Mercy Killing

[nyantler]

I think you read into my comment too deeply. I'm not saying it would have been horrible if the coyotes would have been able to consume the deer. I was commending him on putting her out of her misery when he found her. Understandably so, I know that very few if any of a coyotes kills are ever quick or humanely. I have no issues with the role predators play in our ecosystem, as they are a very important part. He was a hunter who was hunting deer along with the coyotes. He just so happened to stumble upon the same deer as the coyotes. Like you said, man is the worlds greatest predator and man just so happened to win this battle. It may have ended much more drastically had he actually seen the coyotes in action as I'm sure he may have potentially killed one. It's not a perfect scenario any way we look at it. I'm sure being a guy with a substantial knowledge of hunting and outdoors you get the fact that this type of thing happens.

 

Sorry.. I was just venting and used your post to get started... the subject of coyotes vs. deer is one of my biggest pet peeves... I will never understand any hunter thinking one animal is more important than the other... and that thought process runs rampant in the hunting world... all based mostly on myths and legends about how the coyote will soon eradicate the NY deer population and we need to kill them all.

[turkeyfeathers]

What would have been so horrible about the coyotes getting a meal? Doing what mother nature has taught them to do... why is it nice work to interrupt a natural occurrence in the wild? Would it be nice work if we could completely stop predators from killing all together? Or do we just pick and choose the animals predators can consume? Or should we somehow try to train them to kill more humanly? My point is that there is no place for human emotion in nature... in fact, a sure way to screw up an ecosystem is for humans to get involved in trying to change the natural order of things... you may think you're helping.. but you're not.

Then why should we hunt !? We are constantly "interupting a natural occurrence in the wild". We as predators are also" picking and choosing which animals we consume". So how is that not screwing up the ecosystem ?

[nyantler]

Then why should we hunt !? We are constantly "interupting a natural occurrence in the wild". We as predators are also" picking and choosing which animals we consume". So how is that not screwing up the ecosystem ?

We are making our own choices... not the choices for other animals... when we're hunting we are part of the ecosystem and not interrupting it with the intention of changing it's natural course... it is natural for a coyote to hunt and kill other animals to survive.. by actively seeking to stop that from happening is interference... for example, if a hunter were to come upon a deer being killed by coyotes and did not have a legal tag to take that animal for his own consumption, he has no right to deprive the coyotes of their natural means of getting food... nor do we have a right to kill all the coyotes for doing what mother nature intended them to do. I really do know why any of this needs explaining to any hunter that claims to care about wildlife.