putting down an animal - choice of weapon

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Stony said:
I tried to use a knife once on a doe that still had some life left in her. As soon as the knife started to cut, she brought up her rear hoof and darned near broke a knuckle on my thumb! No more of the knife stuff like that for me....
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As Gunnerboy said, there is a proper way to do it without risk, if the animal is still up or can still get up, use another round to the boiler room. Back when I was a kid, one of my dad's hunting buddies wounded a buck in the neck during a drive. The blood trail was short and easy to follow but the buck was still standing. Dad's buddy chirped up with the proverbial "don't want to waste any meat" and then proceeded to maim the animal by blowing off one horn and the most of the deer's face because he was trying to make a headshot with the deer moving and while he was excited. After about three shots my dad gave a disgusted grunt and shot the poor animal in the chest to save it from suffering anymore. Those folks that need a finishing shot, if the first shot isn't mortal to begin with, have already wasted meat and let the animal suffer. As a modern hunter you are not starving, nor are you wasting much meat with another good boiler room shot. Get it over with.
 
Use your primary weapon for a shot through the lungs.Bigger target and the deer will die.It may take a little longer but is fatal.No meat on the ribs to waste anyway.
 
I'm glad I can legally carry my CCW while hunting. I go nowhere without my .38 in the strong pocket and my NAA in the weak side. That's not about putting down animals other than maybe trapped hogs. It's about self defense against two legged predators. I'm just in the habit of always carrying those two guns and add a third on the belt when I go somewhere.

Yeah, the deer will go nowhere when hit in the shoulders and breaking one or both. They might try to get up, but the landing gear has a flat. :D Usually, though, they're DRT with a decent round. I've not had to put down too many game animals, only a couple that I can remember, except for hogs in the trap.

I shot a hog once in the head with a wadcutter load. I was impressed at the wound channel and the penetration. It's only making about 200 ft lbs, but it went through that hogs head, all the way down his neck, and out his sternum. Who'd a thunk it? My normal carry load in that snubby is a 140 grain +P JHP.
 
For the most part it just comes down to staying legal while doing the ethical thing. For nuisance animals like hogs, woodchucks and 'yotes there generally is no minimal firearm requirement, nor are there special weapon seasons. I would assume in most states finishing off an animal during BP or archery season with a centerfire round would be illegal. I know it is in my state. The warden that talks at the Hunter Safety classes I help teach, brings this point up every session. While it is legal to carry more than one type of weapon during hunting, one can only use the appropriate one for the game......this includes coup de grâce. It's amazing the folks that will argue with the warden as to how stupid it is. It might not seem like a big deal to you, but it does to the law.
 
I can't imagine the cost of a bullet being the consideration in how to finish off an animal. And, unless you like eating lungs I don't get the meat damage thing either.
 
I can unerstand both points in certain situations. But you have to weigh the animals suffering against them. Imo if the animals still on its feet and you have another round it goes thru the boiler room. If they are down and not struggling, then a round to the head, properly administered knife, or other option....if a person is at all not confident in killing the animal quickly with a knife or other they should shoot the animal.
 
I tried to finish big bull one time with a 22. I was promptly kicked in the nads. After I quit puking and he quit twitching the 22 slugs were mushroomed on the skull. In the 70s I knocked down a big bull with a spine shot. He had 67 inch beams and the skill to put in thumbtacks. Since this was a 340+ bull I didn't wish to blow up the skull. The brain is small and the choices are few. The shot that works is the fiirst vertebrae below the skull. Any decent sized gun will go through and it's hard to size a hole there. I really feel for you folks on the east and west coasts. You need to get your moose and goose agencies under control. Ours is a problem but not as bad everyone elses it appears.
 
It depends on the animal for me. For dove I just pick them up and pop their head off, no need to get fancy.

Doesn't sound as cool as drawing a sidearm for a coup de grâce but the meat tastes the same.
 
The rifle in hand is light years more powerful than the pistol on the hip, and can accomplish head shots just the same. I usually go for the base of the head or neck however.
 
I generally don't carry a side arm when I'm hunting. If I need to finish one off I'll do it with my rifle. I would be very cautious about grabbing a live buck by the antlers as described above. If it were still alive it better be just barely still alive or you might be in for the butt whopping of a lifetime.
 
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Many years back, I use to carry a "finisher" round in my kit. It was a reduced load for my .270 using a few grains of Unique behind a 90gr Sierra HP. The bullet would not expand at the low velocity. I can recall only using it once. If the animal is down & immobile, a shot to the head or neck with the "finisher" was instantaneous, without taking the deer's whole head off. Because the round was a HP & well marked, it was easy to keep it separate from regular ammo.
 
Only twice in my 39 seasons of deer hunting that I remember needed a coup de gras.

Once I tried to use a limb. That didn't work out too well.
Once I used my Hawken rifle as a big old buck got up after laying for 40 minutes after I shot him.

I think my little lcp would be handy next time
 
H&Hhunter said:
Using a CF pistol round during BP season would get you in a heap of trouble around here.
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Same thing I stated back in my posts #3, #10 and #31.

#3
If you are hunting with a rifle and decide to use your handgun for a coup de grâce, make sure it is a legal firearm for the season. Many times what folks carry on their hip for BU for protection are not legal for the season they are hunting. Is it a big deal? Just ask someone who has gotten caught.
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#10
It's one of those cases where something, while being ethical, is illegal. Don't go from a responsible hunter to a poacher, just cause you want to save a few cents and use a .22 or some other firearm inappropriate for the season, to put down a wounded animal.
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#31
I would assume in most states finishing off an animal during BP or archery season with a centerfire round would be illegal. I know it is in my state. The warden that talks at the Hunter Safety classes I help teach, brings this point up every session. While it is legal to carry more than one type of weapon during hunting, one can only use the appropriate one for the game......this includes coup de grâce. It's amazing the folks that will argue with the warden as to how stupid it is. It might not seem like a big deal to you, but it does to the law.
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Still folks want to advise to use or brag about the use of illegal/inappropriate for the season weapons in order to be cool, or to save a quarter. I dunno if it's a testosterone thing or just the mentality. IMHO, an internet forum is not the place for this, especially one called The High Road
 
buck460XVR said:
Same thing I stated back in my posts #3, #10 and #31.

#3

#10

#31

Still folks want to advise to use or brag about the use of illegal/inappropriate for the season weapons in order to be cool, or to save a quarter. I dunno if it's a testosterone thing or just the mentality. IMHO, an internet forum is not the place for this, especially one called The High Road
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Buck you are assuming that said activity is illegal in all the states. But I agree that some folks don't take a "hint" very easily.
 
H&Hhunter said:
Buck you are assuming that said activity is illegal in all the states.
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No, I'm not. If you read the quote from my first post(post #3), I tell folks to make sure what they are doing is legal where they hunt. In the third quote(post #31) I state that I assume it is an activity that is illegal in most states. No where did I state or assume it is illegal everywhere. I was just advising folks to make sure what they are doing is legal where they hunt. I don't think most folks even realized what they are doing/suggesting may be illegal. Every year I hear of reports of deer hunters being cited for hunting after hours and or with the aid of a light, because they wounded a deer during legal hunting hours, but didn't get close enough for the coup de grâce until legal hunting hours were over. One thinks they are doing the right thing ethically, but by the letter of the law, they are poaching. In my state you can use a dog to blood trail a wounded deer, but the deer better be dead when you find it. Shoot it again in the presence of the dog and you are considered to be hunting with the aid of a dog. The fine of using a inappropriate or prohibited weapon for the season is going to be more than the cost of one bullet from your primary weapon, or the equivalent value of any meat destroyed by the second shot, not to mention the embarrassment of seeing your name in the paper or the loss of any hunting/fishing privileges. Why take the chance, even if the risk is minuscule you'll be caught?
 
Had a necessity to put down a car-struck deer we came across on a lone country highway last night. Only thing we had in my wife's Jeep was her LCP. Hornady Critical Defense to the brain box made quick work to end her suffering.

alsaqr said:
Carrying a handgun while hunting is extra weight.
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Not if you carry it every day, then it's no more extra weight than carrying your wallet or watch.
 
[QUOTE="Varminterror, post: 10448045, member: 241286]
Not if you carry it every day, then it's no more extra weight than carrying your wallet or watch.[/QUOTE]
Additional weight always counts, I'll take extra water, game bags or emergency gear in the field any day over a handgun. Of course there are different hunts and I am thinking of dawn to dusk where I may be miles from where I started when I put an animal down. If I were hunting the back 40 during a 2 month season I probably would carry a 22 for small game or fur it the opportunity presented itself.
 
Lose a pound. That's the same as my EDC for me. Lose 2lbs and you cover my Glock 19 I usually carry in the woods. Lose 3 pounds and you make up for the 44mag or the 475L I carry when in bear country.

I train with guys who not only worry about their gear weight but also about their own body weight as a functional variable. For most folks, including those of us who hunt dawn to dusk and end up miles from where we started, arguing an extra pound or two is nothing but pedantics. Maybe a day will come when I can't haul as much and 2-3lbs for my side arm makes a tangible difference, but I can say I'm a long ways from it today. Most guys I have met who are honestly able to hike those miles over hill and dale are fit enough to carry their side arm if they so desire.
 
There are sections of industry devoted to cutting ounces from outdoor gear be it recreational packing, military, hunting or professional exploration.
This market is not kept alive solely by overweight middle aged men as you seem to believe.
Carry what you want but try some minimalist back country hunting trips and evaluate how much gear you really want to burden yourself with.
In my equation I am also including the expectation of having at least one quarter of my quest along with my gear on my first trip back to camp or the truck.
So please pack all the excess gear you like, I doubt we'll convince each other and we won't be hunting together to make an actual comparison. I will ad that I do offer carry a heavier rifle than most would consider "mountain weight" and I justify it with its superior glass, caliber and all weather accuracy. To each his own.
 
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