Beating myself up

[CoyoteJack]

I was driving out of Erie today and saw a couple of trucks stopped by a injured buck that it appeared one of them or another vehicle had just hit. It was unable to get up and was obviously injured. I was afraid to stop because I knew if I did every fiber of my being would compel me to put it out of its suffering. I saw that one of the drivers appeared to be making a phone call to report it. Now I've been in that situation before years ago and followed my heart as well as the pleading of the others that had stopped to put the deer out of its pain. After the police showed up though they had no intention of charging me even though it was illegal.

I feel like shit though. It sucks that I have to put the thought of losing my permit, the risk of getting dragged through the courts, and giving Anti-s more opinion ammo against lawful carry, before doing the right thing.

[lexington86]

I was driving out of Erie today and saw a couple of trucks stopped by a injured buck that it appeared one of them or another vehicle had just hit. It was unable to get up and was obviously injured. I was afraid to stop because I knew if I did every fiber of my being would compel me to put it out of its suffering. I saw that one of the drivers appeared to be making a phone call to report it. Now I've been in that situation before years ago and followed my heart as well as the pleading of the others that had stopped to put the deer out of its pain. After the police showed up though they had no intention of charging me even though it was illegal.

I feel like shit though. It sucks that I have to put the thought of losing my permit, the risk of getting dragged through the courts, and giving Anti-s more opinion ammo against lawful carry, before doing the right thing.

Sadly, this is the state of the country that we live in. When did it become okay to live in fear for simply saying/doing something you know is right?

[knight0334]

Gotta let nature take it's course.. ...well, unless you accidentally back over its head/neck.

[buster]

I have a friend who, a few years ago, reported a crippled deer which had drug itself of the road. The WCO NEVER showed up. I understand that they get busy too, but nobody likes to see an animal suffer.

[Zef_66]

Why not just cut its throat? No problem with legal troubles there...

[RocketFoot]

One of my buddy's stopped at an accident on night and found a woman had hit a deer and the deer was still alive but injured. A PA State Trooper pulled in right behind him and was going to dispatch the deer but wound up having several FTF's with his duty gun. Turned out to be a broken firing pin. My Buddy produced his Sig .40 and offered it to the officer, but the officer told him he could do the honors! (Which he promptly did...) Funny but true story! The cop never asked to see his license or LTCF...just one of those 'I don't ask, you don't tell' type of things!

[CoyoteJack]

Why not just cut its throat? No problem with legal troubles there...

Legal troubles no, but while I empathize with the deer's condition I have little interest in being disembowel by flailing hoofs or gored by it's horns. While the back end wasn't working the front end still was quite lively.

[CoyoteJack]

One of my buddy's stopped at an accident on night and found a woman had hit a deer and the deer was still alive but injured. A PA State Trooper pulled in right behind him and was going to dispatch the deer but wound up having several FTF's with his duty gun. Turned out to be a broken firing pin. My Buddy produced his Sig .40 and offered it to the officer, but the officer told him he could do the honors! (Which he promptly did...) Funny but true story! The cop never asked to see his license or LTCF...just one of those 'I don't ask, you don't tell' type of things!

Yep, in general I believe most officers would decline to arrest me for such an act unless perhaps it was shown that I was reckless in handling the matter such as putting passing cars at risk of ricochet and the like. Still since it illegal you run the risk of getting an officer that is simply in a bad mood and wanting to share it.

[TaurusGuy]

One of my buddy's stopped at an accident on night and found a woman had hit a deer and the deer was still alive but injured. A PA State Trooper pulled in right behind him and was going to dispatch the deer but wound up having several FTF's with his duty gun. Turned out to be a broken firing pin. My Buddy produced his Sig .40 and offered it to the officer, but the officer told him he could do the honors! (Which he promptly did...) Funny but true story! The cop never asked to see his license or LTCF...just one of those 'I don't ask, you don't tell' type of things!

As a side here....I guess the trooper got lucky that he found out the firing pin was broken this way rather than in a potentially deadly situation.

[mikepro8]

I hit a deer a few years ago, not more than a mile from my house. I didnt carry full time then, so I didnt have a firearm on me. I called PSP as soon as I got home, they set me up with WCO. The woman on the line asked where it was and what condition it was in. When I left, it was lying in the middle of a back road, couldnt get up. NICE RACK on it. I told her I work for the county probation department. She asked if I had a .380 and I told her I did. She said, "shoot it in the back of the head." I said, okay, no problem. I went back down... deer was gone. Either he shook off the fuzzy spinning head of his, or someone else did it in and took him for his rack. Called her back, told her the deer was gone, end of story.

Still to this day cant beleive that she told me to shoot it, but she did.