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Some weeks ago, I saw a fawn get squashed by a car, and it did not die right away. Two (three) things prevented me from pulling over and putting it out of its misery:
1) Traffic. I didn't want to also become a casualty.
2) My gun. I wasn't sure what would happen to a 9mm JHP fired into asphalt after a four inches of fawn. (Makes me think I ought to find a .22 I like.)
3) The law. I wasn't clear on the presence or absence of any ordinances which would land me in trouble for taking care of the deer.
Has anyone else dealt with such a situation? What did you do?
1) Traffic. I didn't want to also become a casualty.
2) My gun. I wasn't sure what would happen to a 9mm JHP fired into asphalt after a four inches of fawn. (Makes me think I ought to find a .22 I like.)
3) The law. I wasn't clear on the presence or absence of any ordinances which would land me in trouble for taking care of the deer.
Has anyone else dealt with such a situation? What did you do?
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Unsu...
Re: Mercy killings
Sun, July 27, 2008 - 8:34 AMI woulda put a 357 through it's head and strapped it to the fender. That's legal out here though.
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Re: Mercy killings
Sun, July 27, 2008 - 9:42 AMhere in nys you need to call a cop or the d.e.c otherwise your car your gun and maybe your house is up for grabs----if they catch you...but all you need to do is ask and they give you a tag as for shooting it to end it only the cops can do that the law says a civillian cannot fire a guun within 500 yards of a road or building---carry a knife that's what i use -
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Re: Mercy killings
Sun, July 27, 2008 - 6:44 PMI'm totally with keiter on this one and its 150 yards here
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Unsu...
Re: Mercy killings
Sun, July 27, 2008 - 6:52 PMOut here you can shoot near a road as long as youre not shooting *across* the road. I've seen people right on the side of the road with their shotguns and some clay pidgeons, not fifteen feet from the shoulder. As long as they're shooting into the field, it's fine. Can't shoot in city limits, of course. But to end the suffering of a deer hit on a country road is a sensible and responsable thing to do, any cop around here would understand.
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Re: Mercy killings
Sun, July 27, 2008 - 8:37 PMLet's assume for a moment that it's legal. Do I really want to discharge a 9mm just a few inches away, and essentially straight into, asphalt? Concrete? -
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Unsu...
Re: Mercy killings
Sun, July 27, 2008 - 9:10 PMNo, you don't. Do it over dirt or plan on a ricochet. If the deer can't be moved to a safe backstop, you might consider an angled shot, and make sure your likely field of ricochet is absolutely clear. And even then, funny things can happen with ballistics and you might end up picking shrapnel out of your shin.
I went target shooting with a couple of buddies, we shot for a while at one of those swinging steel targets. One of my buddies caught a flat disk of a ricochet in his shoulder. cut cleanly through his tee shirt, nobody even knew it happened (including him) until we were done shooting. It was a pretty good split, for a ricochet nick it was still a good half inch across and quarter inch deep. He picked out a crescent shaped piece of metal jacket and that was that... I guess it coulda been his eye just as easily. None of us were wearing eye protection.
My point is, bullets do funny things sometimes. Even when you're relatively sure they won't. I'd be more comfortable using a .380, .32, .25 or a .22 as a 'coup de grace' gun. something that's only going to make one hole in and a scrambled mess inside at that range.
A 2x4 board would probably make a sufficient backstop after the deer's head. Or another deer's head I suppose. And then remember, the car started the job, and it could also finish the job. Although that's probably easier (and less traumatizing for passengers) to do with a squirrel's head than a deer lol. -
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Re: Mercy killings
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 9:23 AMjust cut it's throat faster eaiser no stray shots
my answer to your question is if you do not already know the answer is simply "no" don't shott it -
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Re: Mercy killings
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 11:00 AMThe thing underlined my desire to get a .22 or two in my collection.
And I think we've talked about them before, but perhaps we can revisit the knife thing in another thread... -
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Unsu...
Re: Mercy killings
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 11:21 AMI think a .22 is one of those basic 'must haves' for any gun collection. To not have one is like having a collection of fine swords in the house but not a single knife anywhere. Makes it hard and dangerous to do the smaller jobs like putting butter on the toast. Get a .22 handgun and enjoy buying a brick of 550 bullets for ten bucks.
Many .22 revolvers offer a switch-out cylinder for .22 magnum as well. Good deal. -
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Re: Mercy killings
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 10:00 PMIn most cases it is illegal to fire from or across a public roadway.
If I had to shoot a deer in the head, I'd move it to the dirt shoulder and fire angled into the dirt. But that would depend on the area, this would have to be pretty rural.
Richochets are tricky indeed. Jacketed bullets are the worst. When you shoot those metal targets you should use only lead bullets (at ranges under 200') I had a friend get shot in the belly by the jacket from a bullet that way. Minor wound, but we laughed at him all the same. -
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Unsu...
Re: Mercy killings
Mon, July 28, 2008 - 11:51 PMa small bore (20 ga or less) with #4 lead shot would get it done for sure! pretty much no chance of ricochet either. Stay away from steel shot for this job! 100% chance of ricochet!
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