Tuesday evening I was down in a wood to check on a few traps when a roe doe walked past me. She was close but partially hidden by trees even so I could make out she was limping quite badly. She couched down in some brambles only forty meters away and I was figuring out how I could get a shot at her (I had my rifle with me) when she winded me and hobbled off into the thicker cover. It was quite late and as i did not know how badly injured she was I left her be for another day.
This morning I was back at the same farm and could see a doe couched down in a wheat field next to the wood and about 300m from where I saw the limping doe on Tuesday. As i never see deer couched down in the open in this particular area I decided she was most probably the injured doe. Having my shotgun and dog with me I decided to just walk straight up to her. It was soon apparent she was in a bad way and I was able to get to twenty foot away before dispatching her.
Her injuries were severe and I cannot understand how she managed to get around, she had the left foreleg broken in two places and a compound fracture of the left hind leg, the damage was in the haunch. How the heck can a deer with two broken legs on the same side still be mobile!? Apart from the legs she had a damaged left eye and scuff marks on her neck. For a lightly built yearling doe she had taken some punishment but I do not think that she would have lasted the day.
This morning I was back at the same farm and could see a doe couched down in a wheat field next to the wood and about 300m from where I saw the limping doe on Tuesday. As i never see deer couched down in the open in this particular area I decided she was most probably the injured doe. Having my shotgun and dog with me I decided to just walk straight up to her. It was soon apparent she was in a bad way and I was able to get to twenty foot away before dispatching her.
Her injuries were severe and I cannot understand how she managed to get around, she had the left foreleg broken in two places and a compound fracture of the left hind leg, the damage was in the haunch. How the heck can a deer with two broken legs on the same side still be mobile!? Apart from the legs she had a damaged left eye and scuff marks on her neck. For a lightly built yearling doe she had taken some punishment but I do not think that she would have lasted the day.