In a still shot of her standing, (not shown here) she shows a buckshot pattern along her rear flank so I don't think this is a road injured doe.
Most likely a poor shot resulted in this deer winding up here ... a really bad shot considering that the wound is a from a shotgun. The general gun season opened last weekend and with large tracts of woodland adjoining PFHQ, "our" deer wander back and forth and take their chances. I could legally take them here if I chose to do so.
If I liked venison more, I would. As it is, we are a safe haven for the ungulate clan.
I have no quarrel with hunting, but I have zero tolerance for poor marksmanship off of the range. Don't step off the training range with a weapon until you are proficient.
You hear Mrs. FC's voice in the background when she stepped out on to the porch. The buck's concern for the injured doe is pretty touching from a human point of view. The deer literally dropped in the brush about where the video ended. I didn't realize that at the time and didn't discover her until later in the day ... This was Sunday.
Sunday afternoon when I first located her. She's lying on the wounded side.
By the next day, the open wound is seething with maggots and flies are covering the body.
A closeup for you bugologists.
This is a nocturnal shot on Tuesday night. I walked out through the smilax to see if anything was different at night. The body is still intact, but a different type of fly was working it in the dark.
No buzzards yet, due probably to the thick vegetation and the fact that the roads are littered with deer and hog remains during hunting season. Lots of pickin's out there.
It's warmed up in the last day or so and it's getting a mite stinky at PFHQ. The deer is only about 80 feet from the PFHQ porch.
I'm not sure how long wifely tolerance will hold out on this little experiment...
22 comments:
That video was difficult to watch. I know it's mostly the natural way of things, but Pablo is a softie. The voice of the angel in the background did make it a little easier to take.
That's really sad. I hate it that she died in vain. My husband hunts but will only hunt what he'll eat and he says deer are just too majestic to kill. Squirrel and rabbit are what end up in our stew pot. Do you spray paint your deer to keep them from being shot? My uncle paints a big orange PET on the side of most of the deer on his property to keep hunters from shooting them.
Mrs. FC you have such a sweet voice! Like Pablo said, it made it easier to watch.
Nature doing it's job is very interesting to me, but suffering of an animal from a poor shot just makes me angry.
I am with you on the marksmanship. One of the two deer Alan took last fall was completely riddled with bird shot. Someone shot it in the rear end, not once, but several times. What a shameful waste. It was dying slowly when he killed it. Someone obviously got bored during turkey season.
Season starts here Saturday. The Jersey cows will stay in the barn then...and I will worry about my favorite boy out there with all those fools, even on our own posted land
OK I am a bit confused
is the one that died the one that was walking or the one that was on the ground in the very first part of the video?
I agree with everyone here.If you are going to hunt,better be ready to walk to find what you hit and making sure it is dead before giving up on it.
Just wish hunters,I know not all hunters are like this but the ones that are and they know who they are, need to learn "how" to hunt.
I'll get off my soapbox
sorry
That just tugs at my heart. What a needless, thoughtless waste of life.
Sorry, I just can't bring myself to watch it. I'm way too soft for a country gal. And don't EVEn get me started on ignernt r*dn*ck hunters. >:\
Thanks ever so for the well-wishes when I was cold-infested. Feels so good to not feel bad. 8-}
If you can't shoot, don't hunt. And don't think that because you've been a good shot in the past, you still are. It's a skill that gets rusty and needs polishing.
Aunty and I are fixing to have a feud over the term "Cracker". You can join in but only if you're thinking the right way. MY way.
She thinks it has something to do with being a Scottish Catholic or something.
Grrherhahahahahahhahaahaha!
Actually, you might have a 3rd definition. Cause I'd never even heard of a Minorcan before this blog.
I will pass this video up. Bambi traumatized me as a kid and I have a feeling this would do the same. So sad though I know some areas where the farmers and gardeners hate the deer, I still tend to think of them as cute pets.
oh no... too sad. at least its open gun. they are worse with bows down here. and that is just awful. agree here too. can't point straight and shoot to kill you better track it till you do. buggers. i wonder could they have tried? but afraid of walking on your prop?
FC also i'm curious why you didn't dress her out?
nasty experiment you are on. its going to get stinky as all get out yikes... ha. you are one funny dude.
First, I agree, too bad they weren't better shots. I don't have a problem with hunting, but I do with bad hunters.
Second, good luck with your experiment. I think I would have experimented with a few venison recipes if it were me.
Third, it seems painting a big, orange "PET" on the side of deer would only make it stand out and an easier target.
Yes, Mrs. FC's voice softened this a little for me. I hate it when animals needlessly suffer at the hands of people.
OK FC I'm no crybaby but that was just way too much information. I would have preferred the "I found a deer and here it is decomposing" version. I have no problem with hunting, I'm just not good at it. By the way Kevin, do you remember the quails?"
Pablo,
I agree, on both counts.
SCM,
I'm trying to picture getting close enough to paint a wild deer.
My deer must be different.
Dani,
It's sweet most of the time ... sometimes I can make it change :)
3C,
Good luck to your cows and the lad.
Lej,
One on the ground?
There's the limping injured deer and a concerned buck in the background.
Bee,
Yes.
Sophie,
I understand. Glad you are better!!
Troll,
I know where she's going and where you are coming from.
Don't worry about the lack of history about we Minorcans, we were here long before any Crackers, ya just don't hear about us unless you are in New Smyrna or St. Augustine.
Your point about firearm skill is accurate. I have a range in my backyard just for that reason.
Cathy S.
I don't hate em, but I work around em and fuss sometimes.
JOJO,
Stinky yes!!!
I didn't dress it out because it was already in rigor when I located it in the brush.
Kevin,
I cant see the painting thing either. No venison since she had been dead an unknown time when I found her.
Miz S,
She can do that. She has that nurse caring voice.
Billy,
Who knew you were supposed to wait until they flew to shoot?
:)
This is so sad. The other deer that was running along beside it, was that a...mate or sibling?
I am sure that during bow and gun season a lot of deer suffer wounds, some live and some die. I don't even like to think of them being wounded, I have never seen a wounded deer like the one you pictured, how sad.
Laura,
I take the buck to be her mate. Makes the video even sadder.
Margaret,
Seeing what happens to the ones that "get away" is not very pretty.
Very interesting post. The video illustrates why I don't hunt. It's not that I have anything against hunting. It's that I don't have the time in my life to become a good enough shot to avoid this type of problem. I will leave hunting to the more skilled in that department, with great respect for that skill.
Nice image of green bottle flies in the penultimate photo.
What Doug said. You'd have an impressive set of skeletal remains there, if the family can hold out a spell for the odor.
This, of course, from a bone-lovin' man like myself. All things osteological are interesting to me...
I have a lot of catching up to do here. Long story. You'll have email soon, sir.
Well I suppose everybody misses now and then - maybe the deer moved just as the shot was taken. But I think that hunters normally track anything they shoot, don't they? They're ought to, anyway. That's supposed to be one of the things that makes a good hunter not take the shot unless he or she is sure it's a kill shot... if you're wrong, you may be in for a long, long walk.
Ugh. I meant "they" ought to, not "they're" ought too. See, I've forgotten how to type.
"I have a dead deer in my yard" means something completely Other at PF than it would anywhere else. "It's all grist for the mill" was coined for you. This is a cool series--even reading it backwards and late.
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