You already saw one car hit a cow, do you shoot the next cow you see?

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DadOfThree

New member
I have killed many cows for butchering or because they were sick or injured. I have never used anything but a .22 and have never had to shoot one twice. Range needs to be just a few inches though. I never thought of cows as being that tough to kill. If you imagine an X going from left eye to base of right horn and right eye to base of left horn and shoot where the lines cross, a .22 will instantly buckle their knees. A lot of people are jumping on the shoot the cow bandwagon. From what El Rojo is describing, the area almost sounds like an open range area. If that is the case, in most states the cows have the right of way and you need to watch out for them. Shooting them takes $500 for each out of the pocket of the rancher that owns them. Many people would not take kindly to you deciding that they didn't really need that many cows. Again, I am going off the assumption that this is open range territory.
 
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IamNOTaNUT

New member
El Rojo Wrote -

" Has anyone shot a cow with double ought or slugs in the head at fairly close range before? I have a hard time imagining the cow being "annoyed". I have a better time imagining it being dead. Again it comes to shot placement, made easier at night by the Streamlight Stinger I always carry with me just for the reason of being able to illuminate my target. I would rather like to hear of people who did this rather than us talk about what we think would happen."

El Rojo-
I don't have a hard time IMAGINING a cow beng annoyed. I HAVE annoyed them. In real life. Shotguns and cows are not a good mix. Find a rifle, or simply walk up to it and whack it with a .22 as others have mentioned.

What the heck, ignore my post and shoot it with a shotgun if you want to, you will learn for yourself what a bad idea it is. In the real world. Without imagining anything.
 
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Ed Brunner

New member
Another true story...

A friend of mine, not long back from Vietnam, ran into a similar situation one night. He was able to avoid three or four before he got stopped. As a good citizen he herded the cattle off on the side of the road and shot all of them.
 
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El Rojo

New member
This was most certainly not "open range". If it were open range, I would not even consider shooting a cow. The only reason I considered it was because there was no way for the cow to escape. Steep cliff on one side of the road, barrier wall on the other with a river just below it. The only place for the cow to go was in the middle of the road. I am not a trigger happy idiot. There were exterior factors that made this a less than normal running into a cow out on the plains situation.

Iamnotanut What is the diference in shooting a cow at close range with 00 buck and shooting them with a .22? Instead of one .22 round to the head, you have 9 00 rounds to the head? I just have a hard time imagining a 00 buck load not being as effective at close range as a single .22. Am I being naive here? That is a sincere question.
 
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Correia

New member
Iamnotanut, I don't know what breed of cattle you have around your place, but they must be cyborgs or something. :p Terma-Cow.

I grew up on a farm, I've only seen one bull that didn't drop immediatly with a .22 to the brain, and he weighed in at 2200 lbs. We had to shoot him twice. Big registered holstein, got injured. really sad.

00 buck to the head at a close range, piece of cake. I doubt they would be annoyed.

And cows are only really dangerous if you are stuck in confined spaces with them, try taking a calf from an angry mother cow in a ten by ten pen some time. Or try to shoo a bull out of a holding corral. (3 foot length of pipe was my personal favorite tool for that job). I've been hooked, stomped, trompled, and anything else you can think of, but even then, some of you guys are making these cows sound like charging cape buffalos. :D
 
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IamNOTaNUT

New member
Corriea et al -

I have absolutely no doubt that hundreds of cows are killed every day with a .22 to the brain through the "sweet spot" in the skull. I, unfortunately, grew up in the city and don't know much about bovine physiology.

El Rojo -

The difference is that a cow's skull is VERY strong. If you don't hit it in the "sweet spot" the buckshot will ricochet off the head, taking pieces of cow with it. Now you have just angered a large hairy beast.

I took a head shot one time, broadside, from about 7 yards with .00 buck. Made it mad, it turned to face me and began snorting and huffing, and generally displaying a bad temper. I took another shot to he head, straight on from 7 yeards with the same result.

I began a tactical withdraw until the combined effects of the multiple shots took effect. It was not a quick clean kill.
 
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El Rojo

New member
Good point Rick. I had my Glock in its bag instead of in my wasteband. Next time I will grab the Glock right away. Goog thing that cow was on its last breath, it had me! :eek:
 
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Crimper-D

New member
Yea, Nasty Stretch of Road!

I'm North of Kern County by a good bit, but I've driven that stretch a few times = Nasty!;) Whoever posted about setting out road flairs .....NOT!!! Torching off a grassfire in that canyon would be instant Firestorm as dry as it has been in the sunny southland. If you think shooting stray livestock will get you in trouble, see what happens to you if you start a brushfire:rolleyes:
Couple more observaions - I have a neighbor who is a meatpacker and does 'field kills' he drives up to the cow, shoots it in the head with a .22rifle and hoists the carcass aboard his truck with a winch, kinda like a wrecker/towtruck setup, and drives back to the packing plant. He wears out a rifle every few years. Shoots 40gr solids = says the penetration is just right - through the side of the head into the brain...small target, but he has a lot of experience. ;)
Livestock on the highway? The CHP just _Hate_ it! THe livestock dosn't necessarially have to be cow sized to be nasty for vehicular traffic. Instead of 1300 pounds of cow, imagine a 30lb
GOOSE decorating the front end/windshield of your van:eek: We had a (Gaggle???) of Feril Gray Geese roaming the hills that would occasionally get run into with disasterous results.
One of the funniest things I've seen in my life was a CHP rookie who looked like he'd just stepped out of a CHP recruiting poster
Hearding a very big very irate Gray goose down Hwy 108!
:D He had traffic blocked in both directions with his cruiser and was trying to shoo this thing off the road and into a ditch. Talk about humiliating! This young gentleman had a PO'd Goose that was turning around, hissing and attacking him...and about 40 witnesses who were falling out of their vehicles laughing! Most frustrated man I've seen - ever. :D
He'd have been more than happy to have let someone shoot the thing.
 
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