Dieselcrawler
Regular Member
Yesterday evening, as I was driving home along a 2 lane highway out in the country, I noticed a wounded deer in the same place it had been earlier that morning... hit, wounded to the point of not being able to move out of the ditch, and still in the same place, and still alive enough to be moving it's head to look at traffic. The first time I saw it I was in a line of traffic, and just got a glimps of it... there was also no good place to pull off the road, ground is soft due to rain, and I drive a heavy dually truck.
On my return trip, after seeing the poor animal still there, alive and not able to move, I stopped at the next wide spot and called the local sheriff. A few hours later, when I passed again, it had been shot, I can only assume the sheriff took care of it. I had heard CB radio chatter earlier about a driver calling in to the sheriff that he hit the deer the day before, and that he was surprised it was still there, alive.
In this situation, what am I alowd to do? I did what I knew would be the fail-safe option, call the sheriff. However, in this situation, I would want to put the poor animal out of it's misery, and dispatch it quickly. A single .22 shot to the head would have done all that was needed. And to my understanding, totaly illeagle for me to do so. Very likely that nothing would have been said had I stopped and shot it, and had the conditions been diffrent (a better place to pull off the road closer) I likely would have... However, I also didn't want to take any chances. I do have my concealed carry permit, and my understanding from that is if my gun is seen, unless I'm actively using it for self defence, I'm violating the rules.
I guess my question in a nut shell is this: Would this be a permissable use of the weppon I carry? It is indeed one of the main reasons I want to be able to carry a gun with me, and on the farm it's no big deal. I have had a gun in the truck for years, ever since I wounded a cat with the sickle mower (I'll let you guess how) and had to drive 2 miles back to the house to get a gun and come back to shoot a cat kinda running around the hayfield. I hated the feeling of not doing what should be done for the deer along the road, out of fear of the risk of what might get me in trouble.
Any comments? Been on my mind all day. I know I did the politicly correct thing, but did I do the right thing?
On my return trip, after seeing the poor animal still there, alive and not able to move, I stopped at the next wide spot and called the local sheriff. A few hours later, when I passed again, it had been shot, I can only assume the sheriff took care of it. I had heard CB radio chatter earlier about a driver calling in to the sheriff that he hit the deer the day before, and that he was surprised it was still there, alive.
In this situation, what am I alowd to do? I did what I knew would be the fail-safe option, call the sheriff. However, in this situation, I would want to put the poor animal out of it's misery, and dispatch it quickly. A single .22 shot to the head would have done all that was needed. And to my understanding, totaly illeagle for me to do so. Very likely that nothing would have been said had I stopped and shot it, and had the conditions been diffrent (a better place to pull off the road closer) I likely would have... However, I also didn't want to take any chances. I do have my concealed carry permit, and my understanding from that is if my gun is seen, unless I'm actively using it for self defence, I'm violating the rules.
I guess my question in a nut shell is this: Would this be a permissable use of the weppon I carry? It is indeed one of the main reasons I want to be able to carry a gun with me, and on the farm it's no big deal. I have had a gun in the truck for years, ever since I wounded a cat with the sickle mower (I'll let you guess how) and had to drive 2 miles back to the house to get a gun and come back to shoot a cat kinda running around the hayfield. I hated the feeling of not doing what should be done for the deer along the road, out of fear of the risk of what might get me in trouble.
Any comments? Been on my mind all day. I know I did the politicly correct thing, but did I do the right thing?
