If you see an injured deer on the side of the road, that is definitely hurt and in pain can you legally shoot it and take it out of its misery? Do you need to call someone afterwards?
Thank you in advance for your input.
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If you see an injured deer on the side of the road, that is definitely hurt and in pain can you legally shoot it and take it out of its misery? Do you need to call someone afterwards?
Thank you in advance for your input.
Nope.
Call the PGC regional office if you come across one.
Shooting a deer even almost dead and gravely injured is considered hunting... Call the authorities, let them deal with it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mocha Java
Legally - no.
Morally - that's for you to decide.
If you go with the second option, is anyone else around to report it?
By the way, if you do it out of season and/or without a deer tag, it's not hunting - it's poaching.
I had this happen to me one night last year.
I looked around for a large rock and that was that.
;)
Whether or not you'd get in trouble for doing what I'd consider the humane thing to do would depend a lot on the circumstances and the view of the game commission.
I'd suggest reporting it either way and certainly avoid attempting to argue that you not only put it out of its misery but didn't want it to go to waste and so took it home and processed it. :)
As others have said, no. In no shape or manner may you legally dispatch injured game from accidents.
Here's a start of what you could get popped with: Road hunting, poaching, hunting out of season, unlawful discharge of a firearm(municipal laws apply), shooting across roads, etc..
Not many folks, or even some LEO's, will question the dispatching if you so choose to do something. PA Game Commission officers will write you up in a heartbeat if they catch wind of it if you do it without their consent.
However, I've been known to accidentally hit an injured deer a couple times in the head and neck with my truck tire. Was the damnedest thing too... It jumped out in front of me and laid down, then got back up and ran from behind me to in front of me and did it again.
Both times I have come across an injured dear I or someone else had called the police. They came out and dispatched the dear within minutes. Let them do it.
when i worked a private community, which was ACT 235, we would call both PSP and Game Commission, and ask if they had anyone in the area to put the deer down. most of their time their response was no, so they told us to do it, in a safe manner.
always call them first, and ask if they have anyone that is available in the area, more then likely they wont. they may give you permission to put it down then.
Legally, no you can't put it down. Only a member of the PGC or a LEO can legally dispatch the animal.Quote:
Originally Posted by DiveGerry
Morally.....it would be very hard to let a suffering animal just lay by the side of the road.
You can call, and they may authorize you to put the animal down if there is no one in the area.
Before I became a LEO, I hit a deer with my vehicle. Actually the deer hit me as it ran into the side of my vehicle. It was hurt pretty bad and I wanted to put the animal down, but I knew of the law. This happened in Bear Creek. So I drove all the way back to Wilkes-Barre (this was also before cell phones!!) and called the PGC.
I told the dispatcher what happened and you know what I was told? "Did you put the animal down? No, I wasn't sure I could. Well you should not have let the animal suffer."
Whiskey, tango, foxtrot......over!
Hold up I could swer I saw in the Game book that you can shoot a deer that is hurt on the road... I dont have mine with me but look in the section of roadkill
All you have to do is do a search for "injured road" at the PGC website and you'll see otherwise in the findings.Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam M Geer
You call the PGC if discover an injured critter. If it needs put down, they will direct someone to do so whether it is one of their own wardens, another LEO or you personally.
Can I just say that I hate when it is referred to as "Dipatching" the animal. Sounds to PC and elitist for me. When I hit a deer in MD a few years ago it was not dead, so I killed it. I did not "dispatch" it. I pulled the Mossy from the trunk, and put my tag on his ear after I killed it.
As an EMS owrker, dispatch to me sounds like you asked it go somewhere else.
Dave W.
Well... Kind of... lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Brown-Bear
-Chaz
As always check the regs but I'm in agreement with everyone else, it is not lawful to kill any animal outside of the permitted seasons for any reason and doing so will land you in hot water as it is considered poaching.
The correct action is to call the local police agency and report an accident with a deer, advise that the deer is still alive but severely injured, I believe the LEO should be able to deal with it from there. I would suggest NOT telling the dispatcher that you are armed... generally speaking that results in a bad time.
You will also want the police report for the insurance claim if you are filing one.
If you just see an injured animal call the PGC and report it, unless it is either right on the road or on the shoulder it would be trespassing for you to go after it anyway, this is for ALL animals!
Never go off and kill an animal in PA, turkey, goose, duck, deer, tree rat, chipmunk, skunk, rabbit, bird... you name it they are ALL protected by the PGC and they can ALL cause you lots of issue if you try "dispatching" them, not only from the physical damage that a "dead" animal can cause you... animals are MEAN when they are "dead", but also from the legal sense as killing any animal outside season is considered poaching.
here is the reg (from pgc)
Also there are regs about how close to the road you can shoot... its a BAD ideaQuote:
Roadkilled Deer/Possessing Wildlife: It is unlawful at any time to
possess live wildlife, except foxes for which a permit has been issued,
or animals, or parts of animals, killed on highways. Pennsylvania
residents may possess deer killed by a motor vehicle for personal
consumption only if they secure a permit number from the Game
Commission within 24 hours after taking the deer; call the appropri-
ate region office. It is not legal to kill “put it out of its misery” any
injured wildlife; again, call the region office. It is unlawful to give the
whole or edible part of a deer killed on a highway to another person.
Holders of a valid furtakers license may possess a furbearer killed on
a highway, except for bobcats, fishers or river otters. Persons taking
possession of any furbearer killed on a highway during the closed
season for taking that furbearer shall within 24 hours contact any Game
Commission region office to make notification of said possession.
I have heard that some LEO's will not 'put down' (is that better wording?) an injured animal. Now the discussion I was having at the time was about a domestic horse so that may be different. But the LEO would not do it and said that a Vet. had to.
A week ago I saw a downed and injured deer sitting on Route 48 in Monroeville. There was a LEO car right next to it and it was sitting on the berm just looking around. I think the LEO must have been waiting for the PGC.
Some 20+ years ago I put a doe down that had been hit by a car just in front of me a bit. Traffic stopped in both direction because the deer was still in the road and her back legs wouldn't work. With a few different women at the scene pleading for someone to do something I offered to put the deer out of its misery and then did just that. A short while later the police showed up due to the damage to not just the car that hit the deer but another vehicle involved and when they learned what I'd done one of the officers explained to me that it was in fact illegal. He also stated that he had no intention of arresting me given the circumstances. Now this was a small town area and it seemed the officers were on a first name basis with several of the people at the scene so that probably had something to do with it. Just to show how different times were then, no one questioned why I had a gun in my pocket and when some of the other witnesses told the officer what I'd done I was never asked for my LTCF which I did have.
Last winter I posted about another injured deer by the road and this time I passed it by. I still regret that decision somewhat but I value my LTCF and my hunting privledges and didn't want to take the chance that this time an officer might not be so understanding especially considering this deer was in a much more developed area.
Putting down an injured horse would be a HUGE liability for a police officer.. they are very valuable animals and they would certainly be held financially responsible for the loss of the animalQuote:
Originally Posted by Koli01
Would it be better to say you pwned it? LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by Brown-Bear
I know someone who was on his way to his other house and came across a deer that was hit on some back road, its back legs out, still alive, so he got his p3at out, loaded a round and shot the deer in the head. I'm not sure of the MD regs on this, though the shooting on the roadside no doubt was illegal. The gun itself was ok, he had it unloaded and ammo seperate and was going from 1 of his properties to another. It might be ok to put the deer down with a knife or something though.
Pretty tough to see an animal like that and not be able to kill it right away.
Just so you also know, in PA and MD you cannot go and shoot a trapped animal unless you are the trapper or the trapper gave you the ok and you also have a valid trapping/furtaking lisc. I don't know who shot a raccoon I trapped this season, but it was through the neck muscle and was very much alive when I showed up. Probably a mistake by a small game hunter or the landowner himself, done earlier, not realizing it was in a trap. Was shot with a .22. However I have heard of trappers having animals shot with deer rifles, slug guns, and shotguns with birdshot, certainly not someone trying to help out. If you know its in a trap, leave it alone.
Thank you so much for all the advice. Your words will be heeded, I just hope the PGA will handle it in an expedient manner.
Generally, when I hit em' they don't get back up.
Of course I'm usually a lttle slow to get back up myself:)
I did it once despite the law though. Our local response time was 48 minutes to a 911 hang up call, so I knew the thing would suffer for a long time. It was about 100 yards from my apartment so I took my G/F home, grabed a headlamp, a pistol, and a knife and headed out the door. "where are you going?" she asked. "to get meat."
I'm pretty sure it was dead as it didn't move when I poked it in the eye, but I put a .22 in it's brain to make sure and took out the backstraps, some chops, and a nice roast from the un-damaged side. I would've taken more but the rest was pretty jacked up. Poor thing.
I guess that makes me guilty of poaching if nothign else (way off the road, no ordinance against discharge) but I wasn't going to let her suffer or let her go to waste.
We ate good that night
P-11MitakuyeOyas'in SHOOTER
I have hit two deer in my life time both dead on impact, but I would have a very hard time leaving a suffering animal on the side of the road. I am not sure I would be able to wait for the police. If it was possible I would attempt to use my knife to nuetralize ;) the wounded deer. Let them try to prove he did not hit a sharp piece of metal from my bumper during the colision.