Legal to Shoot a Deer hit by a car?

[georgiabow]

as a local DNR officer told me once... if you shoot a deer that has been hit by a car, you can face:
1- discharging a weapon within 50 yards of a public roadway
2- public endangerment
3- wreckless endangerment
4- illegal taking of wildlife
5- hunting out of season
6- unlawful use of a firearm

and a few more i cant remember right now in my slightly drunken state.

 

[WMSproject]

Well it wasn't a 10 pointer... I think the photo speaks for itself. A 10 pointer hit the way I hit that one would have ended up in my passenger seat... In that circumstance, I would consider it a Self Defense shooting!

I saw a deer that had been hit maybe 2 miles from that one last week. I hesitated to do anything about it because it was in the ditch in front of somebody's house. I did see a forest ranger pass by so I followed him and flagged him down. He took care of the deer that time. This time there was nobody around and it was MY car that hit the deer.

 

[blakejohn]

That's one thing I liked about Illinois. If you hit a deer in/out of season you dint have to ask or report it to anyone, it is yours. Putting it down with a firearm, Well, it is Illinois remember.

 

[treecutter08]

round here just shoot and load them up. any decent dnr personel with any respect for wildlife wouldnt even think about giving a ticket. but theres always the exception. but at the end of the day you did what was right reguardless of the law.

 

[WMSproject]

I do find it easier to do what is right... regardless of the law... sometimes our laws tend to keep us from being the decent human beings we are created to be.

 

[GeauxLSU]

No it's not legal. But I'd do it every single time. I'm not going to let something suffer (no matter how po'd I am about the damage). Now, I'd try and use common sense. I'm not going to do it in the middle of a busy intersection etc...
There are a few times where there is "the law" and there is "what is right". This would be an example.
Glad you weren't hurt! Good luck with the repairs.

 

[Mgreen50]

I would have made the same call. Sucks about your car

 

[dougiemac]

not legal...that's why i carry a Benchmade along with my EDC. A quick slice to the carotid artery and the deer is out of its misery.

 

[GeauxLSU]

not legal...that's why i carry a Benchmade along with my EDC. A quick slice to the carotid artery and the deer is out of its misery.

That ain't legal (by the book) either. "Taking game out of season", "Taking game with an illegal weapon", "Hunting without permission" etc...

 

[dougiemac]

That ain't legal (by the book) either. "Taking game out of season", "Taking game with an illegal weapon", "Hunting without permission" etc...

I didn't suggest out of season. Most deers are hit in-season because it's their rut and they're more active (and stupid). Besides, in all my years of having 3 LEO's and one ODNR Officer in my family, I've never knew of anyone cited or ticketed for putting an animal out of its misery with a knife, However I have heard of incidences where someone was ticketed for discharging a firearm near a roadway as that can be dangerous to passer-bys. JMHO