Taking out a beef steer

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creativetownsman

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I have a friend who lives on a ranch in the sticks.

Putting legalities aside, if any, how does one humanely slaughter a Hereford beef cow ~1000 lbs. in weight with a handgun? Please give specifics on minimum caliber, and where to place shot(s).

Thanks in advance.
 
Right between the eyes, or in the ear, with at least a .357, using a hard-cast SWC bullet.
Any big-bore .44 - .45 revolver will do the trick with the right bullet.

It needs to be something besides a JHP self-defense load however, to get adequate penetration through the skull plate & into the brain.

My dad slaughtered hogs every year and he would shoot them between the eyes with a .22 rifle.
That knocks them out cold, then you hang them up, cut their throat, and bleed them out.

rcmodel
 
IIRC, the way we've always done it is to draw an X between eyes and ears (see picture), and aim for that with anything from a .22lr to a hammer. In the stock yards in Texas, we'd use a sledge hammer and they'd fold right over swiftly. My dad used a .22 rifle on several of his cattle, .22 revolver on our pigs. Make sure you don't shoot too low, or else you'll just have a mad steer with a bloody nose on the rampage. They are harder to hit after that because they won't stand as still and look at you like before.:eek:

Of coarse larger calibers will definitely do the job, but this was my experience FWIW.
 
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Now that right there is just about the cutest cow I ever saw!

How could you even consider shooting the poor thing? :D

rcmodel
 
Found this in another thread:

The magic spot is as follows:

Draw an imaginary crosshairs - the x and y axes - between the center of the eyes and the center of the top of the skull fore and aft. The z axis - the actual path of the bullet - should run from that point to the foramen magnum (the junction of the spine and the skull).

Even in the slaughtering business, it all about placement, placement, placement.
Click to expand...

Link: http://thehighroad.org/showthread.php?p=5219490#post5219490
 
We used to use 22lr right between the eyes on our steeres. Knocks them out and then slit the throat. We only had one ricochet and that led to us switching to a .38spl with fmj. Still being used at the parents ranch to this day.
 
Cows may be bigger but goats are tougher. We used the humble .22 on Angus, but had to slice the throats for our goats.

Stubborn as a mule should be translated as stuborn as a goat.
 
Like CoRoMo said make an X 22lr. Between the eyes is too low. I've killed around a hundred steers couple hundred hogs. Hogs are harder to kill.
 
Well i shot one between the eyes with a 44 mag one time, knocked both eyes out of there sockets, never moved , would the 357work? i cant say, im glad i was packin a 44 that day!:what:
 
When I worked at a local meat locker a few years back, the owner killed all the cows with a .22mag rifle. exactly in the fashion CoRoMo described.. none of them took more than 1 shot.

anything 9mm or up I would bet as safe.
but if yer buddy live on a "ranch in the sticks", he should most likely have a decent powerd handgun, and allready know how to do this...

ip.
 
creativetownsman said:
......Taking out a beef steer.......slaughter a Hereford beef cow ~1000 lbs. in weight..............
Click to expand...

I keep forgetting how many city folks are on these forums.....must be the country boy in me but a beef steer and a beef cow are not the same.


Cattle = (plural) Bovine
Cow = female of the species
Bull = male of the species
Steer = neutered male
Heifer = Female that has not produced offspring.
Calves = male or female of the species before they are weaned.
Beef = ....all of the above.....


Thanks.....I feel better now.
 
Can I get a porterhouse?

When do went get to order steaks? :p

And as to make the cow or steer watch cspan, that is animal cruelty! :neener: No one should be made to watch that... come to think of it, who needs water boarding, just make the bad guys watch cspan and they will sing like a canary.;)
 
creativetownsman said:
I have a friend who lives on a ranch in the sticks.

Putting legalities aside, if any, how does one humanely slaughter a Hereford beef cow ~1000 lbs. in weight with a handgun? Please give specifics on minimum caliber, and where to place shot(s).

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Oh! Lord; don't use anything larger than a .22 cal. You'll have a runnaway hornets nest. Those cows hit between the eyes with a .357 mag will run through a wood corral fence as though it were nothing, and you won't be able to catch it for sure. Same situation with hogs. The .357 mags just bounce off their face. (Of course if you use a very high powered weapon, it will do the job.)

where to place shot -- mark an invisable 'X' between their ears and eyes. For hogs, the old saying goes -- "X marks the spot to save the squeal; it's the best part."
 
He wants to save some money ($250.00) and slaughter it himself, then have the butcher do the rest. He's new to 'cattle', as it's a horse ranch. He wants to use them for some team-penning type of thing, then fatten them up, and have steaks for the rest of his life.

The butcher said a .30-'06.

I told my friend I've 'read' a .22LR might do it on up. I'll check the thread on .us. I should think a 9mm fmj might do well or a .38/357-or is that 'overkill'. But I've read that one could take out an elephant with a properly placed .22LR.
What about shooting the animal with a NAA mini in .22WMR? Gosh, I doubt if that would do the job-but that is why I started the thread. The manner of killing is important. It must be swift and relatively painless to the animal.

I'm having difficulty reconciling the comments, but certainly do appreciate them. I should think that a 9mm or .38 FMJ might suffice. He has those firearms, and a .22LR MkII (He also has a .22LR rifle and a .30-'06). He just recently got the cattle on a whim.

Comments are appreciated!
 
The .22 cal bullet will penetrate a skull much easier than a large caliber bullet.

Example: A nurse with a hypo needle doesn't have to stick you very hard for that needle to go all the way to the bone. But using the same amount of thrust using a hay bale stinger wouldn't even push you off balance.
 
When I was a kid I always helped my grandpa do it. He used an old .22lr pistol he bought from the Western Auto store. Never saw him take more than one shot except the time he used his .38 S&W(not .38 special). Dang round bounced right off the skull. We figured it was too big with not enough velocity for the size of the bullet to break through the skull. The round went off the skull and skirted under the skin for about 4 inches.
 
Yeah, a .22 is all you need. They'll make the journey to the floor like a gunny sack full of rocks, with a mighty surprised look on their face.

A lot of people just crack 'em real hard on the gourd with a big ballpein hammer too.
 
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