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Avon police put down deer injured by hunter

Avon Police Department deputies responded to a call Monday about a critically injured deer near Metcalf Road. The deer had been injured by a hunter, and the police killed the animal ethically.
Special to the Daily |

AVON — Tracking and killing an injured animal is part of hunting, and it’s also part of the law.

“It is the hunter’s responsibility at all times to track any animal that they wound and kill it. It is illegal to not make a reasonable effort to try and track that animal down,” said Mike Porras, of Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

On Monday, a hunter was doing his due diligence in tracking a large deer he shot in the wildlife area surrounding Avon, but the shot was critical, not fatal, and the animal began making its way toward town.



The Avon Police Department received a call on Monday from a resident near the 400 block of Metcalf Road that saw the critically injured animal in distress. Deputies killed the animal to put it out of its misery and located the hunter, who had proper tags for the animal.

“At the last minute the deer can move and not die,” said Greg Daly, of the Avon Police Department. “Some deer can run for quite a considerable distance before the hunter gets it. It’s just one of those things.”

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Parks and Wildlife officials are reminding hunters to be effective with their guns when hunting animals.

“We strongly urge all hunters to be proficient with their firearms,” Porras said. “They want to be able to take an ethical shot, a shot that is going to put the animal down quickly.”

Rare Situation

While it’s not uncommon for an animal to be wounded and a hunter to track it down outside of city limits, Porras said it’s not terribly common for an injured animal to make its way into town.

Either way, if a hunter injures an animal and is unable to track it down, then Porras reminds them to immediately talk to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, as their officers sometimes find the animals and have to conduct investigations.

“We would much rather hear from the hunter than have to go to the hunter’s home and knock on the door to ask what happened,” he said.

Reporter Ross Leonhart can be reached at 970-748-2915 and rleonhart@vaildaily.com. Follow him on Instagram at colorado_livin_on_the_hill.


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