testtest

When it’s ethical but legally questionable

Z

zvolts

Operator
I take roads to work through a township that is mostly farm fields. Yesterday on one of these roads there was a deer on the shoulder that had apparently been hit by a car but was still alive and trying unsuccessfully to stand. Whatever hit it was gone. I hate seeing anything suffer, so I pulled over past the deer with the intent to put the poor thing out of its misery. A truck pulled over behind me but didn’t get out. Their headlights illuminated me, the deer and the rear of my car along with my license plate. It wasn’t light out yet and there were a few houses within a couple of hundred yards of me. It was 2 days before deer hunting season opens here in Michigan. I have a CPL and was carrying but no hunting license (too early in any event) and wasn’t going to harvest the meat.

Thinking all this through quickly, I second guessed myself and decided not to put the deer down. I’ve been kicking myself in the *ss ever since. I feel like it was the ethical thing to do but didn’t know the legality of the situation. Even if it was technically legal, I didn’t trust that the powers that be wouldn’t overreact.

As a youngster I probably would have done what I thought was the right thing - to hell with the consequences. Sometimes I really miss that younger me and those simpler times.
 
“Putting a deer down” in a lot of states without Game Warden consent is poaching, firing a firearm from a roadway, firing a firearm in a public place , etc.. etc .. etc …

May be different if rural of rural out if BFE and Sheriff, GW or others are 30 min away, but its always best to call local Sheriff/GW.

The he said / she said litany of tickets or fines is worth a simple call

I understand and want to do the same, but I pick up my phone
 
I hog hunt at night. During deer season. I always call the GW and let them know.
They alway just tell me to have fun and kill all the hogs.
GW says he’s got my number, they know where to find me, but I call the GW anyway.
Last time he said I didnt need to call anymore to let him know.
Now I just text 😜😜

CYA !!
 
here.....even if critter is writhing on the ground screaming bloody murder in pain. you have to call game warden, before you do anything and you better have a camera and document the critter was suffering.

we have had only time to call, we called 911 and they called GW and he took almost an hour to arrive. he was peeeee ooooddd i dispatched the deer before he arrived. it made me sick watching it screaming and suffering. what ever hit it, really mangled the critter up bad. one shot of 9mm and it stopped. i gave him plenty of time to arrive, 10 minutes in my book was tooo long. deputy never came out either.

i thought for sure i would get a ticket and maybe a trip to jail. but we filmed it and kept calling dispatch so they could hear the noise the deer was making. made me sick to watch and listen to the deer.

there should be more of a common sense approach by GW, clearly the deer was hit my a vehicle, and clearly i had no rifle, just my carry and i was in church clothes .
good thing is he called a guy to come harvest it and give to the food bank needy list
like killer said....i have out local gw number now in my phone
 
You have experienced a terrible thing...it's horrible to witness an animal in that condition. However, those posts above are correct for my region...gotta call the police. Where I live they (city/county/state police or GW) will issue you a tag if you want it (for keeping the animal/meat), but shooting is a no-no where I live. That must be done by an officer. Then there is the opinion that it's only illegal if you get caught. But I don't subscribe to that philosophy.

I've unfortunately killed 6 deer with vehicles in my life...none of which were in the same jurisdiction for a warden...thus keeping "one's" number would do me little good...

And right now is the WORST time of year for driving at dawn/dusk around me. I'm slamming breaks 3-4 times a week during the rut.
 
There's no such horrible law here in Missouri. I have put deer, squirrels and other critters out of their misery many times. In Missouri you are allowed to harvest a deer that was hit by a car, but the Dept. of Conservation wants you to call them so the wildlife biologists can keep track of the numbers.

Like the OP I spent a long while mentally punishing myself when I hit a deer last Thursday, late at night and in the pitch dark. She didn't do a lot of damage to my car, so I suspect I didn't do a whole lot of damage to her, but I still would rather have had some light so I could turn around and try to find her to make sure the poor thing wasn't suffering.
 
Bassbob said:
There's no such horrible law here in Missouri. I have put deer, squirrels and other critters out of their misery many times. In Missouri you are allowed to harvest a deer that was hit by a car, but the Dept. of Conservation wants you to call them so the wildlife biologists can keep track of the numbers.

Like the OP I spent a long while mentally punishing myself when I hit a deer last Thursday, late at night and in the pitch dark. She didn't do a lot of damage to my car, so I suspect I didn't do a whole lot of damage to her, but I still would rather have had some light so I could turn around and try to find her to make sure the poor thing wasn't suffering.
Click to expand...
The law exists because folks with dented vehicles shoot a deer from the roadway and “claim” it struck their vehicle and they put it down.
 
Thank you for posting this. I see the roadkill every fall on the interstate on the way to work each morning. I am on the road at 4:30AM and when the deer are moving, you can come up on one doing 70 MPH, and hopefully they are fast. I have nearly hit carcasses that I am sure were hit by a semi, and have had to swerve suddenly. Wouldn't be a bad idea to know the protocol which should be followed in my area. I have only ever hit one deer with a vehicle (and that was in Canada), and it really affected me. The poor thing died in a ditch right across from a Hutterite colony. They handled it at the time, RCMP wasn't involved. It would be a good thing to know the right thing to do.
 
KillerFord1977 said:
The law exists because folks with dented vehicles shoot a deer from the roadway and “claim” it struck their vehicle and they put it down.
Click to expand...
I understand why they have it, I'm just glad we don't have it here. Missouri, especially southern Missouri where my family is from, used to be real bad about poaching. My cousins all used to spotlight with the local sheriff down there. And everybody ran dogs. A couple decades ago the feds came down and arrested some sheriffs and game agents. Ever since then I don't think a whole lot of it goes on here anymore. Anyone with land can get about 10 or 11 landowner tags. There's so many deer they are now hanging out in nice suburban neighborhoods. In fact, I saw a very nice 8 pointer on the way home, right in a suburban neighborhood, just sauntering across the road like he owned the joint.

Anyway, the law here is if you hit a deer or if you find yourself in the OP's situation you can put it out of it's misery and harvest it. Just call the dept. of Conservation and tell them.
 
SimonRL said:
If I should ever find myself in those circumstances I’m going to take my chances. IDGAF, I’m not going to watch an animal suffer needlessly. Ever. Not judging one way or another, like everyone I have my own code.
Click to expand...
I'm reasonably certain in any non commie state if you put the animal out of it's misery and then immediately call the cops or the game agent you aren't going to face any charges.
 
Bassbob said:
I understand why they have it, I'm just glad we don't have it here. Missouri, especially southern Missouri where my family is from, used to be real bad about poaching. My cousins all used to spotlight with the local sheriff down there. And everybody ran dogs. A couple decades ago the feds came down and arrested some sheriffs and game agents. Ever since then I don't think a whole lot of it goes on here anymore. Anyone with land can get about 10 or 11 landowner tags. There's so many deer they are now hanging out in nice suburban neighborhoods. In fact, I saw a very nice 8 pointer on the way home, right in a suburban neighborhood, just sauntering across the road like he owned the joint.

Anyway, the law here is if you hit a deer or if you find yourself in the OP's situation you can put it out of it's misery and harvest it. Just call the dept. of Conservation and tell them.
Click to expand...
Talking about suburban deer. This was right next to my car this morning when I went out to leave for work. We live in a neighborhood.

IMG_4240.jpeg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top