I am torn about this next blog post. I videoed a young buck that had hurt his left front shoulder/leg. As shown in the video below, he was limping pretty bad. I only have one tag left and 2 full months of hunting so I decided not to shoot him.
As to what caused this injury? I heard a big fight before I saw him come out of that area and I am betting he got gored by another buck. A buddy of mine saw him later that evening and could see a hole above his shoulder. In the video you can see him skittishly run away at the sign of another deer, just like you would if you had gotten beat up. The rut is violent and deer will die due to that fact.
As I am sitting there with this mercy dilemma, some does come into the food plot to start feeding. What does he do? It being the rut, he started chasing them even while badly hurt. The desire for these animals to breed amazes me and this proves it. I do believe in the circle of life so I am sure Mother Nature will take care of this by most likely a lucky coyote that is going to have a feast. Sad but that’s life.