Shoot the bird?

[muell112]

Whether it's a fast bullet or knife to a targeted area the result is the same: massive trauma that effectively kills the bird. That is how turkey hunting is done too - shot to the head with bullet or broadhead arrow. It effectively kills the bird and the bird doesn't know what happened, because he is just doing his thing and then he is dead. He doesn't get scared because he doesn't get approached. I think it is a very humane way to go.

 

[the simple life]

Its only humane if it works the first time and the animal doesn't have to be shot more than once, sometimes hours apart. That is the debate here.

 

[TarzantheChickenMan]

Shooting is way to dangerous for that matter an ax would be too just to much room for errors.

 

[mxpres]

I don,t know of any one shot kill method that works everytime.nothing is foolproof,If your going to shoot a chicken,be sure of your backstop,be sure of your aim.a gun barrel is a lot closer to a chickens head than an axe,,as far as shooting yourself in the foot,,why would you have your foot so close to a chickens head??a person experienced with a firearm is not going to make foolish mistakes,if your not sure of your abilities to handle a firearm,by all means get someone else to do it for you,,I agree with jaku,their many ways of dispatching an animal,,sometimes with the first blow,or shot,or cut of the knife it works,,but not everytime,we are human,we make mistakes,the main thing is to do it quickly as possible,what works for you and if your comfortable with it,,thats the way to do it,,I have tried several method and have yet to come up with a best way

 

[muell112]

Quote:
I agree. Our kills have all been humane. And there is potential for a range of human error in every method. I am sure everyone realizes that and will do their absolute best to minimize any suffering associated with the killing of any animal.

 

[dancingbear]

Quote:
Hours? I think it would be a odd and rare situation for somebody shooting a meat animal at home, to fail to kill it quickly, and wait hours to finish the job. We recently butchered a hog, (our first time for hogs) shot it in the head, and the first shot didn't drop it as we expected. We certainly didn't wait around to finish the job. He ended up dead in about a minute. (BTW, shooting is the only way we'll be doing hogs, for our own personal safety. This was a massive, strong, and fast animal.)

I think most people do the best they can to dispatch meat animals as humanely as they can. It's good to learn about and try different methods, so you can find what works best for you. It won't be the same for everybody. For example, I've tried and tried to hypnotize a chicken, it hasn't worked for me yet. Others have great success with that.