Dispatching a wounded animal

First, this might come across as kind of stupid or silly but thought I'd run it by you guys anyway.

So, let's say I'm running down a rural road in my company vehicle and clip a deer or antelope and the poor thing is wounded and suffering. Obviously, I'd rather put it out of its misery than see it suffer.

Here's my dilemma and question.

I don't carry a firearm in the company vehicle as it's against policy. My work knife is a small, three blade stockman that really isn't suited for the task.

I do carry tools (hammers, pipe wrenches,etc.) but not sure if striking the animal sharply in the head is the best solution or not.

Do I have options or is leaving it to die a slow death my best bet since I am ill equipped to deal with such matters on company business?

Call 911. Let them do it.

I agree, it's hard to knowingly let an animal suffer. If it's still in the street, could you run over its head? A pipe wrench to the brain stem should do the trick too...

Is this a real situation you've just encountered?

I don't think it's stupid or silly at all- it's a valid question.

Personally, I would get a larger knife to put in with your tools in the company vehicle, since firearms are against company policy. I think the bigger question is this: if you do clip a deer, for example, how far into the scrub or woods will you follow it? Do you have a powerful flashlight? If your jobs take you off the beaten path at night, will you be following the wounded animal's trail into the woods?

I'd be looking for a different company to work for. Sorry.

State patrol does it all the time

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Originally Posted by D_F

I'd be looking for a different company to work for. Sorry.

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If you are going to choose employment based on employer firearm policy, I'm afraid many would find themselves in the unemployment line, besides Ray doesn't even always carry outside of work....

Call the police, if it is going to be a while you could ask to dispatch the animal yourself or just do it.
a problem I have is you wanting to use a small knife or blunt object on a wounded animal. A buck or bull or even a doe or cow might mess you up pretty good.

Let the sheriff, CPW or CSP do it. You don't want the hassles should they decide you were illegally taking game.

And there really isn't a safe way to do it w/o a firearm.

Call the police.

If you can't guarantee a quick dispatch, call someone that can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frT6TKyJ_cw

Wounded animals can be very dangerous. I wouldn't get out of my vehicle near the animal in such a situation (without a good means of protecting myself.) Call CSP

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Originally Posted by hurley842002

If you are going to choose employment based on employer firearm policy, I'm afraid many would find themselves in the unemployment line, besides Ray doesn't even always carry outside of work....

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I understand and know it's a pipe dream. Not a perfect world, but it's much the same as the thread about working in the belly of the beast. I make choices in life all the time that aren't popular or easy or right for everyone. Working for a company that is willing and to infringe on a constitutional right isn't something I could hack. Some people don't have that freedom to make that choice. Thus the "sorry" at the end.

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Originally Posted by D_F

I'd be looking for a different company to work for. Sorry.

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The policy is more of a safety thing. Not some political, anti 2A policy.

I've only got about 15 years left so I'm just going to try and stay here until I retire.

Besides, my job is pretty good,benefits are great, and they pay me really well.

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Originally Posted by sniper7

a problem I have is you wanting to use a small knife or blunt object on a wounded animal.

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I don't want to. Hence why I posted here looking for options.

Looks like calling someone is the most popular option. As cruel as this will sound, I'd probably just leave it to die a slow death before I try to call and explain where I'm at. I don't exactly travel in well populated areas.

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Originally Posted by Sawin

Is this a real situation you've just encountered?

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No. Just hypothetical.

Sometimes I have too much time to think during my commute and my mind wanders.

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Originally Posted by ray1970

The policy is more of a safety thing. Not some political, anti 2A policy.

I've only got about 15 years left so I'm just going to try and stay here until I retire.

Besides, my job is pretty good,benefits are great, and they pay me really well.

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It's a double edged sword, I respect the company's "right" to the policy and the liability they might feel without it. I think I was just born too late to be living in a world that it seems normal. I lived pretty rural for a long time and had to put a ton of deer down that people left suffering in the barrow ditch. I hated it, but suffering animals hurt my soul.

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Originally Posted by D_F

It's a double edged sword, I respect the company's "right" to the policy and the liability they might feel without it. I think I was just born too late to be living in a world that it seems normal. I lived pretty rural for a long time and had to put a ton of deer down that people left suffering in the barrow ditch. I hated it, but suffering animals hurt my soul.

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And there's your answer.
Make sure to get a pic with you standing over your kill, bloody sword held high.

Seriously though, a little NAA .22 mag tucked away somewhere will do the job on most wounded deer situations. Put one shot down an ear hole or brain stem from a few feet away and it's done.

You'll need a police report for the damage to the company vehicle anyway right? PD/Sheriff/State Patrol.

Otherwise, big rock or hammer. (if it can be done safely) I've got friends who've had to do this very thing.

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Originally Posted by ray1970

No. Just hypothetical.

Sometimes I have too much time to think during my commute and my mind wanders.

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You should get a HAM License. It is a great way to pass the time on the road.

I agree with the folks that would call CSP. you never know if you would be in a jurisdiction where you could get hemmed up for "Unlawfully discharging a firearm" weirder things have happened.

If the hit does enough damage to your vehicle you'll be calling the cops anyway to report it so your employers insurance company will have a police report for the insurance claim.

I would think the county sheriff's in rural counties run into this situation all the time. I'd call them. I'll bet they either take care of it themselves or call DOW to do it. Either way IMO it's not your responsibility.

Sounds like the best answer is to just call D_F.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Sounds like the best answer is to just call D_F.

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Good call....

Hmmm... how about this?

Wave down a random passerby.
Tell them you're ok but the animal is suffering.
Hope to find a passerby who will shoot said animal and leave the scene before LEO arrives.
Fail to provide sufficient detail of passerby's identity in the event LEO is unhappy with the shoot...

I think it is actually illegal until you notify CDPW and get the OK.

Colorado

http://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/ContactUs.aspx

To report injured or problem wildlife

303-86​6-3437 After hours emergency, call the Colorado State Patrol at 303-239-4500.

Nebraska

http://www.transportation.nebraska.g...s/animals.html

Emergency Concerns:
(medical, suspicious or criminal activity, highway emergencies)

• Call 911, or
• State Patrol General Contact 402-471-4545
• Report an Impaired Driver - State Patrol Highway Help Line at 1-800-525-5555 (star 55 on cellular), or
• Your local law enforcement agency

Utah

http://www.wildawareutah.org/road-safety/

http://www.wildawareutah.org/wp-cont...lkdeceased.jpgIf You Have A Vehicle-Wildlife Collision:

• Pull off the road and use your hazard lights.
• Do not try to approach an injured animal.
• Call 911 or contact your local police department.

If the animal is injured and still locate-able, call your local police department or Sheriff’s office who will contact a conservation officer to assess the animal.

Alaska:

you just scored free fast food!


just kidding, but they have an awesome program where they call people on a list and if they can hurry up the animal is theirs.

IF you hit and leave the scene it's a 12pt ticket. IF someone happens upon said animal minutes after you decide to end it's life, better make sure they didn't get a view of your work vehicle in passing.

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Originally Posted by Irving

Sounds like the best answer is to just call D_F.

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�� I've done this at least 3 times. Hope someone will return the favor for my wife or daughter if they are all freaked out about an accident and a severely wounded ex animal.

When I worked for the county we carried road-kill certificates in our patrol cars. Somebody hit an animal, we arrived, dispatched animal if necessary (many times the driver of the car or someone else did it prior to my arrival) and issued a certificate for possession. More than once I had a buddy come out and harvest an animal which we then shared. Sometimes we called charity organizations who would distribute the meat to needy families.

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Originally Posted by Bailey Guns

When I worked for the county we carried road-kill certificates in our patrol cars. Somebody hit an animal, we arrived, dispatched animal if necessary (many times the driver of the car or someone else did it prior to my arrival) and issued a certificate for possession. More than once I had a buddy come out and harvest an animal which we then shared. Sometimes we called charity organizations who would distribute the meat to needy families.

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You used to work in Boulder right? :D

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Originally Posted by Irving

You used to work in Boulder right? :D

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Stay out of it "Big Boy." [gohome]

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Originally Posted by Irving

You used to work in Boulder right? :D

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Nice one!

Once i called a deputy to shoot a deer that got hit and she was shaking so bad she shot at it like 5 times without hitting it...finally got the rifle and put it down.

Another time i used a filet knife (learned not to do the throat ) just go behind the shoulder...

And yet another time i was about to use a huge heavy pipe to dispatch one and some genius lady pulls up with her kids and lets them just watch it suffer... i put the pipe back in the truck and told her if shes just going to sit there and watch it suffer she can call it in and i left it because i couldnt watch it suffer...

I didnt hit any of these personally...yes i have eaten lots of roadkill... not all of it just edible parts ha

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Originally Posted by HoneyBadger

Wounded animals can be very dangerous. I wouldn't get out of my vehicle near the animal in such a situation (without a good means of protecting myself.) Call CSP

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Truth there.

I've hit 3 elk and 4 deer, I shot 4 of those before I called CSP and in not one case did the CSP have any issue with that. I kept 1 of the elk (yes I got a carcass tag). I have shot two other deer that other motorists have hit, and again, LE (one deputy and one City) had no issue with it.

I would never leave a wounded animal. If I could not safely dispatch it, I would wait for an official to arrive.

Also realize that there are laws and such. Leaving an animal, dead or alive, on a highway without taking reasonable steps to safeguard other motorists can get you in trouble. I have done 3 vehicle accident reconstructions involving a secondary vehicle hitting a wounded animal and those were messy cases. One resulted in a fatality and another a young man who ended up being in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. Court cases and verdicts against the driver who initially struck the animals did occur.

The Elbert county sheriffs department won't do crap about it. A couple of years ago, I saw a wounded buck near the road. I gave them a call and they said they'd take care of it. Cool I thought. Then I drove by a few hours later, still there. Turns out my neighbor had called as well. Both times I drove to town and saw the buck, there was a sheriffs car running radar within five minutes of the deer. They just completely ignored it. Pissed me off. It just seemed to me that they would rather write tickets than take five minutes and take care of the wounded buck. I always thought highly of the Elbert County sheriffs department until this experience. Just take the five minutes and do it.

Sometimes it's just best to take care of things...........

Call local PD. They'll handle it, you can also try to get a claim tag to get the animal too. Most expensive deer you'll ever get coming at the cost of damaging your car.

My wife hit a deer in KY several years ago. It hit her windshield and flew into a pond in front of a small baptist church. Deputy showed up to kill it since it was badly hurt and floundering in the pond. He shot it with his AR in front of some kind of church activity group. The minister asked him how he was going to get it out of the pond and the deputy just looked at him for a moment and said "turtle food" before giving my wife a report and leaving. That's when I showed up on the scene and saw one of the kids from the church swim out and drag it back to his truck. I expect it was summer sausage instead of turtle food.

Even in rural KY where that happened, the environment was such that I wouldn't have been comfortable shooting it without going out and getting it first. Just too many buildings, blind curves, etc for me. I wouldn't have left it though. My wife and the minister said it was a pretty sad event. If the police wouldn't or couldn't come, we would've figured something out.

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Originally Posted by ColoWyo

The Elbert county sheriffs department won't do crap about it. A couple of years ago, I saw a wounded buck near the road. I gave them a call and they said they'd take care of it. Cool I thought. Then I drove by a few hours later, still there. Turns out my neighbor had called as well. Both times I drove to town and saw the buck, there was a sheriffs car running radar within five minutes of the deer. They just completely ignored it. Pissed me off. It just seemed to me that they would rather write tickets than take five minutes and take care of the wounded buck. I always thought highly of the Elbert County sheriffs department until this experience. Just take the five minutes and do it.

Sometimes it's just best to take care of things...........

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Did you stop at the radar trap and tell that officer? Or just assume the dispatcher would?

Honestly, I didn't know there was a law about this. I hit an antelope this summer that sailed off down into a deep ditch, but there was no way to stop or check on it. Couldn't stop to check damage for 1/2 mile. That stretch of road was very narrow with no shoulders and steep banks on both sides. Totally unsafe place to stop. We just kept on going, it was in the middle of nodamnwhere. Sure don't expect to look up and see a speed goat standing in the middle of your lane!