Saw a post on Facebook earlier about a deer shot about two inches above the hoof. They had a tracker come out with two hounds run the deer over a mile bay it in a creek and finally finish it off. It was almost a completely superficial wound.
At what point are you just running a deer with dogs? Those situations just don't sit right with me. Before anyone starts hollering about coyotes getting it yeah thats a possibility but I've also seen deer missing part of a leg that have healed up and they were doing fine

I figure the state will get involved before long.

They can call it like they want but if the hound is off leash and running the deer . That ain't tracking.

Course I couldn't care less.

Way people talk about shooting dogs I think I'd keep mine on a leash

I tracked, bayed, and killed a buck with my Taz dog many years ago. It was shot right at top of hoof10 hours earlier. Bone was exposed and rammed into the dirt.

A deer shot thru or right above the hoof is a dead deer walking. Every time they push that exposed bone into the dirt, in goes more bacteria.THAT deer will die from infection, will absolutely not survive long.

I once posted on here I'm not the best shot in the world. I take that back, I'm an expert marksman after reading this

I tracked one like that a few years ago. The hunter called me and said he had shot a good buck that evening. He was carrying a leg as he went out of the field. He felt like the hit was good but lost the blood trail at about 100 yards and wanted to see if I would bring the dog out the next morning.

The next morning I put Otis on it and he starts tracking it. We worked the track out to over 900 yards when suddenly I heard Otis cut loose barking a hundred yards in front of me. When I caught up to him he was in a privet thicket with the buck squared off on him. I snuck in close enough to get a shot through the privet. I had one hole to shoot through to bucks body so I tone Otis back and took it. The buck broke and ran and Otis quickly locked him down again at which point I snuck in and hit him again. Long story short we finally got him. It was only after the fact that we looked the deer over and realized the original hit was just about the hoof.

As far as how many of these deer will make it?? There are thousands of deer that are wounded by hunters in Alabama each season. We have said that it’s likely in the tens of thousands and leg shots are one of the most common ways which it happens. So out of the thousands of leg shots that are occurring…..how many three legged deer do you see trail cam pics of showing up on social media?? The survival is rate is next to zero.

This looked like it didn't do much more than break the skin

Here’s another one……Same scenario. The hunter calls and said he has put a good shot on a buck but cant find it. I turn the dog out to track it and 300-400 yards later Otis find him and starts baying him. We finish him off and find this for the original shot……

I don't know , I've killed a few three legged deer but the one missing was a front leg. I guess they missing so far up they didn't get in the dirt.

I think about it I've never seen a deer missing a back foot or part of the back leg

I hope they don’t put in some regulations on tracking. I’ve tracked bow shot deer hit with mechanicals that we didn’t find. With a dog to run them down they might’ve died a less painful death.

Hunters owe it to the deer to do everything possible to find it. A tracking dog, to me, even if it bays the deer is not the same as turning a dozen Walker hounds loose trying to “run” the deer in front of a gun.

Lol. ,, tracking dogs can't read no trespassing sign either.

I see where your going with this. It’s similar no doubt.

However, the difference is a dog is used after the shot…not before it.

I don't have a problem with dogs . Over the years I've killed a lot of deer and few nice bucks because of trespassing dogs.

I'd kill the deer , catch the dogs and tell the owner thanks . You'd be surprised that they get pissed because I killed that big 8 they been after, etc .

CNC that a first for me . I hunted a place years back and does missing a front leg was not that rare there. . I had one here at home that would lay down in a corn pile and eat .

I called him Survivorman......The first time I saw him was the only time I ever ended up seeing him in the daylight.....I got pics of him for two more seasons before he disappeared. That is so rare though and after tracking with dogs now for years its even more amazing to me because a back leg shot usually doesnt stand a chance against a dog.....I even found one that had its back leg blown off that tried to cross a creek ditch and just couldnt get back out of it...... so how that deer lived and avoided the yotes that long is one in a million

They are used before a fatal shot

Let me pose the situation to you……Lets say its Oct 31st…..bowseason……and suddenly I hear a car slam on the breaks and hit a deer in front of my house…..I look out in the yard to see a crippled deer struggling and flopping across the yard and finally comes to a rest just laying there with a broke leg…..Would you have an issue if I went out there and shot it with my pistol and put it out of its misery? Is that something that’s worth raising a stink over?

Completely different situation. It was impacted by a vehicle probably has internal damage