971]

Do the right thing. End of story.