Two deer illegally shot and left for dead in field

Two deer have been shot in a field and left for dead.

Lincolnshire Police said officers attended the site, opposite Callan Wood near Kirkby Underwood on Thursday, and found a heavily pregnant Fallow deer shot in the neck alongside another young doe, which was also wounded in the neck and had to be destroyed.

Two .22 Rimfire rifle bullets were removed from the animals, which police said was "not a legal deer calibre" and was possibly from an illegal weapon.

The force said deer poaching was a "recurring problem over the last few years".

Anyone shooting deer illegally on land they had no permission to be on and with an unlicenced firearm risked people's lives, the rural crime action team said in a social media post.

They also said failing to humanely dispatch deer caused unnecessary suffering to the animal.

Police are appealing for anyone with information or who may have seen vehicles or people acting suspiciously in the area after dark to contact the force.

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