This hunter was faced with a difficult decision on this buck.
Mother nature can be a harsh mistress and the life of a deer is often difficult. It's survival of the fittest and many animals who suffer injury never fully recover. This can result in a long, slow and agonizing death for the deer. It gets even tougher when these animals are targeted by predators like coyotes and wolves.
It may be a harsh reality, but it is also something hunters can sometimes do something about when they encounter an injured animal in the field. That's the case with today's video from Tony Young Outdoors.
This poor young buck has suffered an extreme injury to its hindquarters that is causing it to hobble around. The buck is clearly keeping weight off one of his back legs and it's clear he's probably in a lot of pain. Tony decides the only thing to do is to put this young buck down and end that suffering.
Anti-hunters are often quite critical of hunters, calling them cruel. However, as this video shows, nature is often much harsher than any human hunter could ever be. There was no way this buck was ever going to recover from such a nasty injury.
In truth, shooting this buck like he did was the most merciful thing he could have done. It probably would not have been long before a coyote, mountain lion or other predator caught up to this deer for an easy meal. As Tony noted at the end of the video, this may not have made for a fun hunt, but we agree that this was the right thing to do in this scenario. The good news is that this buck will now provide meals for his family and it will not go to waste.
This would be a good video to share with people you know who are against hunting. It shows the true compassionate side that hunters have for the game they pursue.
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For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
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