Poor wee Girl

[Blunderbust]

I was out on the ground last night doing a bit of pest control (22lr) when I spotted 3 Roe out on the stubble about 250 yards away. They were moving over to a large area of woodland. I watched them for a bit and noticed that the smallest one had a very prominent limp and was really struggling to keep up with the other two. I decided that I would come out this morning with a larger calibre and see if I could locate the wee one and put it out of its misery.

 

I moved up the track towards where I normally park at about 0540 and before I had stopped I saw 2 Roe running across the field away from me, they had no intention of stopping so I parked up and prepared the rifle with the intent to move over to the large wood where I saw the trio moving last night. I had been moving for about 2 minutes then I spotted the wee one about 200 yards as per yesterday trying to head in the same direction as the others. I set up the tripod and set the BT to the 200 mark (.243) and dropped the beast where it stood. On going over it was very obvious that the wee Doe had been struggling for a long time and had her front right leg seized and locked forwards with no movement what so ever. The swelling was from the joint right up and under her shoulder and on to her chest.

 

I am glad I managed to get her as she must have been really struggling, her short life would have been a hard one as I believe she was probably like this for a the best part of it. I always go away with a bad feeling in my gut when I have to shoot the wee ones but at the same time I know that I have done the right thing.

[flynny]

A country man at his best, deer management and welfare at its best,

 

Atb

 

Flynny

[fenboy]

Good on you Jimmy , absolutely the right thing to do , the poor thing must have been suffering considerably.

[Ireland71]

Well done mate great result,not good to see them suffering,looks like a broken knee joint probably happened when it tried to stand on it's first attempt ATB vince

[bluesj]

Did you do a pm on the leg? I try to when ever I find some thing that doesn't look right

[birdsallpl]

If only the antis could have the remotest idea how true sportsmen really feel about our quarry. I know you never posted this for praise, but I can't help saying it. THANK YOU

[Blunderbust]

Did you do a pm on the leg? I try to when ever I find some thing that doesn't look right

 

I didn't mate, to be honest I never thought about it as I took it to be a possible injury which occurred during birth or very close there after (no external trauma or scars). I was just more interested in ending its suffering and then getting on with the rest of my day as I had an other job I wanted doing before the morning was over. Thanks for the kind comments guys, as has been said it is all part of the management process and was put up to show that we as hunters do have concerns for the well being of the animals on our ground. I could have quite easily caught the doe (well that is probably not true, I would have probably given myself a Heart attack) but we all know that all this would have done is cause her even more stress, this way she did not have a clue what hit her and it was over almost instantly.

[Whitebridges]

Great job Jimmy. Good work.

[welshwarrior]

Well done as others have said sign of a countryman.

[Dekers]

Ok, it is pretty apparent the leg is not right...but how was it suffering?

 

It had obviously not been rejected by the others as you first saw it in a group, and it looks healthy and well fed, and the coat seems good, was this simply a mobility issue?

 

I see no obvious sign of ill health/malnutrition or suffering, if this was an historical injury the odds are any potential pain has passed and it is adapting to life using 3 legs.

 

Just because it isn't as quick as some, it seems to be doing ok to me.

 

Perhaps you know different, but that is not what the picture of the deer is saying!

[Blunderbust]

Dekers,

 

If you would be happy to let this animal wander around your ground then that is up to you .

[reggiegun]

Dekers,

 

If you would be happy to let this animal wander around your ground then that is up to you .

Looks good deer management to me Jimmy

[Blunderbust]

Looks good deer management to me Jimmy

 

I think most would agree Paul.

[Ireland71]

Ok, it is pretty apparent the leg is not right...but how was it suffering?

 

It had obviously not been rejected by the others as you first saw it in a group, and it looks healthy and well fed, and the coat seems good, was this simply a mobility issue?

 

I see no obvious sign of ill health/malnutrition or suffering, if this was an historical injury the odds are any potential pain has passed and it is adapting to life using 3 legs.

 

Just because it isn't as quick as some, it seems to be doing ok to me.

 

Perhaps you know different, but that is not what the picture of the deer is saying!

i Think it might be you that don't know the difference between good deer management and letting a deer suffer,it looks to me that you would rather see the beast suffer,just because it shows no sign of malnutrition does not mean the deer is not in pain or suffering,Jimmy did the professional job and it is a job by shooting it as I would have and many more professional deer stalkers would have done the same,if you think about it again,you just might learn something about good professional deer management :) Edited September 20, 2014 by Ireland71

[Dekers]

Dekers,

 

If you would be happy to let this animal wander around your ground then that is up to you .

 

I didn't say that, I asked questions which you avoided answering, for all I know there was an underlying good reason, which is why I asked, because, from my observations it was not obvious!

 

I think a lot of you need to open your eyes.

 

Read my post, just because a deer is injured/deformed (actually any animal) it doesn't mean you have to reach for a gun immediately.

 

It seems everyone here has simply jumped on a bandwagon without specific knowledge, sure there is a time to reach for the gun, but that is not in every instance, and it is certainly not SIMPLY because it is limping.

 

So.......all these should be shot should they?

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=3+legged+deer&qpvt=3+legged+deer&FORM=VDRE

Edited September 21, 2014 by Dekers

[Blunderbust]

Dekers,

 

Frankly I am not interested in answering any question you put to me regarding my actions whilst doing my job. If you feel that after reading my post that what I did was wrong and you cant honestly understand why I did it, then maybe you should consider joining a knitting forum.

[fortune]

 

Only the person on the spot could make the decision whether to pull the trigger. It's deer management. I have seen several three legged dogs over the years and quite a few charleys' that have been in good condition and thriving.

[Dekers]

Dekers,

 

Frankly I am not interested in answering any question you put to me regarding my actions whilst doing my job. If you feel that after reading my post that what I did was wrong and you cant honestly understand why I did it, then maybe you should consider joining a knitting forum.

 

Yet again you avoid, I have never said you were wrong, I made an observation on the situation as presented and asked questions, if you are so confident your actions were appropriate it would seem easy to justify it, but you refuse.

 

You posted the picture and comments, seems to me you wanted everyone to fall at your feet and try and impress a few tree huggers!

 

I regularly shoot injured deer, 5 so far this year, 2 when called by the Police, it has to be done sometimes.

 

You appear to have shot a lame, but apparently otherwise healthy deer simply because it had an issue with one of its legs!

 

If you actually care to look at some of these you will see a number have lived many years and even bred whilst lame or lacking limbs, (that constitutes living in misery according to your OP) my point is simple, you don't just shoot an otherwise apparently healthy animal simply because it may have an issue with a limb! If you had other valid reasons for shooting what seems an otherwise healthy deer you appear to be keeping them secret.

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=3+legged+deer&qpvt=3+legged+deer&FORM=VDRE

Edited September 21, 2014 by Dekers

[Dekers]

Only the person on the spot could make the decision whether to pull the trigger. It's deer management. I have seen several three legged dogs over the years and quite a few charleys' that have been in good condition and thriving.

 

No argument with that, there is commonly more than in posts/pictures.

[Blunderbust]

I have explained my actions on the OP if you read it and look at the pic you can clearly see that the animal was suffering and that the infection from the injury was spreading over the front of its chest. I do admit that at the time of taking the shot I was not aware of exactly how bad it was, but seeing the wee beast struggling to get over the ground and the fact that her leg was seized in the position it is in the picture was enough for me to put it out of its misery. If you cant accept this then fine, go away and bore someone else .

[Dekers]

I have explained my actions on the OP if you read it and look at the pic you can clearly see that the animal was suffering and that the infection from the injury was spreading over the front of its chest. I do admit that at the time of taking the shot I was not aware of exactly how bad it was, but seeing the wee beast struggling to get over the ground and the fact that her leg was seized in the position it is in the picture was enough for me to put it out of its misery. If you cant accept this then fine, go away and bore someone else .

 

 

Suffering, you clearly said you considered the deer injury was old and it had been struggling for some time...it looks remarkably healthy for something that has been struggling for such a long time. You also said you couldn't see the problem properly when you shot it! Oh Dear!

 

That is trigger happy, I see nothing to do with deer management here.

 

Fine, you are content you made the right call, on what I see I'm not convinced, that's my view, there is no need to get personal, "go away and bore someone else"....... forums are about debate/discussion, I have a different view to you on what I see, that's life, get over it!

 

Suffering/struggling/misery?

Perhaps you should go and shoot all these.........

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=3+legged+deer&qpvt=3+legged+deer&FORM=VDRE

[Blunderbust]

Dekers,

 

You are entitled to your opinion and this is a forum which gives everyone that opportunity. I have read what you say and I disagree, we obviously have a different idea as to what Deer management is all about, so be it. I will however not get into a debate as to whether I was right in what I did, you say that I am trigger happy because you feel I am in the wrong in what I have done, a statement you have made after reading my post. That is quite a statement considering you do not know me from Adam, but once again you are entitled to state your opinion and it is noted. However in my defence I am sure there are many people who have been shooting with me and will state the opposite. To finish of as I stated above your opinion has been noted, but will now be totally ignored.

[Dekers]

Dekers,

 

You are entitled to your opinion and this is a forum which gives everyone that opportunity. I have read what you say and I disagree, we obviously have a different idea as to what Deer management is all about, so be it. I will however not get into a debate as to whether I was right in what I did, you say that I am trigger happy because you feel I am in the wrong in what I have done, a statement you have made after reading my post. That is quite a statement considering you do not know me from Adam, but once again you are entitled to state your opinion and it is noted. However in my defence I am sure there are many people who have been shooting with me and will state the opposite. To finish of as I stated above your opinion has been noted, but will now be totally ignored.

 

I don't need to know you from Adam, every time you open your mouth you dig a deeper hole, my views are based or YOUR picture and YOUR comments.

 

I said you were trigger happy because you offered the information that you shot it before you knew what was wrong with it, also, you had only ever seen it at distance, 250 yards to start with in the dark, and apparently even shot it at 200 yards a few hours later, just after 05.40 . Even if you couldn't see the injury properly, it must have been pretty obvious this deer; that was apparently living in misery and to which you did a kindness, was otherwise, VERY healthy looking and therefore getting by just fine in the circumstances. And if it wasn't obvious, and/or you had not seen in clearly (as seems very likely from the time scale) why on earth did you shoot it? Anybody can see from your picture that is not a malnourished, struggling deer, even dead it looks healthy, the eyes/nose/coat are in top condition, and there is nothing spurious pouring out of its backside!

 

The deer was obviously well fed, still with others; and the injury, by your own comments was old, so how do you equate that with living in misery?

 

That deer would have very likely grown up and lived a full healthy life, all be it moving a bit slower than some others.

 

So why shoot a healthy deer just because it is slower than others?

 

You put animals out of their misery taking into account the quality of their current and future life, that deer had a leg issue but was obviously looking after itself very well, and there is no suggestion it would not have continued to do so through a long life, and even give birth itself in years to come (see vids below). That does not tick enough boxes for me to shoot it in the time frames you have.

 

God help your pets if they get lame!

 

It is VERY obvious we have a different view of deer management (frankly I'm struggling to equate your actions with deer management at all), and I don't give a hoot what all your mates think.

 

Still interesting to note you have totally avoided this!

 

Suffering/struggling/misery?

Perhaps you should go and shoot all these.........

http://www.bing.com/... deer&FORM=VDRE

 

I expect you will respond, you are welcome, I think I have made my point so I will leave you too it now, and I stress that my posts were based on your comments and your picture.

[kent]

That little one is only still around because of mums care, you did the right thing it wouldn't make the winter and mum will often loose condition rapidly herself with such a follower at heel. Its plainly obvious that the leg in question was no use at all from the photo. It interests me to know were the issue actually lay, was it malformation? injury? on the external it looks like it could be septic arthritis? how was the lymph gland at the leg? did you find white puss in the joint?.

 

Either way you did the right thing on account of mum and any other sibling she might have had, let alone saving the cripple from a worse fate in the colder / harder months ahead. Chances on the kid making its own way in life next spring onwards? right about nil carrying that ! Many times I have found mum and young dead in their winter couch at times of snow and hard weather, when mum could have likely made it through on her own

[Ireland71]

I don't need to know you from Adam, every time you open your mouth you dig a deeper hole, my views are based or YOUR picture and YOUR comments.

 

I said you were trigger happy because you offered the information that you shot it before you knew what was wrong with it, also, you had only ever seen it at distance, 250 yards to start with in the dark, and apparently even shot it at 200 yards a few hours later, just after 05.40 . Even if you couldn't see the injury properly, it must have been pretty obvious this deer; that was apparently living in misery and to which you did a kindness, was otherwise, VERY healthy looking and therefore getting by just fine in the circumstances. And if it wasn't obvious, and/or you had not seen in clearly (as seems very likely from the time scale) why on earth did you shoot it? Anybody can see from your picture that is not a malnourished, struggling deer, even dead it looks healthy, the eyes/nose/coat are in top condition, and there is nothing spurious pouring out of its backside!

 

The deer was obviously well fed, still with others; and the injury, by your own comments was old, so how do you equate that with living in misery?

 

That deer would have very likely grown up and lived a full healthy life, all be it moving a bit slower than some others.

 

So why shoot a healthy deer just because it is slower than others?

 

You put animals out of their misery taking into account the quality of their current and future life, that deer had a leg issue but was obviously looking after itself very well, and there is no suggestion it would not have continued to do so through a long life, and even give birth itself in years to come (see vids below). That does not tick enough boxes for me to shoot it in the time frames you have.

 

God help your pets if they get lame!

 

It is VERY obvious we have a different view of deer management (frankly I'm struggling to equate your actions with deer management at all), and I don't give a hoot what all your mates think.

 

Still interesting to note you have totally avoided this!

 

Suffering/struggling/misery?

Perhaps you should go and shoot all these.........

http://www.bing.com/... deer&FORM=VDRE

 

I expect you will respond, you are welcome, I think I have made my point so I will leave you too it now, and I stress that my posts were based on your comments and your picture.

Wow you sure have plenty spare time on your hands,if the chance ever comes up for anyone to shoot them let me know I will happily oblige :) as I said before I and many more stalkers would have shot it on the spot,the man had a job to do and he done it,and to bring his pets into it is just sad,that's a no no