Originally posted by BCBlondie
I wasn't going to say anything but here it comes... :X

Okay, I may not know much about hunting or deer, but what if a "cripple" was just an old deer? How would that be bad genetics? They're old - they can't help it! And putting them out of their "misery" isn't an excuse to shoot and kill them just to speed up their dying process.
Another thought - Okay, so the deer was born a cripple... So shoot it. But would you shoot a crippled or sick child, so they don't pass on their bad genetics?
If I came across an old cripple deer, I would harvest it. Why? It would most likely die during the harsh Wisconsin winter because it would not be able to find enough food, it would be tracked a lot by the wolves that prey heavily on the cripples during winter, and it would supply me with meat. It's benefiting the animal by putting it out of its misery. It's like when you put a pet to sleep to end its pain. When the deer are young and have bad genetics you can tell by the deformities it displays. A young buck with bad genetics might display an odd rack- such as an uneven rack with odd amounts of tines on each side. One side of the rack might have 2 tines and the other side of the rack might have 6 tines. A young doe could display nubby tines/horns which would be a sign of bad genetics. The deer could also display skeletal deformities, such as bowed legs, short legs, knock knee, arched back, etc. You want the fittest of deer, so the ones that get past the hunters stay strong and live a healthy life; producing good offspring do keep a healthy population of deer.

Comparing a sick/crippled child to an animal is just not the same. Many genetic problems that kids have keep them from reproducing, such as Down syndrome, progeria, etc. There is a lot of medical technology to help kids with debilitating illnesses that slow down the progression, rid of it completely, and lower the pain.