Poke It First: Lessons from a deer hunter

The video below is, in all seriousness, why I always poke things that I think are dead with a stick or gun barrel several times before I reach down to touch them, and even then I am cautious. I once reached down and grabbed a 'dead coyote' by the back legs, and when I started to pick him up, he 'came to' and just about gave me a heart attack. He was hit solid but wasn't totally dead - I let go, he ran about 10 feet and dropped dead.

On another occasion, one of my hunting partners had called in and shot a gray fox right on the edge of a canyon. At the end of the stand, my partner retrieved the gray fox and then held it up to show it to me just as it 'got the breath of life.' He yelled, jumped back (fox still in hand), realized that he was still holding the fox and then, in his words, "instinctively threw it over the cliff." We did not go down to retrieve that fox.

Watch the video below, and then have nightmares about those creepy eyes.

Happy Hunting!