filmjunkie4ever
Handloader
- May 4, 2011
- 1,953
- 1,312
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.
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.