Hopefully won't derail the thread, but what would the rationale be for making mercy shots on game animals illegal? That being illegal wouldn't ever have occurred to me.

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Originally posted by joel9507:
Hopefully won't derail the thread, but what would the rationale be for making mercy shots on game animals illegal? That being illegal wouldn't ever have occurred to me.

I think it's to prevent guys from shooting an uninjured animal and claiming it was hurt.

I only know the most humane way to put a horse down, and unfortunately, it’s been tried and tested. A veterinarian said to draw an imaginary X between the eyes and ears of the horse and put a bullet where the lines intersect. Obviously, it’s preferable to give the animal a sedative drug before taking the shot, but that’s not always possible. I usually had a bottle of Rompun or Ace in the fridge back then.

I should add, the first time I had to put a horse down, I tried to put a round “behind the ear.” It did not go well.

The imaginary X shot is what I was taught when I owned horses. We had a non-horse guy borrow a gelding to go elk hunting. The horse broke a leg on a steep mountain trail. The guy emptied his rifle on the horse and had to reload to kill it. Dumb ass.

My wife was a wildlife rehabilitator and one of only three licensed in our state for white tail deer....my job was the euthanasia guy and I’ve put a ton of deer down when necessary...I always used a .22 short in that “x” on the top of the head very successfully. One day I was at work and she called me stating one of the local PDs had dropped off a deer that was car struck....why they didn’t put it down is beyond me but it was wayyy too injured to survive. Not able to leave work to put the animal down my wife had called me asking for the safe combo to access the pistol. She isn’t really that proficient with firearms and I was uncomfortable talking her through the process...so, I said....ummmm, no. Told her to call our local PD and have them do it.
First officer shows up, says ok...then the sergeant shows up and says no! Tells my wife it’s her problem and is being an asshole....keep in mind, this sergeants daughters had spent the previous summer volunteering with my wife taking care of the previous years deer! Sergeant says it’s on private property so your on your own....wife says fine, I’ll drag it up to the road, then it’s your problem.....sergeant asshole threatens to arrest her...for what I’m not sure??? They leave, my wife is very upset as this animal is suffering.

She calls me again at work, explains what took place and has a plan....tells me if I don’t hear from her in 1/2 hour...there’s a problem and I need to come home....won’t tell me the plan! I knew it had to be good!!
She loaded that busted up,bleeding, screaming deer into her pathfinder....drove to the PD....carried this train wreck deer into the PD lobby and placed it on the floor and told the dispatcher that the animal was now THEIR problem! The sergeant was there....a verbal fight ensued, he threatened again, to arrest her and she asked...what would the charge be...no answer from sergeant asshole.....she said “if you think of a charge, you know where I live” ... and walked out the door!

She called the state game warden and told him the story....he couldn’t stop laughing....we have a great relationship with the game wardens, they all have been to our house at one point or another with animals...one even asked if he could bring his kids down to see the healthy deer we had in our pens.....he was aware of this injured deer before the local PD was involved as he was the first phone call but was unavailable to help at the time.

My wife’s got balls....thought some may like this little story

^ That's hysterical.

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Originally posted by MNSIG:

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
Hopefully won't derail the thread, but what would the rationale be for making mercy shots on game animals illegal? That being illegal wouldn't ever have occurred to me.

I think it's to prevent guys from shooting an uninjured animal and claiming it was hurt.

Yep. It's also to prevent hunting from a roadway or shooting near populated areas. In some states it's a ticket, in others it's an armed misdemeanor. I'm not risking a criminal record over a deer.

Best bet is to call 911 and ask. It's a recorded call and the dispatcher will advise you accordingly.

I have put down several injured deer with hollow point head shots. The hair does a heck of a job covering any entrance/exit holes. There is also very little blood. At most there is a slight trickle. No exploding heads or anything.

Storytime...

My good friend is the groundskeeper at a very old cemetery in a major US city. The cemetery is about 50 acres and surrounded by a stone and wrought iron fence. The kind of fence with ornate spikes at the top. My friend grew up in the large stone house right on the main road by the front gate. His sister lives there now with her children.

One night we were sitting on the porch of that house drinking a few cold ones and a deer ran from the cemetery and tried to clear the fence with a few coyotes in hot pursuit. The deer did not make it and got impaled by a spike and stuck on the fence! As it was thrashing around the sister called the police. Johnny Law showed up and giving not one single thought to the 12 gauge in his patrol car, decided to draw his 9mm and start dumping rounds from 20 feet away into the deer body. Chest, ass, shoulder, wherever. The thing was thrashing around and suffering, all the while my buddie's sister is screaming to shoot it in the head or get the shotgun. Her kids are crying from in the house. It was absolutely horrible. The animal finally expired and we helped get it down. We all had some really strong words for that guy.

I actually saw the accident happen right in front of me during winter 1975 / 1976 (?).. Ft. Greely / Delta Junction, Alaska.. This was on a state hwy that went thru the US Army base. Dispatched a 900 lb buffalo cow that was laying in the roadway with compound fractures on 3 legs that had been hit by a large truck. Animal was in distress trying to get up and thrashing around. Highway was still partially open with afternoon traffic... 357mag jhp into the brain cavity. Then by radio called the Military Police who called the Alaska State Police / and the Alaska Game Warden. As each dept arrived they asked WHY but when they saw the 3 legs with compound fractures they understood. But the Game Warden made me stay on site to help him field dress the animal. With only a large camp axe to cut/break breast bones I was covered in a lot of blood splatter. The meat was going to be donated to several needy /and elderly families. When I arrived back home on base (Military Housing) about 2 hours late as I walked thru the door hunched over and moaning covered in blood splatter the wife went ballistic and I had to run from the black iron skillet she was swinging at my head when I explained the story........At the time we were both active duty Army. My rank was E-6 and hers was E-5 so in uniform I outranked her but out of uniform she was the Sgt Major of the War Dept. .................................. drill sgt.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
I only know the most humane way to put a horse down, and unfortunately, it’s been tried and tested. A veterinarian said to draw an imaginary X between the eyes and ears of the horse and put a bullet where the lines intersect. Obviously, it’s preferable to give the animal a sedative drug before taking the shot, but that’s not always possible. I usually had a bottle of Rompun or Ace in the fridge back then.

I should add, the first time I had to put a horse down, I tried to put a round “behind the ear.” It did not go well.

Some fool northern AZ tribal members were transporting three horses on the back of a one ton flat bed truck with 36" rails. One horse continued to rear up so the driver's solution was to slam on the brakes. That horse fell onto state highway and broke a hind leg. Then they tied the struggling horse to a bush adjacent to the highway, creating a potential traffic collision. The state highway right of way was my authority not the Sheriff's Lt. that wanted to call a tribal veterinarian (100 miles away).

I had no choice but to dispatch it with a rifled slug to the forehead. Poor horse suffered no more from human ignorance.

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Originally posted by bigdeal:

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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.

Some years ago my youngest grandson came running to our house. (He lived a couple blocks away). He was very upset and asked my to follow him, as there was an injured deer on the next street over.

I jumped in the truck and we went to where the deer was. It had been hit by a car and had both front legs broken. I called the police and asked that they have an officer come by and put the animal out of its pain.

Dispatcher was some arrogant twit and said they didn't do that. Shortly after that phone call the animal control vehicle showed. Dog catcher would be a better description. Woman had ZERO idea of what to do and asked if I could end the animal's misery. I did.

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Originally posted by OttoSig:
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?

My extended family butchered a lot of animals. Pigs, cows etc and the annual deer/elk kills. It was never an issue on how to kill the animal. .22 round between the eyes. Never failed. We always tried very hard to make one shot kills on the deer, elk, etc.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Elk Hunter,

I had to dispatch a problem raccoon once, it went HORRIBLY. I was in a residental area, so I was using a .22 1911 with a can and sub sonics to keep everything quiet as possible. He was a BIG raccoon, took 4 rounds to finally put him down and it was AWFUL. The nerves at the end where something. I would have loved to used a rifle or a much bigger handgun, but I was trying to keep it as safe as possible. He was very very much alive when it all began so getting point blank between the eyes wasn't happening.

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I once saw a deer suffer for over an hour alongside the road

When I was 16, a deer ran into the vehicle I was driving and suffered serious injuries. I stopped as did the traffic behind me. The operator behind me help drag the deer off the road. It was suffering and I come from a hunting family.

All I had available to me was the tire iron from the spare tire kit. One or two blows to the head of the deer knocked it unconscious. The sharp end used to pry off hubcaps was used to sever the jugular and bleed the deer. 40 minutes later, the Game Warden showed up and had some questions for me as to how the deer got injured and who dispatched the deer. He recognized me as a Hunter-Ed student the previous year. He allowed me to keep the deer.

The NH way!!!

The X shot, as many have described, is most likely to yield a quick, humane death.
It is appropriate for most species which may need your intervention.

My Father was a Deputy Sheriff for over 25 years. He put down a number of wounded Deer. Head shot with a .38 Special +P+. Later on when he went to a auto it was .45 ACP.

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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. So my answer is "I'd call 911."

Well, that's good to know. Thank you.

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Originally posted by JAB:
The meat was going to be donated to a needy family so I don't imagine that a gut shot would have been placed.

Gut shooting a deer doesn't ruin much meat, at least in the sense of making it inedible.

There are two big with problems with gut shooting a deer. The little one is that it makes cleaning the deer pretty nasty. The big one is that even with a hunting rifle, much less a pistol, a gut shot deer can take hours and hours to die.

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

This. I have had to put down a couple deer that had been hit on the road with 45acp and this gets it done as humanely as possible.