You see an animal that’s suffering…

[BULLNUTTS]

Do you put it down?
Let it suffer?
Tag it and roll it down the bank?

Theres a black bear who looks like he’s been hit by a car and his hind leg is obviously broken. Day by day he’s having a harder time getting around and probably won’t make the winter.

I think most who have a love and respect for nature and wildlife hate to see any animal suffer. Having said that, mother nature is very cruel in the wilds. Uncounted times I have witnessed this myself, often very hard to watch. In this instance it is very unlikely that a CO would come and put down this bear. Not uncommon to see three legged animals in the wilds. Bears are extremely tough!! There was once a big black Bear locally known as old Goliath. For years many tried to down the huge brute but to no avail. Finally two young fellas chanced upon him with the stars lined up and he was harvested. When butchering the beast 26 different bullets, of various calibers, were pulled from the massive beast. Incredible resilience and abilities to heal. Mule deer missing a hind leg from knee down seen lots with huge front ends, still fast and strong.......point being hard as it seems, life isn't always easy or painless but is always mighty fine!! And that bear, suffering as it is - Without a doubt in my mind, if given the choice of life or death?? Till the last breath it would pick life. I to must respect that, as my choice would also be the same.

[Bustercluck]

It looks like he was probably hit by a car. His right rear paw is inverted towards his belly and dragging on the ground. I’ve seen this bear a bunch of times over the summer and he’s pretty shy of vehicles and runs away at their site. Yesterday he just stood there staring at me and tried to take a couple steps, but couldn’t make it anywhere.

If we weren’t on a busy road than I would’ve put him down. For now he lives. I guess we’ll see if he’s eating grass in the same ditch come the spring.

[blackhawk19]

that's a Co's decision

[high horse Hal]

We have no idea what 'suffering' is in an animals world

from a distance its easy to say 'leave it alone' and 'he'll be fine' or 'why interfere'
but every year peoples emotions get the best of them and they have to 'rescue' fawns or chicks , or protest about 'suffering' pigs or 'disrupted' orcas

Stick to your convictions, don't worry about what others think

[Bugle M In]

Yup, if you are seeing this bear repeatedly, call the CO and see if you can have permission.
On 2 separate occasions over the years I was asked by CO if I came across wounded elk that had arrows in them and if they appeared to be struggling to use my discretion and if need be, put them down.
Hunters had reported wounding elk on 2 occasions but couldn’t track them down.

I watched a young 2 pt buck hobbling with one of his hind l legs up, most likely wounded during any buck season.
Both me and a hunting partner saw it on 2 separate days and we thought he might survive it.
3 days later he had died, and from the sign in the snow, had found a 30 yard flat area to loiter in, just couldn’t go on.
Appeared he spent his last full day just in that small spot.

Call the CO.

[BRvalley]

kodiakhntr and bullnuts sum up my thoughts...it's not livestock here, nature is cruel but wild animals are tough, and that bear still has a fighting chance imo

if it's legal and you want to shoot it to end the misery, cut your tag on it, otherwise call CO's if you feel so inclined and let them deal with it (ie injured bear in city limits is different situation)

[warnniklz]

I once seen a big sow that could barely walk. Was going to bag it and tag it, however it still had 3 cubs with it.

Animals are tough and nature is a bitch.

[boilerroom]

I gotta say - the posts on this thread remind me of the great respect that hunters have for the land and animals. Proud to call myself a hunter!

[Steeleco]

Once saw a nice buck in Harrison east that had clearly been attacked by a cougar. It was spring so no season. Sadly we left it. The right CO and he'd have shook our hand, the wrong one??? Let it be Mother nature is a bitch.

[Redthies]

I may have recently seen a whitetail fawn that had been hit by a semi, and was missing a big part of its rear half. It might have been still trying to stand up, despite being in about 5 gallons of blood and gore with no hind legs. I may have put a slug into its head. If I saw the same thing tomorrow, I might do exactly the same thing.