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Wheeler

I had to do something hard tonight..

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Tonight I decided to take my wife to a place called candy cane lane. Just a cul de sac of houses of Christmas lights. One lite up lice Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation with the RV & all. On our way over we witnessed a large Doe run across oncoming traffic & made it. I KNEW she wouldn’t make it across in front of me.. 3 lanes & too many cars. She got hit twice & NO one stopped! I couldn’t believe it. I put my 4 ways on & got her off the road flopping around in pain! Well god ! I didn’t have my large CRKT (brand) pocket knife. Thank gawd the wife had the one I bought her last year.. so needless to say I put her out of her misery as fast as possible. I had a hard time for a few hours.. it’s one thing to pull the trigger & bang flop, but to take a life with a 4” pocket knife is another. Here in Alberta that’s illegal! Unreal if u ask me. I did what was ethically & morally right.  I now have a dedicated knife in the Nissan. It was terrible to see an animal in that kind of distress.. but as a hunter/human I felt soo bad... glad I made it quick for her.... I hate to see any animal or person suffer...

Edited by Wheeler
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Man... that really sucks.

You 100% did the right thing but that doesn't make it easier does it?

 

Can you clarify exactly what is illegal? 

 

I have personally taken deer with a knife in similar situations to what you describe.

If an animal is suffering it is the right thing to do. Anyone with experience would agree... I'm sure there are some counter arguments but I don't buy em.

 

I hope you loaded her up and went straight home to save the meat but I would understand there are likely some possible legal (or logistical) complications.

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In Alberta if an animal is hit & wounded it is illegal to shoot/kill it until the fish & wildlife arrive to do so. (But I never called them as I dealt with it myself) Sometimes that can take hours.. I didn’t keep the meat as that’s illegal without getting a permit to do so from them as well. So I didn’t do that considering what I had done, & where I was... in the far left left lane with 4 ways on & people driving by watching me do what I did... I agree though.. I wish & feel we should be allowed to salvage the meat as I surely wanted to... 

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you were right in your choice, wheeler I've had to do the same, and never chose to wait for authorities to show up, often times i was told never wait, if your 1st. 

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Same here , it is illegal to mess with road kills ------

 

I told this story before but think it was on the old site , my buddy hit a deer on the highway  , he  stopped , the truck was messed up real good , hood , grill , fender and the mirror pulled off the door , so he loads the deer up in back the truck and drove about 5 mies to his work yard , he is showing the deer to his workers , the deer stands up in back the truck and jumps out , so he pulls his knife and stabs the deer in the neck , the knife stood in the neck and the deer is stumbling for  the front gate which is a 4 lane State Highway with his knife in the deer , he grabs his 12 gauge from behind his seat and runs to the highway , the deer was running down the side of the road and run right into a fire hydrant and flipped over on the ground , he shot the deer , right when a New Orleans Police car pulls up , luck for him they never called in the Wildlife and Fisheries , they let him go and he kept the deer , it could have been at least discharging a firearm in the city limit charge 

 

I was hunting in Demopolis , Alabama , shot the biggest deer on my career , the deer never did see me , he was hopping along like on a carousel hoorse , prouncing I think would be the  term , beautiful site ,  he was moving and I shoot high , broke his back and took out his back legs , so he only had use of his front legs , so I was pointing the 12 gauge , 3 inch mag , 000 buck at him trying to drag himself off  , thinking , I am going to mess him up , had a side arm on my side which I should have used , but I pull the knife , grabbed him by the horns and cut his throat , not before he jabbed me in the ribs with the horns and took the wind out of me , he looked  me in the eye , with his tonuge hanging out gasping for breath , I  was a hunter since a little kid , killed thousands of animals , but that one affected me bad , I said to myself , what am I doing out here , freezing cold , getting eating by bugs , killing animals , quit hunting for quite a few years and still don't do it much ---- there is a lot more to that story after the deer was killed that had to do with why I laid off of hunting 

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man, that's rough! for many years, farming, my pop could never kill one our cows some got injured (broke down during breeding or having a calf etc) the ones which had a chance of getting back up (pin bone issue during calving) he would have me take care of them manys a day I'd lift them with hip huggers, but in the summer it was an on going battle with flys, and screw worms, he could never bring himself to put them out.... so that choice also was put on my shoulders, that was the hardest job i had.... to put them down, you could say they were all pets 900 plus head. 

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Great reason to carry a knife; you did the right thing. Most wouldn’t do it; couldn’t do it although everyone knows it’s for the best

 

i have one in every vehicle but they’re little utility blades. started carrying a big one during muzzleloader season; caused me to want to add a hunting knife to each.

 

I need to look at our rules around here. When that yearling was hit by a car (fortunately died immediately), we put her up on the lawn. starting to snow real good. Called conservation office and CO took the report with everyone’s name present and agreed to let us have it so long as we called the sheriff to get a striper tag. Called the sheriff office and they said fine but we’re not coming out just to give you a striper tag. Go ahead, we’ll call the CO.

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The rest of my deer story on why I quit hunting for a long time , after shooting that deer I had to drag it out the woods which was very tight small growth trees , the rack was big and getting it between the trees was a nightmare , took the shoe strings off my boots and tied the horns to a tree limb like a handle , so I finally get it to my Bronco and I had plastic but one of the guys we was hunting with said I'll throw it in my truck so you don't spill blood in that Bronco , so I get back to the camp house , I was a guest of a friend , so I am telling everyone I got a big one , so the guy who transported it back had his truck parked to the side , we walk over to see the deer and it was gone , so I jump in my truck and take off looking for it , figured it feel out the back of his truck cause he didn't put the tail gate up , so I went back to the camp after an hour of driving the roads and stopping at the gas station and store and asking about a deer on the road , so then they tell me it was under the front porch , so I drug it out and it was full of ants , then they butchered all the meat , it was 22 deer split between like 16 people , so the deer meat was on tables , like 1 1/4 deer per person , they way they played was the person that shot the biggest deer picked his pile first and stuck his knife in the pile , since I was not a member and a guest  , I didn't get that privilege , so it kept going down the line , 2nd biggest deer , most deer ,  etc , etc , needless to say  I got to pick last , all that was left was  a pile of meat full of bone , hair , all shoot up junk , I told them to stick the deer meat up their !!! and never paid them the guest fee I was suppose to and left the head and rack there , my buddy was married to one of their daughters ,  it was a bunch of Sheriffs from St Bernard , Louisiana that I was hunting with , the leader of the pack was nicknamed Big Head ----  I'll never forget that hunting story 

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There are laws to follow and then there are moral values to follow that may not coincide with the laws.  I will always do the moral thing and I feel that is exactly what you did @Wheeler.   I can't imagine how you feel but always know you helped put a living animal out of it's misery....

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It is best nows days to do what you feel you need to and don't talk about it , cause they do come back on you from internet stories , seems like more people get busted from posting pics and telling stories on the internet then from agents in the field down here now days  , they have a internet division down here of Wild Life and Fisheries that  do nothing but check out internet kills , stupid people put pics of them with alligators , deer , etc and then get a knock on their door , another thing we got is Operation Game Thief , 1-800 number you can call in a offender , stay anonymous and / or get a reward if the case is a good one >>>>>   does Canada have such a thing , Wheeler , might have to make a call , LOL 

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that is so true! glad you brought that fact up, cause there's no such thing as privacy nowa days, around here it's Facebook the local law watches closely, I'm not sure about TWRA ... but, twinkys  boy got busted a few years back for hunting out of season, a neighbor (who shall remain nameless) saw him, and his kill snapped a pic, posted it on Facebook, and TWRA payed them a visit, those two were the ones i ban from hunting on my place. 

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Thanks guys. Appreciate it. Glad I’m not the only one still around with morals now a days. @Fishfiles yes they have a hot line here called Report A Poacher. I thought for sure someone would call the cops or fish & wildlife & report my plate. We drive back that way after maybe 45 mins or so heading home & she was still there. I had thought about the same thing u mentioned that she would somehow get up.. but after being thrown in the air into a car from a Dodge Ram, I didn’t think she be getting up... wierd.. hunting is no issue for me.. but taking a life was.. even under those circumstances... anyway, I just thought I’d share all this with u guys. Thanks for listening & sharing ur stories. 

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I'm like you i can't believe nether car stopped, nor anyone stopped, that fact alone burns me up! it's getting to be the same here, a few years back when many farms had cattle sometimes youd come across a stray or a few that had gotten out ,because fences downed by storms or neighboring bulls fighting a gate, or gap left open / down, the older members here would always call the owner or who ever lived close to  help round them up, it's not like that any longer, now people just wiz right on by. morals, and being neighborly is a thing (or becoming) of the past for some, thank goodness there are some still around who still care enough to lend a hand. 

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You absolutely did the right thing.  Were I in the same situation I would do the same as you regardless of what the law says.  There is man made law and there is right and wrong. The latter directs my actions.

 

I will say I've always been told that when a deer gets hit by a car, it usually splinters bones all off in the meat and renders a lot of it inedible.  I haven't ever hit a deer (knock on wood) and thus have never been put in a situation where i considered butchering a road kill deer.

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On 12/19/2020 at 10:11 PM, Wheeler said:

In Alberta if an animal is hit & wounded it is illegal to shoot/kill it until the fish & wildlife arrive to do so. (But I never called them as I dealt with it myself) Sometimes that can take hours.. I didn’t keep the meat as that’s illegal without getting a permit to do so from them as well. So I didn’t do that considering what I had done, & where I was... in the far left left lane with 4 ways on & people driving by watching me do what I did... I agree though.. I wish & feel we should be allowed to salvage the meat as I surely wanted to... 

same in the states.

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You did the right thing, @Wheeler.  And you are right, there is a difference in taking one from a stand and what you had to do.  I appreciate your humanity in that it bothered you for a bit.  Go peacefully.  I *salute you.

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