Discussion: Deer

Last similar encounter I had was maybe 6 or so years ago. We were driving up Bunker Hill Rd and came up to where a car was stopped. The neighbor lady had just hit a deer, the deer was clearly dying and in a fair amount of distress, and the driver was pretty disconsolate,too. I called the police, and an officer showed up and dispatched the deer with his pistol. I was not that impressed with his efficiency. It took him 5 or 6 shots to get the job done. Then he left, I called my neighbor Steve who hunts, and he and his son Joe showed up in a flash to pick by up the carcass. They dropped off some steaks later. And we consoled our neighbor until she was calm enough to go home.

We had an acquaintance hit a deer in front of our NY house one evening and came to the door to let us know, but we didn't see a deer or carcass, so figured it ran off.

Next morning our across-the-road neighbor's dog was near the side of the property, a ways from the roadway, and that's when we discovered the deer...too late to put it out of its misery.

Most interesting wildlife story in NY was when someone hit a bear with their car near our place and called wildlife services to collect it. (And the time I saw a live bear cross the road about 100-150' from me while I was out walking.)

I'm scared of hunters in general. But these two were OK.

The family that provided home day care for our kids for many years (up Coles Meadow Road) were avid hunters. We had to scramble each year to find child care the week after Thanksgiving when they headed up to NH to their cabin to hunt. They were among the kindest, gentlest people I've ever known. About the only way it affected life around the house was when one of their dogs was terminally ill. They brought it out back 100 meters or so into the woods and took care of it the old fashioned way.

In my town, when you see a dead deer, you call John Lattanzi. He's the guy.

Five or six shots?! Poor deer.

I was so unimpressed. That was the second time I called a police officer to dispatch a critically wounded animal. The first time was a coyote, also hit by a car, with an apparent broken back. That only took one shot. Certainly seems like one should be enough, although I've never shot anything myself, and don't intend to.

Where is Atticus Finch when you need him?

I did shoot a couple of pheasant back when I was youngster, pretty sure it was to try to please my father. But now that I think about it, I may actually just have shot at a pheasant or two. And my go-to memory bank these days for my life pre-Gail, namely my brother, he for sure never had any interest in killing things, so he's no help.

I did catch a few fish from time to time.

I've caught quite a few fish, although none lately, dispatched quite a few mice, but not with firearms. All this has made me remember that I did shoot a few woodchucks some more than 40 years ago.

Atticus had to deal with a rabid dog in motion. A deer lying on the ground ought to be as simple as it gets.

Just got to put the shot in the right place and end the pain.

I got a deer once. But in the process he smashed up the ffront end of my mini-van to the tune of $4000 damage and a four day unplanned holiday in Weyburn SK.

When Zack was around 16 he hit a bear with my old red truck. The bear came darting out of the woods and it was a low speed encounter, but bears are big and it did a fair amount of damage. At the time I had a $1000 collision deductible, but learned that the deductible was cut in half if you hit an animal, so that part was a nice surprise. The bear bounced off the truck and careened into the path of a woman going the other way. The bear then scampered off into the woods, perhaps to die, or perhaps just puzzled by what just happened. The other driver got quite emotional about the whole experience, and when I arrived on the scene, Zack was consoling her and trying to calm her down.