Dispatching with head shot. Anyone do it?

[Egghead_Jr]

I'll be using the trusty hatchet on the last three culls next week. Will be able to tell if the saddle and wing tip fathers pluck as easy as the pellet pith bird. If not then pithing by pellet will be the preferred method here. It seems some can't wrap minds around 75ft being a non-skilled shot. With the right equipment (scope and bi-pod) there is only patiently waiting for the right shot. Nothing manly or added extra effort to accomplish. If it wasn't raining 50ft would have been the mark but there's no difference in shooting those two distances.

The manly thing is to use a blind and take a white tail deer with a .22 pellet via head shot. Now that's bragging rights only by power plant used. The shot if under 150ft not hard with bi-pod and blind. Just a lot of waiting...and waiting...and waiting in the cold and elements for the right one to come along and present itself for the right shot. That's manly.

 

[trudyg]

mine had lung cancer and the after effects of radiation leave him very weak and unsteady. We do what we must. As long as it's a quick kill, it doesn't really matter how you get it done.

 

[shortgrass]

mine had lung cancer and the after effects of radiation leave him very weak and unsteady.  We do what we must.  As long as it's a quick kill, it doesn't really matter how you get it done.

True.

I personally think just OWNING a gun is a specific skill lol, just hear me out.

I used to be a vegetarian PETA gun control anti military freak, even though i had to climb over a shotgun every day just to check cows; I hated shooting things, seriously!

Ok then I grew up... Anyhow, I never owned a gun, never wanted a gun, in fact, I was the jerk that used to drive up and down the roads on the Grand Mesa, honking my horn and scaring the deer away from the hunters.

Yeah, it was horrible

Fast forward 15 years, I'm hungry, that deer tasted really good that my buddy brought over, maybe hunting isn't so bad.... Ok now I own a gun, and I can shoot big stuff, and my daughter isn't scared like I was and does need "target practice", as I get grumpy when she uses the blue jays at the birdbath for practicing aim....and I can get the tomcat with a pellet to the behind, but I'm WOMANLY enough to admit I would miss DH won't miss, and it might save him wrestling a dying bird, so its worth a shot.

I wasn't thinking of donning the face paint and taking an uzi to the flock lol... As previously posted, it can come in quite handy if you need to cull and can't catch the dumb things lol.. And hey, if you happen to own a gun, and have the skill to use it safely without freaking out, then by all means, whatever is easier for everyone or thing involved gets a least a try in my book


Edit* this reminds me of why sometimes it's just easier and faster to actually saddle the horse and rope and work one calf, than get the 4 wheelers out and run the whole herd in for one calf... I guess it depends on who you ask, which one is actually more efficient, especially if you lack the skill of owning or riding a horse

 

[big medicine]

I'll be using the trusty hatchet on the last three culls next week. Will be able to tell if the saddle and wing tip fathers pluck as easy as the pellet pith bird. If not then pithing by pellet will be the preferred method here. It seems some can't wrap minds around 75ft being a non-skilled shot. With the right equipment (scope and bi-pod) there is only patiently waiting for the right shot. Nothing manly or added extra effort to accomplish. If it wasn't raining 50ft would have been the mark but there's no difference in shooting those two distances.

The manly thing is to use a blind and take a white tail deer with a .22 pellet via head shot. Now that's bragging rights only by power plant used. The shot if under 150ft not hard with bi-pod and blind. Just a lot of waiting...and waiting...and waiting in the cold and elements for the right one to come along and present itself for the right shot. That's manly.

You want manly ? ( or womanly, or kidly for that matter). I've got the perfect event for you. The Greene County (Ohio) Fish & Game Association has their annual Groundhogs Day egg shoot, the first Sunday of February. This is put on by the black powder guys at the club. This shoot is open to anyone, providing they are shooting a muzzleloader, firing a single patched round ball, with open iron sights. No scopes, shaders, or peep sights.

For fee of $20 last year, which includes a good hot lunch, you get the privilege, when your number is called, to come to the firing line and attempt to shoot a chicken egg (pretty good facsimile of a chicken head, size wise ) suspended from a string at 20 yards. Now this is standing offhand shooting, (no bench, no rest, no bi-pod). If you break your 20 yard egg, you get to try the 30 yard egg next time up. If you miss, you shoot at the 20 yard egg again next round. There are a line of eggs suspended at 20, 30, 40, and 50 yards. For every egg you break, they will give you a playing card that is redeemable for a whole frozen chicken at the end of the shoot. The actual firing line is covered, but you are out in the elements for the most part. There have been several years where we have had snow, try picking out a white egg against a snow background (some years they will give the 50 yard eggs a touch of spray paint if it's a cloudy day).

Let me tell you a event like this will separate the shooters from the bangers.

 

[sdm111]

The adult air rifles and pellets currently available today are well up to the task of killing a chicken. Or coon, possom or feral cats also. I have a gamo and if one did not know it looks feels and is the same size as my .17hmr

 

[GeraldandWanda]

I'm a hatchet man myself but as mentioned the capturing of birds is troublesome and have not even attempted it in their new 1600 square foot run. Yes grabbing a few at night was/is my new mind set of capture but that has to be planned prior and as of yet have not done so this year. Take today for example, I thought of grabbing one or two cockerels from coop at 5 a.m. but checked weather report and looked to be a fair day for a little painting outside as it was only forecasting cloudy until late afternoon but wouldn't you know it after letting the birds out at 6:30 it started to sprinkle. The thought of hand of God sniper execution is really appealing to me as I can without fuss dispatch on a whim.

Does anyone, has anyone, dispatched with head shot? Do they drop in place or flop about? And am I correct in assuming it's 1/2 to 3/4" behind eye for brain shot?

I dispatched a sick chicken yesterday with a 22 to the brain pan. The bird went down and was still for a few seconds, then began to flap. The rest of the flock all let out the danger warning sound and then all lined up side by side to watch me bury it. They were indeed startled and then curious.

 

[WI chickens]

I dispatched a sick chicken yesterday with a 22 to the brain pan. The bird went down and was still for a few seconds, then began to flap. The rest of the flock all let out the danger warning sound and then all lined up side by side to watch me bury it. They were indeed startled and then curious.

That's the only way I dispatch chickens. I use a .22 cal pellet gun. I remove the bird from the area of the other birds at night and set it down. It won't move. Then I put the muzzle directly to the head.

 

[Painted Calls]

I also use a .22. I wrap them securely like this:

Then I lay them on the ground and talk to them as I put the barrel right to the top of the head and squeeze the trigger. Over quick, and no room for error.

 

[GeraldandWanda]

Lol yeah I had to run your idea bybthe DH... He thinks its a grand idea and doesn't think thecrestbof the flock would be bothered; they might go check it out

He mentioned that if you don't want the birds to run amuck and make a mess, a heart shot would stop the "throes" but I don't know how you would go about hitting them in the heart after hitting them in the head..

Target practice lol, smaller cage so they can't run too far... Could be interesting

I made the mistake of shooting a chicken who was mortally injured near the flock. They all let out the loud warning distress call and were a bit scared of me for the rest of the day.