While watching an episode of Lone Star Law, a game warden came upon a severly crippled deer. He decided that the humane thing to do was to put the deer down. Using his service revolver, he shot the deer where it laid in some brush. The officer shot once then in the next scene he dragged the deer out to his truck. Of course, the filming didn't show the actual wound but it got me to wondering just where did the officer place the shot to kill the deer? He drug the animal out by the head which didn't appear bloody. The meat was going to be donated to a needy family so I don't imagine that a gut shot would have been placed. If you found yourself in such a situation, where would you try to place the shot for a quick kill and not ruin the meat?

Double lung shot?

if possible, behind the ear straight through the skull

quote:

Originally posted by snwghst:
if possible, behind the ear straight through the skull

Agree especially for a pistol. Lung shots with a handgun won't cause the same damage as with a rifle.

But in many jurisdictions it's illegal for anyone other than law enforcement to dispatch a wounded animal, especially if it's on or near a roadway. So my answer is "I'd call 911."

I've had to do it several times and always just put one in the forehead. DRT.

I thought the OP was asking other than a head shot (which I agree would be the best).

If I could get close enough, I preferred a head shot behind the ear. If I couldn't (it's surprising how determined some obviously mortally wounded animals can be to get away), and I had a clear shot with a good backstop, a lung shot with an AR or shotgun.

quote:

Originally posted by caneau:
But in many jurisdictions it's illegal for anyone other than law enforcement to dispatch a wounded animal, especially if it's on or near a roadway.

It's illegal here as you note, and I will pay 'zero' intention to that law. I once saw a deer suffer for over an hour alongside the road because Fish & Game were too busy to deal with it and the local cop was, well, a pussy. Had I had a pistol with me, I'd have given that deer some peace rather than watch it suffer. In my book, the law is irrelevant when it comes to letting an animal suffer needlessly.

Growing up, prior to any animal on the farm being slaughtered, we would put 1 .22 round right between the eyes but a bit North looking down on the animal. Usually a pig or cow.

Immediately followed by slicing the throat to bleed it.

They always simply fell over so I assumed this was the way it was always done. Is there a better way?

Handgun to the head. Brain shot does it every time.
We get a lot of deer hit by cars and we put them down with our issued handguns.

We shoot them in the head where possible. Occasionally you get one that's hung up in a fence or in a weird spot where the heart/lung shot with a slug of 5.56 makes more sense.

 
My wife is a retired Park Police officer from Montgomery County MD's Park Police. One night, she came across a wounded possum, dragging itself across the road (it had its spine crushed and the back legs didn't work). After shooting it once, it displayed some dying muscle spasms and she thought it might still be alive, so she put two more rounds into it. She got boatloads of shit for that when she got back to the station to replenish her rounds. "Three shots to kill a possum? Why didn't you just run over it again".

Usually 1 round from behind where the skull and 1st vertebrae meet. Lights out instantly every time. If the animal is too alert and lively to let me get behind it, a cross shot through the brain. At whatever angle I have.

never had to do it -- i read a long time ago draw an imaginary 'X' between the left eye and base of right ear and the right eye and base of left ear. put a bullet in the forehead where the imaginary lines cross

knowing what i know about physiology ... base of the skull (spine) would work too

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Use enough gun.

I tried to finish off a buck with my .38 S&W Webley once. Three shots to the back of the head from a foot away, to muzzle contact. All it did was make him dizzy.

My Moms husband, not from the US, hit a large buck at 5:30 AM and the big guy was 20 yards inside the forest, both front legs twisted and broken, left hind quarter wide open large wound and the leg was broken, 13 hours passed and he was laying upright alive. My neighbor was on his way home with his 10 .22 in the back window rack. One round to the fore head and he was at peace. 13 Hours shows how resilliant wild life can be.

Sad this is youd live 13 hours with those injuries too. If you werent losing enough blood youd sit there in pain until malnutrition, or infection killed you.

Shitty way for animals to die, even if their thought process isnt as complex as ours. In a way i feel for them more because their thoughts are simpler and way more innocent

I used a frontal headshot until that didn't work one time.

I was about standing face to face with a doe that looked like it was a zombie from the walking dead. It had obviously been struck by a vehicle and dragged a significant distance. The entrails were hanging and the entire left side of its body was covered in road rash but the deer could stand and walk. It appeared that none of the skeletal structure had been damaged but it was obvious the deer wouldn't survive and a long slow death was imminent.

I was standing face to face about 10 feet from the doe and she just looked at me. I aimed my pistol just above between the eyes and fired a round. The deer did not dropped but began jumping around and panicking. I fired another round that passed through both lungs and the deer was dead in ten seconds.

Once the deer was deceased I examined the head. I could clearly see my first round struck exactly were I was aiming but had skipped off the deer's forehead. I was carrying a glock 21 with speer gold dots.

I’m a LEO here in PA and I’ve had to put down a lot of deer. I will try for a head shot whenever possible. If the head is moving too much, a shot in the heart/lung will suffice.

In PA, non-LE are not allowed to put down a game animal. With that said, I would never give someone grief for putting a suffering animal out of its misery, as long as it was done safely.

In my career I shot over a box of ammo putting down deer. I spoke to a vet and he explained the “X”...draw a line between eye and ear, shoot there down into the spinal column. Second best place is the heart shot..there’s plenty of deer anatomy charts on the googler...I’ll leave that to you.