Putting down livestock

[filmjunkie4ever]

This is a PSA of sorts, but please feel free to comment.

So I have used all of my primary hunting rifles and handguns to put down aged/injured animals or livestock over the years. Livestock includes pigs, bulls, beef steers, cows, calves, and horses. I have also had to put down injured deer and elk hit by automobiles in the roadway from time to time. It may surprise you just how unprepared most folks are to deal with having to do so.

Just the other day, I shot a cow on our ranch that had hardware poisoning and it had her shriveled down to skin and bones. Poor thing. The .270 Winchester I had with me put her to rest with a single round.

If you are ever in a situation where you need to shoot cattle or horse, remember that their brain does NOT rest right between their eyes like ours. Putting a bullet between their eyes will result in an unwanted fiasco.

Draw an imaginary “X” between eyes and ears of opposite sides and then put the bullet just a half inch or so above the middle of that imaginary “X.”

Rifles are best if the animal is still ambulatory even if they might have a broken appendage(s). Bulls rile easily when they have been fighting or are injured, and spooked horses are quite unpredictable. If you can’t put a bullet in their brain, shoot them in the heart and then follow up with a brain shot once they are on the ground. End their suffering as quickly as possible. Lord knows they have had a lifetime of it. If you don’t know what you’re doing, please leave it to someone that does.

 

[Vince]

I’ve done this a few times myself.

I always say a prayer for the animal. I’m sorry you had to do that but I’m thankful you did it for I’m sure your aim was true and the end was swift.

Vince

 

[TexasLife]

Fortunately I haven't in the 58 years of ranching. I've seen my dad do ut to equine and bovine a time or 2 when I was younger (elementary) as you gotta do what's best!


On another note, my dad asked a vet if he has something for pinkeye? The vet replied. You can doctor it for 2 weeks or wait 2 weeks for it to go away . That question was asked in the 60's iirc. Good think you don't have to tube a bovine for worms like horses (i think that's what we did it for).

 

[salmonchaser]

Way back in the day a couple of new King County Sheriffs deputies got sent on an injured deer call. (King County Washington is home to Seattle). While K. C. Has a lot of deer they had received no training on the subject. A new KC Sargent arrived on scene. Sargent had achieved supervisor level having never dispatched a deer either. It should be noted that the Sheriffs office had instituted a new use of force policy requiring documentataion of all shots fired including dispatching wounded animals. Some blamed the following decision on not wanting the paper work. The intrepid team drug the poor deer into the ditch, It’s Seattle the ditch was full of water, were standing on it, to drowned it, when the school bus went past….
I wasn’t there, but I knew a bunch of their swat and range guys who all swore it happened just like that. Also saw the sergeant has continued to promote.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

A caveat that I should’ve added to my original post was that .22 LR and .22 WMR while certainly capable for such use in proper circumstances, should be eschewed generally for it. I’ve seen both cattle and hogs take shots to the head from both cartridges (in rifles and handguns) without any apparent mortal affect. It pisses them off however and results in an unpleasant fiasco.

A centerfire hunting round, even something as small as a .222 is much more preferable than anything rimfire. Deer or elk skulls are relatively thin while horse, pig or cattle skulls are much thicker.

 

[Vince]

Way back in the day a couple of new King County Sheriffs deputies got sent on an injured deer call. (King County Washington is home to Seattle). While K. C. Has a lot of deer they had received no training on the subject. A new KC Sargent arrived on scene. Sargent had achieved supervisor level having never dispatched a deer either. It should be noted that the Sheriffs office had instituted a new use of force policy requiring documentataion of all shots fired including dispatching wounded animals. Some blamed the following decision on not wanting the paper work. The intrepid team drug the poor deer into the ditch, It’s Seattle the ditch was full of water, were standing on it, to drowned it, when the school bus went past….
I wasn’t there, but I knew a bunch of their swat and range guys who all swore it happened just like that. Also saw the sergeant has continued to promote.

Probably became a Chief.

 

[Firebird24]

We used to use a mobile butcher. They dropped livestock with a .22 lr as you said, in the X. Then cut the throat. I never saw them miss or fail to drop an animal where it stood. When we had an old bull to slaughter they pulled out a .223, dropped him on the spot, cut the throat, all business and no mistakes. They were also avid hunters. Costco bought them out and I hope they were able to retire as rich men.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

We used to use a mobile butcher. They dropped livestock with a .22 lr as you said, in the X. Then cut the throat. I never saw them miss or fail to drop an animal where it stood. When we had an old bull to slaughter they pulled out a .223, dropped him on the spot, cut the throat, all business and no mistakes. They were also avid hunters. Costco bought them out and I hope they were able to retire as rich men.

I’ve got nothing but respect for mobile slaughter businesses. That’s hard work and not everyone can do it. We use one locally for our beef steers each year. They are good folks.

The owner is a gun guy and he has used just about every gun he owns at one time or another. He also does a necropsy afterwards and keeps notes of cartridge and bullet performance. He also likes the .22 Magnum. An otherwise undisturbed animal being shot at super close distance in the X and then having its throat cut is obviously a different critter than one injured or riled up with adrenaline and on the defense.

If the animal is to be eaten, I like the high velocity .22’s (.222, .223, .22-250 et al) as there is no meat damage from over-penetration. If it’s a pet, or is sick or mutilated from an accident or event and the body will be wasted, a larger gun is not any concern as there will be no attempt at meat recovery.

 

[Guy Miner]

When I was a kid, Grandpa went to the local slaughterhouse and found them using this original Colt percussion revolver to drop the animals. The guys were complaining about it being slow and difficult to reload.



Grandpa asked if they'd like to trade for something more modern along with some ammo... His offer was accepted - as I recall he swapped them a 22 revolver and a few hundred rounds of ammo. Grandpa was a good poker player too...

At any rate - I'll take some good photos of it someday. It's quite the nice old Colt and works just fine.

Guy

 

[RL338]

Unfortunately I had the job of putting down lame cattle when growing up. Not an envious job.

 

[Darkhorse]

When this needed to be done I've always let my vet do it. But do to health reasons he quit doing housecalls. Then about 3 years ago an older arabian mare of ours had a couple of strokes causing her to run through 2 fences one night. The next morning my wife noticed her standing outside the fence where my stallion lives.
We immediately went to her intending to get her back inside but her brain was gone. She had forgotten everything she'd ever learned. I tried everything but nothing worked. She wouldn't lead, wouldn't load, nothing except pulling me off my feet and dragging me down a dirt road.
After lunch some neighbors stopped by to help. We still couldn't move or load her but they stayed all afternoon.
As darkness closed in she was laying in a ditch dehydrated. I couldn't leave her out like that as she might wander into a road and hurt or kill someone. So I made the hard choice. She was mine. It was my responsibility. I hiked to the house and got my .308 returning as light faded. I didn't waste time and shot her in the head. The bullet did a lot of damage and I was sure she was dead but my neighbors wife said "This horse is still alive." and she was. The second shot did her in.
What happened? Maybe I just didn't know just where to aim. It still upsets me to this day.
I hope I'm never forced to do this again.

 

[Wolfshead]

I’ve had only one instance in which I’ve had to put down an animal.
It was a Whitetail Doe that was gut shot, and I was the only one with a loaded muzzleloader.
We found her bedded after tracking her for a distance, and she was lying there looking back, but too injured to run anymore.
Shot her in the neck just below her head, and that finished that.
I’ve watched my uncle shoot cows, and pigs for slaughter when I was much younger, and his process was much like the traveling butchers.

 

[JD338]

When my girls were in 4H with their horses, I had a Mom ask me to put down their horse. I declined and told her she really needs the vet to do it even though I knew they were strapped for money.
I didn't want to be known as the 4H Dad who shoots horses and impact it might have on my girls.
In my old neighborhood, the guy next door shot cats, feral and pets. I called him George the Cat Killer and called him out for shooting someone's pet. Came home one day to a dying cat by my front porch. It has been poisoned with antifreeze. I euthanized the cat and buried it. I called out George the Cat Killer on his cruel acts.
Glad I moved!

JD338

 

[username J]

I can’t believe how far we have gone as Americans.

Giving a grieving animal mercy is true compassion. I don’t relish it but I will NEVER shirk my obligations.