The trouble with cows:

[navaide]

Went out to the back forty for some target shooting today! The weather was good. Sunny, light wind, temp 66 degrees. After going through the cattle guard and gate, I prceeded another two miles on unimproved road. The cattle were around the watering holes, so I figured they wouldn't be a problem. On arriving at may favorite area, I checked for cows, antelope,or muleys. Nothing in sight for over a mile. I set up my shooting mat, and then walked off 100 yds. and 150 yds. for setting up the paper target stands. I shot my .308 first at the 100 yard target. After 10 rds. I walked down with a roll of masking tape to cover the holes. On the way back I noticed twelve cows standing around my car. I sat down on my shooting mat,and here they come to check me out. I never experienced shooting around cows so i waited until they moved off about 50 yds. before I resumed shooting. Thinking the sound would spook them, but after about eight rounds, they came back to within thirty feet of me. When I finnished the ten rounds,and went down the the target to tape the holes, they followed. I went back to the mat and sat down to wait for them to walk back, but they were more interested in my targets and the grass around them. fustrated, I packed up and drove home. Free range target shooting is not without it's problems. In the movies the cattle always stampede after a few shots. I guess they thought I was bringing lunch.

Navaide

 

[taliv]

also, they will eat your targets if you leave them up

also, also, you can hunt them with a hammer

 

[armoredman]

That's funny, sorry.

 

[GIJOEL]

There is a good reason that we eat soooo many hamburgers and steaks.

 

[Cypress]

Yeah, that tends to happen.

 

[desidog]

I was guessing you stepped in.....
..or one of em stepped on your....

 

[jpwilly]

Perhaps they were "happy cows" from CA - maybe they wanted to go home to your freezer.

 

[Dallas Jack]

Just get a slingshot and a handfull of marbles. Aim for the buttocks.
Dallas Jack

 

[grubbylabs]

Sorry but that is funny But yes it would be very frustrating. Did you check the regs and see if it was the first day of cattle rustling season? you never know when it will open, they do fill out a freezer very nicely.

 

[mljdeckard]

Had I not worked with cows I wouldn't believe it. But I have. Those steaks on the hoof eat silage, for pete's sake.

 

[paintballdude902]

i would gotten lunch there but the cows wouldnt have liked it

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Cows can be just as curious as a creature you have ever seen.

 

[Fremmer]

They were hoping for food.

Had a couple horses follow me across a pasture; I was turky hunting and trying to sneak around.

Ever tried sneaking anywhere while being shadowed by two horses?!?

 

[Davek1977]

LOL, having grown up on a cattle ranch here in South Dakota,, this doesn't suprise me in the least. Fremmer is right though...while cows can be might curious, (futrther) dmesticated animals like horses are worse!! I have many memories of shooting prairie dogs in the town behind our house (MAN, i miss living in the country) with horses routinely breathing down my neck as I was braced against the fence! While the guy with a .44 mag next to you at the range can certainly be distracting, having a 1000 lb critter breath down your neck as you squeeze the trigger offers its own challenges!!

 

[ole farmerbuck]

One of my best p-dog towns is in cattle pens. Sometimes the cattle are right there beside the dog. I've shot them with the cattle looking down at them right under their nose. Doesnt scare the catle at all. Makes me take better aim before shooting.

 

[stealth]

They were hoping for food.

Had a couple horses follow me across a pasture; I was turky hunting and trying to sneak around.

Ever tried sneaking anywhere while being shadowed by two horses?!?

Now that's funny.

Free pack-mule service!

or

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[deadeyedog270]

Sorry to say this but this one gave me my laugh for the day.

dose remind me of playing at the the farm down the road as a boy whith the kids there, the cows fallowed us every where even the the club house we built they would stick there heads in and look around they did not like it when we would try to ride them back up to the barn though

 

[nitetrane98]

I suspect they were waiting for you to break out the groceries.

Generally speaking, around East Texas you can lead a herd of cattle anywhere you want with an empty cattle cube bag, especially in the winter. Gotta be careful, they'll take you down for it.

We used to get a cattle theft call once in a while. They'd just back up to a gate, honk the horn and lead 'em right into the trailer. A lot of them were "gentleman farmer" cows that were little more than big pets. Something to get the agricultural tax break.

 

[Art Eatman]

I had a Colt 1911 that ejected the brass sorta back to the rear. My palomino gelding would assume the intructor's position if I was shooting a revolver, but he didn't like getting hit in the face from the 1911's brass.

Always nice to have help...

 

[627PCFan]

this begs the question....what caliber for cows......and no headshots-

 

[Slamfire]

This breeding bull decided to hide behind the target frame. We had to chase him away to resume shooting.

 

[winknplink]

Funny stuff.

I shoot at an outdoor range where wild turkeys are the problem year round. The range is setup between two thick wood lines with staggered/offset backstop dugouts every 100 yards out to 500, and they evidently live behind the backstops b/c when the shooting starts, they all parade out to see what's going on.

That place is loaded with wild turkeys and they couldn't care less about you being there. It is common place to be shooting at a 100 yard target that is 2 feet above a hen's head.

And nobody ever shoots them, which is just amazing to me.

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

One year on a hunting lease, the rancher had a white pickup truck and it was during a drought, so he supplemented their feed -- so when he came onto the land, it was feedin time!

Well, of course, my pickup is/was also white, so when I drove around to maintain stands, etc., they would follow me (mostly open, so they could see me for a long ways). Then they would all crowd around my pickup truck while I was doing whatever. This was not a problem until the day I brought one of my fearless dogs along (who weighs 28 lbs soaking wet). Of course, he had to antagonize the bull in the crowd - I barely saved the dogs butt and got out of there with both of us intact - adrenaline rush, to be sure.

Tactihorse has your six.

Bwaaaahahaha!

And nobody ever shoots them, which is just amazing to me.

You sure about that? You ain't there 24/7, are ya? One day I walked down at dusk (only one at the range) to the 200 yard berm and stood there on top a little while...the deer move right behind the berm. I'm sure they come out on the range sometimes, too, though I've not seen that yet. Of course, the rules are "no hunting on range property" - have to admit it's tempting though.

 

[ArmedBear]

navaide - Do you live around here? Sounds like a spot where I shoot.

 

[ArmedBear]

Dr. Tad-

Clearly, you should get a Loden Range Rover. You can tell your wife I said so.

WRT dogs, our 48 lb. pit bull, that has seldom been in any real scuffles with any dogs, but got her ass handed to her whenever she was, faced off with a herd of cattle in a canyon in Oregon when we were on our honeymoon. They started towards the dog. She backed up, and I could almost see her think, "Oh crap. They want to kill me! Better bluff!" So she turned around, faced them squarely, and charged them with a ferocious growl. They paused, turned around, and ran the other way. So did I, since I didn't want to be around if the ranch hands came by to see who had stampeded their herd.

Now I don't know if the lead animal was a bull, because I was worried about the dog at first, but ended up laughing pretty hard. So I didn't look too closely. I think it was, though. He was surrounded by what seemed to be a harem.