The post by ravenr showing the newborn pronghorn in Wyoming reminded me that I never posted a photo I took last summer.

It was taken in south central TX in late June. The whitetail fawn was born in early April and resides less than a mile from my house. I still see that same whitetail -- and quite frequently, I might add. The doe (mother) was killed by a vehicle shortly before this photo was taken, and the fawn routinely bedded down in an open area under some live oaks. For a few weeks, it wandered aimlessly during the day before changing its regimen and taking up company with the small herd that its mother was a part of.

While shredding last week, I saw the deer -- and it appeared to be doing very well. (I know it's the same animal as each has certain characteristics that set it apart...not to mention this one has a couple tell-tale scars)

Anyway, I thought I'd share it.

PS-Sorry about the clutter of type across the image. It's just that a few unscrupulous people like to rip off other people's work and use it for their own benefit, even if it's nothing more than a low-resolution scan.

Although I have lived in white tail country all my life, I had never seen a photo of a fawn on the ground..Many thanks for the nice picture. (I'm glad it survived despite losing its mother)

Gerry-

I am actually the one who had to put the doe down. I saw it sprawled over the road on my way back to work. Its back had apparently been broken, and it was in bad shape.

I called the game warden, but he could not come out immediately and asked if I could possibly put it down. That was no problem as I had a .22 Magnum rifle in the truck.

What irked me, though, is that whoever hit the doe just left it in the middle of the road and didn't bother to check if it was actually dead or just suffering.

Bobby:

You did what anyone allowed to call himself a hunter would do - you stopped the suffering of an animal. (When I was very young I learned a "Hunter's Prayer" - Lord, let me shoot clean and kill clean -and if I can't kill clean, let me miss clean") I'm an old man and long ago gave up trying to explain to anti -hunters why we hunt. They say it's because we like killing. What always infuriated me was that they never had the least idea of the mind set of a hunter about animals that he hunts. You were upset about the louse who hit that doe and never did anything to check on her afterwards. Of course, he wouldn't check.! He/she was in the same category as the people who eat meat -but don't want to see or even think about the killing of the animal they are eating. Vegetarians? They wear leather shoes and belts, don't they? Oh, well, I suppose they think that doesn't interfere with their "principles" about "protecting" animals.

Hey Bobby,

It is great to get a peek at some of your work again!!!!

Thanks,

Bob

I don't know whats so bad about not checking on the deer hell it could have caused thousands of dollars damage.

I came apond a gal holding a car hit does head in her lap petting the dang thing. When I pulled up in my cruiser. Her response was THAT PICK TRK HIT THE DEER AND NEVER STOPPED. I thought so what. She asked what I was going to do I said shoot it. She jump up screaming NO NO NO ran back to her mini van jumped in and torn away. I thought she was dam lucky that she didn't get the crap kicked out of her. But the deer was already dead and I did not have to shoot it.

Some people get way to concerned about this kind of thing.

p dog shooter wrote: "I don't know whats so bad about not checking on the deer hell it could have caused thousands of dollars damage. Some people get way to concerned about this kind of thing."

Since you don't know the facts but still seem to have all the answers, I will fill you in on a couple details.

First, this occurred on a GRAVEL road on which the absolute max safe speed is probably 25 mph -- and the conditions were certainly not optimum as it had recently rained. The terrain is fairly wide open with excellent visibility. And this happened in the middle of the day.

Whoever hit the deer had to 1) either have been speeding/driving recklessly or 2) been so spaced out they didn't know what was going on. On this road, running over anything other than maybe a rabbit is pretty hard to do as it is extremely rough and what we refer to as "washboard" in texture.

But the tracks actually gave the real answer. Whoever hit the deer was already swerving, skidding and spinning out a quarter-mile before the impact and then drove another 80-100 yards (still swerving)and pulled over, probably to check the damage. The deer was in plain sight from there -- and still very much alive in the center of the road.

So what if they had "thousands of dollars of damage?" Does this excuse someone from acting with compassion & decency?

In this day and age, almost everyone has a cell phone. If they didn't, there are 3 houses within a half-mile of where this occurred, and all are easily visible from the road.

My point: Regardless of what actually happened, leaving an animal to needlessly suffer is both unfathomable and inexcusable in my books.

quote:

My point: Regardless of what actually happened, leaving an animal to needlessly suffer is both unfathomable and inexcusable in my books.

+1

quote:

My point: Regardless of what actually happened, leaving an animal to needlessly suffer is both unfathomable and inexcusable in my books.

Hear, hear, Bobby! Beautiful pic, BTW!

quote:

Originally posted by Bobby Tomek:
Gerry-

I am actually the one who had to put the doe down. I saw it sprawled over the road on my way back to work. Its back had apparently been broken, and it was in bad shape.

I called the game warden, but he could not come out immediately and asked if I could possibly put it down. That was no problem as I had a .22 Magnum rifle in the truck.

What irked me, though, is that whoever hit the doe just left it in the middle of the road and didn't bother to check if it was actually dead or just suffering.

Coming home from bear hunting last Sunday to find a yound deer lying in the road and a stressed out couple from CA pulling over wanting to slit its throat.

I pulled the deer off the road and sent the couple on their way telling them I would take care of the deer. After a call to the local Sheriff's office, I was cleared to dispatch to deer.

Not a pretty sight.

Nice pic

Snapper-

Thanks...you definitely did the right thing. Unfortunately, it seems that not everyone thinks that way anymore.

If you had not stopped and had the fortitude to do what you did, they would have been stuck with some unpleasant memories.

By the way, I like how you list your location...

Bobby,

I have a very tolerent wife that likes to see me hunting on the weekends to offset the stress of my Mon-Fri job.

Stopped for a big fawn in the road several months ago. As I walked up to her I noticed she was still breathing and there seemed to be no damage to her. Looks like she had run into the side of the car and knocked herself out. I pulled her to the shoulder and propped her up.

We came back later and she was up and moving off with the rest of the group. Didn't have to shoot her. Nice. I do not like to see wounded deer left on the road to suffer, but do understand that some people can't end an animals life for any reason.

Snapper-

I had a doe run into the side of my truck a couple years ago. She was out cold for maybe 20-30 seconds but then lifted her head. Other than a small spray of blood that came from her nose/mouth (and doused the truck door), she was OK and up in a couple minutes. I stayed a bit longer after she gained her feet and moved off the roadway, and she soon took off like nothing had happened.