Dogs....

[Yankee Chicken Ranch]

Here is a little story, I was getting ready for bed . It was about 11:30pm. The Chickens, Geese, Peacock, and Guineas were making more noise then I had ever heard. We live on the national forrest in arkansas. So I grabbed the only flash light that had batterys a AAA one and my trusty marlin .22 rifle. It took me about three minutes to get outside to the chickens. At first I didn't know what to do... A big Rot mix dog was eating one of my chickens. as I raised the rifle I dropped my flash light. So I started shouting where I thought he was running. I am a really good shot. But when you can't see...... I don't think I hit him. After that I turned on all the lights and did inventory. He got a Polish rooster, Lakenvelder hen, and White leghorn pullet. almost nothing left of them. Just when you think everything is safe..... I hate to shoot an animal. But, When it attacks and eats my critters what choice do I have..... I will defend them from all enemys foriegn and domestic!Sorry, I was in the army and had to add that. Just thought I would share lastnight with some fellow chicken friends...

 

[toredano]

Shooting in the dark is bad news.. lol

And a .22 at long range isnt the best thing to do for a huge dog either. You are more liable to either just injure it or miss.. lol
Get a .223 or a shotgun.

We have plenty of people here who had bad run ins with loose dogs getting their animals. It seems a common thing nowadays.Me included. I hate killing anything but when you have invested so much time, energy and money to raise them up, we get fed up with dogs and cats that dont play nice. I dont blame you one bit.

 

[Yankee Chicken Ranch]

Yeah, shouting in the dark is not something I like to do. But...... I do have larger caliber stuff. Most of the time I carry a 9mm and alternate rounds with them cci shot rounds and lugar rounds. Most of the time its just snakes that I have to deal with. the cci shot rounds work great for snakes. but I think after 25 feet they just fall.....

 

[horsejody]

Check with the neighbors. Maybe somebody knows who owns the dog. I hate it when people let their dogs roam. It's a pain in the butt. Be careful shooting a .22 in the dark. The bullet can travel a long way. The dog will be back. Be ready for it.

 

[franko]

Sorry about the birds. I'm sure you put a lot of time and care into them. Well, my advise is shoot the dog with anything you have close to you, day or night. If you gut shoot it, it will more than likely go to it's home. If you do a head shot you have to fool with it. I have no patience for other peoples dogs that kill my chickens. I put a motion light outside the coop and only saw it go off once in a year, by the time I got out there what ever it was was gone. I wouldn't waste my time trying to educate thoughtless neighbors on proper educate of how their dog is not supposed to come on my property and kill my pets. I feel sorry for the dogs that get shot but it's the owners who put their dogs in a situation where they will get killed. Good luck, franko

 

[schmije]

We had a similar situation earlier this year with a neighbor's dog. DH shot at it the first time, but didn't hit it. The second time we weren't home, but the third time DH was finally able to take care of it before it got any more of our girls. We ended up losing four of our nine chickens to the dog. We hated to have to do it, but sometimes you don't have a choice. Our animal control person told us that our only responsibility if we shoot a dog is to bury it.

It'll definitely come back. Be ready.

 

[wombat]

Here's the flashlight technique I was taught for use with an AR-15 ... works with any autoloading rifle, or for that matter, any rifle if you only need one shot ...

Assuming you're righthanded:

Hold the flashlight in the middle with your left hand, so the butt end of the light is on your thumb side. If your arm was down at your side, the light would actually be pointing backward.

You carry the light with your arm up near your face so that it is pointing forward, sort of like you'd hold it if you were going to swing it down like a hammer.

If you need to shoot, you bring the arm across your body at about shoulder level, elbow bent 90 degrees. This points the flashlight forward, and you lay the forestock of the rifle across your left forearm, just behind your left wrist.

That's how I was taught to do it before the fancy rail systems were put on tactical weapons. Hope that helps you bag that dog.

 

[Yankee Chicken Ranch]

The dog will not bother my chickens anymore! And thanks for the advise. The flashlight problem has been fixed. I mounted my charger for my mag light and the kids are not allowed to use it any more.... I don't know why my kids have to take my flashlights and hide them... I guess they are just kids! The one I had the other night was just a little one like a little mag light. not near bright enough... and now when I go out to check the critters I take my 9mm with a tatical mount flashlight laser combo. Where ever the little red dot is! and changed my ammo to hollow points.

 

[nnbreeder]

Another thing to do is to establish safe shooting zones around your property. If you have to, mark trees or posts with reflectors to establish no fire zones. It won't eliminate the chances of accidental shootings but it will help.

 

[rmc85]

Sounds like you need one of these.