Forced to use my mouse-gun today...

[Dedicated_Dad]

Fortunately, not on a human...

On my way home tonight, out of the darkness and oncoming headlights, a young doe bounded out in front of me - and I nailed her... Brakes were locked, but she still slid a good 75 feet, coming to rest on the shoulder, not moving.

The last one I hit - 3-4 years ago - totally shredded the front-end of my small-truck. She also screamed for nearly an hour by the time the cops got there and did their thing. I'd begged him to put her down - he kept telling me he would, he would... When I was leaving he again promised he would - then the SOB drove off and left her there... When I came back she was still moaning, and I wasn't equipped to do anything about it. A friend who works for the natural resources/fish & game dept told me it's because if he fired his gun he'd have to do a whole big pile of paperwork, and that I should have called him - he'd do it in a heartbeat... As it was she ended up laying there for hours - I'm still sickened by that, but (as usual) I digress...

Tonight I got out, grabbed my flashlight and checked over my truck - no apparent damage but a lot of hair stuck to the grille and bumper. The poor deer was curled up in a "fetal" position, just as she'd been since the impact. She was breathing incredibly fast and shallow, but the lack of damage to the truck made me hopeful she might make it. I called my bunny-cop friend who agreed there was a good chance she'd get it together and run off, but he wanted me to put her down if she was hurt too badly to escape and survive...

I sat there for a good 20+ minutes, and eventually she tried to get up - it was beyond question that either her front legs were broken or her "knees" were shredded - she couldn't stand and her "knees" were bending in all directions... I called my friend back to be sure - my biggest worry THEN was being caught with a loaded pistol here behind enemy lines. He said if any police agency (several were possible in that location) stopped, to tell them that Lt. Bunny-cop had directed me to go home and get my pistol to end the animal's suffering, and ask them to contact him on the radio if they had any questions.

With that in mind I "ran home right quick" to get my mouse-gun (because I'd NEVER have it in my pocket in this commie-state that bans such - capisce? Home was just over a mile away...

All I had was my .32 Seecamp loaded with hydra-shoks. The first went into her forehead at about 4-5 yards range - she dropped like a stone. I waited a bit - likely less than a minute but it seemed much longer - wanting to be sure I'd accomplished my duty.

She was still kicking a little bit - most likely just "nerves" but... I wanted to be sure. The second round went in just below and behind her left ear, carefully aligned to go diagonally through her brain-pan. She didn't really respond to that, still twitching occasionally. Having ascertained that she was not breathing, and her eyes were open and fully dilated - no reaction to my bright LED flashlight shining right in her eye - I was sure that she was dead.

FTR, I contacted everyone I know to see if I could find someone to come for the carcass - she was very young and thus would have made pretty good eating - but AFAIK I struck out... Everyone I talked to had at least 2 to call... Hopefully SOMEONE got her...

Lastly, I wanted to discuss the caliber and ammo. To repeat, it was a Seecamp firing .32 Hydroshok ammo. I believe my first shot - from her front aimed just above and between her eyes, shooting at a downward angle (me standing, her "sitting" with feet under her) went through her forehead and brain - most likely ending up buried in her neck somewhere.

As I mentioned, she dropped like a stone. The second shot she was laying on her side, I came up close behind (muzzle a couple of feet away) went through from back-right to front-left and exited with no sign it had done anything but waste a round because she was already dead.

In either case, I'm 100% sure that either shot at a human skull would penetrate just fine. I'd hope it WOULDN'T exit, instead rattling around inside to do maximum damage. Likewise, a good COM hit should have no trouble penetrating ribs or solar-plexus and reaching the important bits.

Naturally I'd prefer a round starting with ".4" but I don't feel unarmed with my .32 or .380 mouse-guns either...

DD

[D5CAV]

Do you carry a knife with you?

I've done quite a bit of hunting. I tend to "overgun" so I rarely have to deal with wounded animals. When I do, it's a knife to the throat. It is very quick.

I open the throat anyway before I gut out the animal to bleed it out.

Rifle or pistol at close range shooting into the ground, especially at night, is too dangerous. Too easy to hit a rock and have a ricochet.

You left a freshly killed doe?

(channelling Homer Simpson) mmmmmm venison!

[Denis]

Glad you're OK, DD. A pity about the animal, but you did what had to be done. Thanks for the report.

I'm also curious as to why you left the carcass. Around here they legally are the property of the person who has hunting rights over the property adjacent to the road. However, if it's not clear who that is, or if they can't be reached straight away, I would inform the authorities (which you did), gut the animal and take it home to hang in a cool hygenic place. The beast needs to be hung a couple of days anyway, so there's plenty of time to decide if you must give it up to someone.

[JKosprey]

I dunno if I'd want to get close enough to a wounded animal, even a deer, with a knife, if I had a perfectly good pistol. Those hooves can be damn sharp. Then again, behind enemy lines...

It's a shame about the wasted meat. There are some states, like here in NY where they pretty much force you to waste it-the deer MUST be tagged and if it's not deer season you are SOL, although plenty of people still do take it.

Glad you're OK

[Dedicated_Dad]

Here too one is SUPPOSED to have a tag and all, but no cop out here in BFE is going to punish anyone for avoiding wasting meat.

As for me - yes, I left the carcass. First, I'm not physically capable of dealing with it, and Wifey would absolutely go off her nut if I dragged home a dead deer killed on the road. She won't eat venison and certainly couldn't handle seeing a field-stripped deer hanging from a tree in the yard...

This is why I tried so hard to find someone to take it - but ultimately struck out. Still - it will be food for the buzzards, foxes and stray dogs so it won't REALLY go to waste...

DD

[Fivetoes]

All game belongs to the state here in WV. However we do have a law allowing one to pick up road kill, the paper mile still has to be walked. Had an older neighbor who would pick it up, he spent thirty days for pocessing wild life with out a permit.
My opinion is a road kill deer is not worth the work. THey can be pretty busted up. If the stomach ruptures it is a very unpleasant task dressing one out.

[rightisright]

If the stomach ruptures it is a very unpleasant task dressing one out.

Or the intestines or bladder, for that matter.

Funny, or not so funny, story:

I live in suburban NJ in a very heavily deer-infested area. It's so bad, I rarely ride my motorcycle after dark.

One day I heard brakes screeching and a THUD outside my house. Hoping it wasn't a dog, I ran out front. There was a ~#100 doe writhing in pain on my neighbor's front lawn. She was struggling to get up but it was evident she wasn't going to make it. Blood from the mouth, front two legs broken... This being NJ, I couldn't very well run inside and get a knife or my shotgun so I called the Five Oh.

I stood over the deer with my foot on her chest so she couldn't limp off the woods and die a long, agonizing death. Meanwhile, a woman (in a minivan w. kids) stopped and started yelling at me, "Let the deer go! What the f*#K are you doing! You asshole!" I tried to calmly explain what I was doing was the humane thing. "I'm calling the cops, you asshole!!"

Two seconds later the one I called for pulled up. She got out of the van screaming and yelling at the cop in a histrionic fit! The cop told her to get in the van and go home and that he would "take care of it." He then dispatched the doe.

Soccer moms.....

[Dedicated_Dad]

I really don't think she was busted up internally - I think if her legs hadn't been broken she'd have been OK. Once she got over the initial shock she was plenty alert and all...

I'm amazed to hear that NJ cops would dispatch the animal when my redneck-country boys won't... That really makes me angry still - he left that poor thing there to suffer...

DD

[D5CAV]

A LEO I knew in the PRK told me that PRK law says if you hit a deer, you get to keep the deer, even if you don't have a hunting license and if it's not deer season. He said it was to keep deer from mouldering on the side of the highway, where he and his colleagues would have to drag it into the woods to keep from offending the soccer moms.

He pointed out, however, that this was a really expensive way to hunt deer, as it usually came with about $1k worth of property damage.

[Windy Wilson]

A friend who works for the natural resources/fish & game dept told me it's because if he fired his gun he'd have to do a whole big pile of paperwork.

Wuss. My cousin who is a State Park Ranger dispatched a car-struck cow once, and never complained about the paperwork. The resulting tinnitus. . .