Hunters Shoot Antler to Free Wounded Elk

Occurred on October 21, 2022 / Montana, USA

Info from Licensor: "We just happened to get to elk camp when a guy came up and told us about an elk caught in a tree stand rope. We decided to go help with this situation. When we arrived the elk was in distraught. We couldn’t get close to him so we decided to shoot the horn off to let him go. A predator must have gotten to him first because there was flesh hanging off him. People say that was not the ethical thing to do, but hear me out. It was the day before hunting season so we couldn’t harvest the elk anyways. We had zero service and we’re way back in the boonies. We felt we didn’t have time for a game warden to show up knowing the predator may return and harass the elk. There also was other people around setting camps up to hunt, so therefore we didn’t want to kill the elk knowing that we might get turned in prior to calling a game warden. In the end, I believe we did the right thing. Or did we not?"