Situation ethics: what would you have done?

[norsepeak]

I set my girl on the edge of a clearcut to sit till dark.  I walk up on the hill just to goof off.  I hear shooting from the clearcut, so I call her on the radio.  She says it's not her, but a cow hunter is shooting at some cows crossing the clearcut and she said she is going to go talk to the guy.  I tell her I'll get the rig and meet her in the clearcut.  I show up and see her and the guy in the clearcut.  I walk out there and see the cow he shot laying down, but still alive with her head up.  I ask the guy if he is going to put her out of her misery?  He says ya ya.  So we start to walk off while the guy is jabbering on his radio in Japanese.  I get half way to the road and the guy is still jabbering away so I yell to him to go put the elk down.  He says ya ya and starts walking up to the elk.  Now we are wondering what the heck his doing.  He sets his rifle down and starts picking up rocks!  He walks up to the elk while she is "barking" at him and grinding her teeth, but she can't stand.  He walks up and throws the rock at her!  We just stared in disbelief.  Then he picks up a large stick and starts hitting the elk over the head.  Right there I lost it!  I grabbed my fiance's rifle and started marching right at the guy while yelling "If you hit that f#$king elk one more time in god*%mn headwith that stick, I'm gonna hit you over the f*$king head with it."  As I'm walking up to him yelling, he starts backing away.  I then in no uncertain terms or actions let him know that, that is NOT how you treat an animal, and that he should shoot it in the head and put it out of it's misery.  And I stood there and made him shoot it and kill it.  I was so mad that I litteraly saw red!  I don't know if I handled it correctly or not, but I believe that the animals we hunt deserve better than that.  What do you guys think?  Do I go too far?

[Ray]

I avoid confrontations with other people possessing guns. I wasn't there. If it was me I *might* just walk away. You never know who's going to be the psychopath these days. It sounds to me like he probably learned a valuable lesson whether or not he liked it. 

[bobcat]

I'm glad you were there to take care of the situation. Not sure what I would've done but I'd like to think that I would have done exactly the same thing. And if he wouldn't finish the cow off immediately, I probably would have done it myself. That's just not right the way he was treating that elk.  Idiots like that should not be allowed to hunt.

[HardCorpsHuntr]

Maybe could have left a note on his rig or have taken a more gentle approach.  Confronting him the way you did could have turned out bad for you and/or your fiance. 

Tough thing to witness regardless, and I'd have been just as pissed as you.

[blessed]

I would like to know if he was out of bullets? You did the right thing making sure the cow never suffered any more.
BUT did he even have a tag? I don't know if I could have let him use my gun?? Sounds crazy. What did your girl think of it?

[Michelle_Nelson]

Yeah I'd have been pissed and prety fired up if I saw something like that.  Probably would have done the same thing you did.  Things like that. . . I get a pretty hot head and don't think things through all the way.  I probably wouldn't have thought about the phycho with a gun.

[Ghost1941]

It was a good thing you did... but you gotta look at how much danger you could have possibly placed yourself in.  Good way to get yourself shot IMO...

Not to stereo type, but this thing in particular comes to mind.

Happened in 04

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/11/22_kelleherb_huntershooting/

[Ellensburg]

Good work. that guy sounds like an ass-hat

[Michelle_Nelson]

I remeber when that happened.  I was still living in Georgia.

[12Gauge]

You're lucky he did not shoot you or your fiance, never deal people like that who has loaded firearms unless you're a cop.  You just don't know if they are mental case or not.  I sounded like it was his first kill ever and did not know what to do, you made him shoot the animal which the right thing to do.  I would have shot the animal myself.

[ICEMAN]

Norsepeak. I agree with your approach. I would have done the same. I have no problem correcting some freaking *censored*, in town, at a movie, at the beach, in the woods. I have always lived that way, stay principled, stand up for what is right, even placing my safety on the back burner many, many times.

Would I recommend anyone else do it that way? No.

Would I advise they take a different approach? Probably.

Would I put them down for standing up for what is right? Never.

I say good job.

[luvtohnt]

I say good job for putting yourself in a dangerous position. I would have wanted to but I would have worried to much about the other guy being crazy! I wonder if there any laws regarding the dipatching of wounded animals?

Brandon

[GoldTip]

Norsespeak, good job.  Was what you did the safest thing in the world to do, no.  Was it the right thing to do, yes.  Good Job.

[boneaddict]

I would have done the exact same thing, if anything different, maybe shooting the elk myself.  Sorry the Mrs had to be in that situation.  I would have been seeing alot of RED as well.

[DeKuma]

I am not sure I could have contained my anger either.  I certainly would have been in a dangerous situation, and most likely would have stood there yelling at him to get of the phone or grabbed the .45 from my hip and dispatched the animal first and worry about consequences later.

I say good job, and am glad it turned out okay.  Could have gotten really ugly, really fast!