I was driving home from a mates house the other day and on exiting motorway onto the slip road I nearly hit a good sized roe buck that was laid in the middle of the road, clearly having been hit by a vehicle ahead of me. I managed to miss it but couldn't slow down in time to have a really good look; so I watched it through the rear view mirror to see if it was still alive. I watched it for as long as I could and it didn't move a muscle, so I carried on and pulled into a layby a bit further up, phoned the police, reported it and suggested they turn up asap with it being in such a dangerous position.
As it turns out I had my shotgun in the car with me as i'd been clay shooting at my mates. I then got to thinking, if the deer had been alive and thrashing around would it have landed me in trouble if I'd dispatched it using my shotgun? It was laid in a rather precarious position on a bend in the slip road, hence me nearly hitting it, and the road was quite busy, so I may have done more harm than good i.e. people seeing me wandering down the road with a shotgun, creating a scene, etc. But being one that hates to see an animal suffer i'd certainly have been torn about what to do.
As it turns out I had my shotgun in the car with me as i'd been clay shooting at my mates. I then got to thinking, if the deer had been alive and thrashing around would it have landed me in trouble if I'd dispatched it using my shotgun? It was laid in a rather precarious position on a bend in the slip road, hence me nearly hitting it, and the road was quite busy, so I may have done more harm than good i.e. people seeing me wandering down the road with a shotgun, creating a scene, etc. But being one that hates to see an animal suffer i'd certainly have been torn about what to do.