Best coup d' grat for a wounded animal? (very violent, duh)

In My Humble Opinion
1

I been in a few cars that have hit deer before (Northwestern Colorado has the largest migration of deer in North America). Once I had a .22 rifle in the car, but others we didn’t. And just this past weekend I botched a shot on a fox and got 'em in the ass and had to shoot him a second time in the head (which ruined the trophy a little)(but I was more concerned with it dying quickly).

How would you kill a wounded animal with a gun? I fear the .22 might richocet off of the head, even at point blank, on larger animals (and I hunt 400lbs boar). Would a certain chest shot be more effective as a rule? Maybe a side spinal shot?

(skip next section if queesy)
Without a gun? I tried to use a tire iron on the back of the neck of the one deer that was hit, but it was still kicking and unfortunately it took a few hits before it stopped moving. (Sad but true- but it had its rear legs crushed, so I really felt it was necessary to end its life) Would there have been a better way using commonly found things in a field or a car? Afterwards I thought that maybe I could have shoved the tire iron in its eye when it quieted down a bit, but I don’t know. I carry a pocket knife, but that is a bit tricky if its head decide to move (or it tries to bite).

It is gross and violent, but I do have to put animals down quite a lot (my FIL is a forest manager and culls the sick, old, etc. and I help when visiting). Plus hitting deer sucks and happens.

-Tcat

2

tomcat,

I dunno about you but I wouldn’t count on a .22 to put down anything bigger than a rabbit for sure, it’s just too small of a caliber. If I was going to have something in the truck specifically for finishing animals in distress it would probably be a 12ga shotgun loaded with slugs. You can find a single shot 12ga for the price of a .22 and that has a heck of alot more stopping/put down power than a .22, IMHO.

Also. . . I would never get anywhere near any large animal that was wounded if I didn’t have a gun in my hand and only then would I get only close enough to get a clean head shot off. Going at a deer with a tire iron is not something I would ever consider, too dangerous. I’ll just call the warden or the SO and let them finish it off. It’s not worth risking my life to end a animals quicker.

3

Missing: gut-shot deer recently hit by a car that’s wandering around with a tire iron hanging out of it’s eye socket. Answers to the name “Lucky”.

4

I think you meant “coup de grâce”.

5

My friend is a police officer and recently came across a deer who had been hit and severely injured, but still alive. He shot it SIX times in the head before it died. He said it kept blinking at him and trying to get up.
He used some sort of shotgun, but since I’m completely gun-ignorant, I have no idea what guage or anything. Whatever standard issue is for police officers.
Anyway, poor thing.

Another friend of mine is a police officer in Sydney, Australia. He was called out for a report on a “mad” dog (I don’t know if it had rabies…is there even rabies in Oz?). The dog started coming at him, foaming at the mouth. He shot it twice. It kept coming. He got in his car. The dog lept through the open back window. He and his partner got out. He fired a bunch more shots into the car, trying to keep out of the way of the dog lunging at him through the window. He finally killed the animal but had a lot of 'splainin to do.

6

Yes, you can kill large animals with a .22, especially if they’re cooperating by holding still. Slaughterhouses use bolt guns, which are essentially .22 sized contained weapons. My contained, I mean that the projectile is attached; it slides out at a high rate of speed and retreats back into the barrel. I don’t know the exact mechanics of this.

When I was taught to slaughter livestock, I was taught to draw an imaginary line from the animal’s ear or horn to the opposite eye. Do this on both sides. Where the line crosses is where the braincase is, is the thinnnest part of the skull, and is the most reliable and humane place to use to put it down. I used this method to successfully put down severely injured wild animals when I was an animal control officer as well, although most of those were smaller.

I think it would be fairly easy to find on a deer, although I don’t know about hogs. Their skin is pretty tough, isn’t it? I know that’s the exact spot that I shot a bear once, and although I was using a higher caliber rifle, I have no doubt that a .22 would have done the job. I am, however, not crazy enough to go bear hunting with a .22.

7

I hope nobody comes in here and freaks out about the subject, because it’s important. There is nothing meaner than leaving a badly wounded animal to suffer and only die eventually. When my uncle hit a deer, she was able to get away but they found her aways off in terrible agony hours later.

If it were me, I wouldn’t want to approach a scared and/or wounded animal without a gun. That animal has no idea that I am trying to ease their misery, and I could get hurt or killed for my trouble. I would probably say a .357 or a .45 would do it.

And I would never risk a heart or spine shot. WAY too iffy. Head is the surest bet.

8

This is going to sound horrendous I am sure, but it is asked in good faith. We have just gotten a car, and where we live it is not uncommon for people to hit moose or deer or other animals. Firearms are out of the question however, and to be honest I am not sure I would have the physical (or mental) strenght to beat an animal to death. Realistically speaking, I will probably never be in the situation where I am so far from civilisation that I cant have a policeman or whatever there fast, but I was wondering what I would do. The only thing that came to mind, and what I was going to ask about, is how effective/horrible/etc it would be to drive over the animals head? I feel awful even asking, but as somone said, this is an important and relevant issue where knowledge can help prevent further suffering.

9

I have read that the most humane way to euthanize a horse is the method bowert stated - draw an imaginary X across the forehead from ears to eyes and shoot. In fact, the book I was reading suggested that no one should go on a trail ride without at least one member of the party carrying a gun in the event a horse was injured badly enough to be put down.

StG

10

Hard to talk about.

My Lab died last August. I was going to have to put her down before the winter, so I was ‘lucky’ that I did not have to go through with it.

I WAS NOT GOING to put her down myself. We had already called the Vet and found out the procedure for him to do it.

In any case, as fate would have it, a friend of mine DID put his dog down at about the same time. I was stunned.

He used a .22 LR to the head. I did not quiz him too much, but he shot her in the head. He said it was fast, instant.

Another aquaintance accidently backed up over his familys dog. He too used a .22 to the head.

I would think that a .22 LR to the head should be fairly quick for a deer. Do it three times to be sure.

As EJ said, you don’t want to, or may not be able to get close. But a .357 or .45 would be better if you can’t get a good shot. Unfortunately, if you miss with something like that, you could kill someone else/do damage. The .357 may go all the way through. Depends, depends, depends.

IMHO, if I had to put down a deer. And I was sure I could get within 2 feet of the head, I would choose a .38spl or 9mm hollow point.

Last winter, we had an injured moose in our yard. It was licking all the road salt off my car. It had a bad back leg. We called wildlife control and they showed up REAL fast. The animal still walked pretty good, and managed to walk away in deep snow.

The wildlife officer had a 9mm. But I don’t doubt he had a rifle or two in the truck. But it makes you wonder. I almost asked him if I should get a rifle.

It’s been a bad year for our best friends.

11

Are we talking rifles or handguns here? Out of a rifle, a .22 would be adequate at short range, and there’d certainly be no need for anything as massive as a .357 or a .45… Out of a handgun, I have no idea.

Up here, firing a rifle on a road is a priori illegal, but if it’s the only humane thing to do, then you might get off… Out in the boonies, I’d take a court case against me over an injured animal on my conscience most days of the week. Anywhere more civilised I’d be calling police/ CO’s for help and/ or blessing before pulling a gun out.

Just a few weeks ago on the range (paper targets, wood chip surface) I watched a lever-action carbine (not sure what caliber, but nothing monstrous) send a ricochet (off what? we’ll never know) up 6 feet and over 5 to cut the cable 25 yards behind the target on which we had the moving deer target set up for later use. Who knows where it went after that? So I’d be very hesitant to take a shot on a paved road anywhere near people and/ or cars. I’d hope the ``pros’’ would have a highly frangible bullet to reduce that risk…

12

A friend of mine stopped recently to help a woman who had hit a deer. He stepped on the deers throat to suffocate it. He wasnt very happy with the method but it did work eventually.

13

This would probably just cause more pain and stress for the animal. The skulls of many animals are not easily crushed. Many years ago, I saw a Chicago bus (4th one down) run over the head of an opossum with front and rear wheels. Those buses weighed close to 24,000 pounds unloaded, much heavier than your car. The creature was still alive 30 minutes later when animal control arrived.

14

Am I alone in thinking that an injured deer is a bit big to be fooling with without a gun. The first order of business when you hit a 'roo in Australia is to make sure it’s not going to injure you if you attempt to clear the road. I think all the motoring organisations recommend calling the police rather than do-it-yourself killing methods.

15

The problem with calling authorities, especially here, is that it will take hours before they respond. That’s why I wondered about a non-gun way as well. Stepping on the throut sounds good, but that’d have to be one hurt non-moving deer. The one I had to kill by hand was still struggling a bit.

Thanks bowert for the info. Sounds like a .22 should work with that.

16

Somebody put down their own dog?!? Holy flurking schmidt. I’m not sure I could, even if he was in terrible pain.

A strange animal is one thing, a member of the family is something else entirely.

17

If you hit an animal, I think the best thing to do would be to just leave it be, and call animal control. No use putting undue stress on the animal, and yourself, if you try to kill it quickly and it doesn’t work.

18

Throat slitting seems to be the most popular method around here.

19

I’m with Berkut, I nearly always have a knife on me (a Gerber Gator) and have had to use it a couple of times to put down a wounded animal by cutting its throat.

I once had to put down a wounded yearling calf that had been caught up in some concertina and dragged up against the armor and track at the rear of a M-1. My CO was the observation officer for a hasty attack exercise involving an armor company. They had to breach a line of concertina using a tank with a plow and then attack a lightly entrenched platoon. Somehow we missed seeing a small herd of cattle on the maneuver range and when they breached the obstacle the wire whipped around and caught up the calf. The wire then wrapped up in the tracks and wound up in the rear drive–dragging the calf with it. warning graphic all 4 legs were badly broken and its head had been caught up against the track and partially crushed. The hair had been ripped off of half its head and you could see part of the brain. yechh

We thought it was dead until it started trying to lift its head and lowing piteously. When my CO and I drove up the crew was just standing over the calf and the driver, who was a young private, was nearly in tears over the whole thing. Turned out they were all city boys and had no idea what to do. I ended up have to put it out of its misery with my knife and had to spend the rest of the day (hot Texas summer) in a uniform stinking of cow and blood – had to observe 3 other companies doing the assault before heading back into post.