My alarm goes off at 0545 and I'm lying in the bed wishing for another hour of sleep when I hear the bushes rustling outside my window.  I first thought it was a squirrel or cat,  but quickly realized that it was more than that when I heard the commotion again.  I slip out the back door with my pistol-light but go dark for stealth.  As I stand at the front corner of my house trying to surmise the situation,  I hear heavy breathing and grunting.  I peek around to see what the hell it is and it takes me a couple of minutes to pick exactly the source of the movement.  
Okay,  now for an Arcom classic "massive adrenaline dump",  I hit the light and what do I see.  A damned young buck,(yes,  the deer type) sitting in my bushes injured. He had 4 points that really weren't more than a couple of long spikes.  Poor bastard.  Apparently,  he was struck by a vehicle and found his way to my friggin bushes of all places.  As I moved closer to the bastard he stood up,  grunted and attempted to run;  but fell down a short distance away in my azaleas along my border fence about 15 yds. away.  Now I live in a residential area in Augusta,  I mean very residential.  Probably 1,000 houses within a mile of my house.  So I wasn't too keen on dispatching to poor sumbitch before 6am.  So I call Richmond Co. dispatch and tell them the situation and the need to get animal control over here to deal with this.  I explained that I live in a high density residential area 1 block from a school and many kids would be coming by soon,  and that this damned animal needed to be dealt with immediately.  They tell me that they are paging animal control because they don't go out prior to 0830 and they would call me back ASAP and that they'd also dispatch a Sheriff's deputy.  

Well,  30 minutes later,  no call from animal control and no deputy.  I call Richmond Co. back and they tell me they paged them and said that a deputy was en route.  10 more minutes,  and still nothing.  Now,  I didn't want to deal with this damn thing this morning,  but felt it was time to do something because little kids would be walking in close proximity to it in short order.  So I get my rifle,  pop in a mag with 69grn. BTHP's, chamber a round, and proceed to step out to do the deed.  Now this little buck had been watching from a distance of about 70 feet the whole time as I was trying to resolve getting Augusta-Richmond Co. out there.  But the second he saw me shoulder my rifle,  he stood up,  grunted,  and bolted across the road in piss-poor shape.  His back-right leg was dangling among other obvious injuries.  He ran back behind a house down the road before going out of site.  Suited me fine.  No discharge,  no dealing with the aftermath and disposal.  He wasn't my problem now.  I proceeded to get ready and leave for work.

Didn't leave the house till 0730 and never did see animal control, deputy,  or anybody else from the govt.   Just goes to show you.  Your safety is in your own hands.   I did call and let them know what I thought of their service and passed on the last bit of info to where the animal was heading.  Don't have a clue if they ever followed up on it and don't give a shit at this point.  
I have to re-phrase the old adage.  When seconds count,  the authorities are only hours away.

So you went to find out what was in your bushes with just a light and no weapon?  FAIL

Next time just dispatch him with your sidearm ..... oh wait .... you didnt have it with you.

Maybe I should've used a slash instead of a dash.   I did put "pistol-light" in my post.  What?  Did you think I had a light that resembled a pistol?   Those here in Augusta who know me can very well guess that I was properly prepared for the situation.

Should have shot it with the pistol and kept meat and if anybody asked..... you thought it was a burgular in the dark...heard him breathing..shot...found out it was a buck..and made the best of it.

Glad you were in the right responses for the "threat" and I'm glad it wasn't something serious.



I thought he was saying he had pistol-light as in the combination of the two.

Maybe I was wrong.  Otherwise he wouldn't really call it a draw down.

AHHH ok .. reading comprehension ..... I FAIL

Im thinking to myself ... he went with just a light intended for a pistol ... that aint too bright.

First he went out with a pistol-light, then he went out with a rifle-heavy!

you had 40 minutes of opportunity and the means to dispatch the animal after describing that the animal needed to be dealt with immediately.

not sure why off duty county animal control is being faulted here.  

animal calls are lower priority for LE in cities like Augusta.

I've already taken a buck and 2 does and the freezer is full so I really don't need any more.  I just moved to this location and was reluctant to welcome myself as the crazy gun guy who shoots deer in the residential area at the crack of dawn.  You know the old granny peering out her screen door won't know all the details that led up to it.   I was happy that it turned out as it did.

A perfect excuse to purchase asuppressor

i hear that.  he probably ran hard to the nearest tree line and laid down to bleed.  you'll just have to let your neighbors know that you were loading the car for a trip to the range.

Sometimes being known as the "crazy gun guy" is a good thing...

I've already got this parked in my driveway,  so I'm sure I give off the appropriate vibes to friend and foe alike already.

I LIKE that truck...looked for a few on craigslist....

showing off the low profile urban stealth assualt cruiser i see

Well.  You know.  Nobody sees me around town huh?   It's nice being camouflage.

Because, while gunfire is a regular occurance in Augusta, we arfcommers aren't generally the ones doing it.  Pretty sure discharging a firearm within city limits is illegal, so the city has made it so that they have to deal with something like this.

And they didn't.

Oh, wait - you were talking about the camouflage truck in the driveway giving you away as a redneck.  I thought you were talking about the Alabama sticker.  

Cant we hunt on our own ground in Georgia? :)