I have an 800 lb Angus cross steer ready for butchering. What is the quickest/kindest way to kill him? Thanks.

-- Chris McKay (wetgulch@hotmail.com), February 03, 2002

Answers

Am not sure there is a quick, kind way to do it..The butchers I have watched shoot it between the eyes and slit its throat and let it bleed out. It seems to me that they want it to thrash around to bleed out quicker. Sorry only way I know of ...dont think you want to sedate it though.

-- Lynn(MO) (mscratch1@semo.net), February 03, 2002.

The kindest way I've seen is Halal, slice it's throat and they literally fade away. Shooting "between the eyes" is a bit more complicated, draw a line between the left poll and the right eye and the same from the right poll to left eye. with the "X" in mind shoot just right of where they intersect. Use something with more promise than a .22 That's from a book not experience! Hope you get a better answer than mine!

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), February 03, 2002.

You were right. X across forehead. A 22 is enough if you are a good shot. Slit its throat. Watch out for thrashing feet.

-- Rose who has butchered steers (open_rose@hotmail.com), February 03, 2002.

I would think you would want to use a 38 caliber pistol or larger. Tie it up to a fence post, place the barrel right up to its forehead, aiming directly into its brain. When you squeeze the trigger it will immediatly drop to the ground. Immediatley take a sticking knife and stick it in the juggler vain. You will need to do this fast cause you will only have a few moments before the beast will start kicking and lunging around. Once its nerves starts taking over it will be hard to stick it for a good bleed out. This is the kindest way for the steer will not know what happened to him. I do this same way when I butcher a pig at home but only I can get buy with using a 22 rifle on a pig.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), February 03, 2002.

I agree with First stunning by shooting in the X. If you have access to a good block and tackle or a chain fall, shackle a back leg and hoist it upside down before bleeding out. It makes things easier.

-- JJ Grandits (JJGBDF@aol.com), February 03, 2002.

We have had good luck shooting steers directly behind one of the ears (while they're busily eating some grain!), angling the bullet into the brain. They will drop immediately and you'll have a minute or two before the reflexive kicking starts to get a good "bleed". Steers take a little longer to start kicking than pigs do.

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), February 03, 2002.

Marcia sounds right on. Bring the steer in to where you're going to slaughter him, feed some grain on the ground or in a low trough as a treat, then let him out. Keep doing this each day for a few days until he's relaxed with the routine. Then come from behind him with a 12-gauge shotgun at a couple of inches range. He's relaxed and happy, then he's dead - it's about as good as you can do. Not being frightened makes the meat more tender too.

Make sure you know where the brain IS! It's basically behind the eyes when he's standing up, but it's better to come from behind. Animals that evolved to have horns have heavy bone in the front of their heads - probably doesn't matter if you're using a 12-gauge at two inches, but it could with smaller calibres. Also there's no need to make him nervous by stuffing what will look to him like a stick into his eyes from the front. There's a lot of traditionalists who still wouldn't pulp the brain to jelly with a 12-gauge cartridge, but let's face it, in the days of BSE no one wants to eat the brain anyway.

Mind you, a 12-gauge at two inches is overkill, but that's good! Means if you make a mistake, or he turns his head, doesn't matter - the result is still the same. Unless you miss altogether, he's dead. DO be careful though - if you miss you'll have just hurt an 800 pound animal very badly (ENORMOUS BANG) without actually slowing him down more than about half a second. Be pessimistic and careful about what could go wrong here.

NOTE THAT the opposite is true with pigs. They didn't evolve to have horns and the skull bone base to withstand butting. Instead they evolved to root and dig - nothing much on their forehead, but BIG heavy muscles in their neck and attached to the back of their head; and big heavy bone at the back to attach the muscle to. The right way to shoot a pig IS through the front of the head.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), February 04, 2002.

I tell this story on myself. I have a flatbed truck with hydraulic arms on the back for loading/unloading round bales of hay. A guy down the road called to say he had a prolapsed cow he wanted to put in the freezer but didn't want to have to bring in the whole herd to sort it out. Could I help? Took the SKS, dropped it standing in the field, hooked one arm to the front legs, one to the back, put it on the bed and took it to the processing plant. Word got around and I received another call from a woman whose pet cow couldn't get up after birthing. After the calf got the clostrum from her (sucked where she laid with the woman holding one back leg up to expose the udder) it was taken to be bottle raised. The woman was so concerned she moved her other cows out of that pasture (so they wouldn't see what happened) and had me assure her the cow would die painlessly. Found the cow, talked to her a bit, made the X on the forehead, put the SKS against the intersection and shot. She shook her head and just looked at me. Rooted around in the truck and found another bullet. Shot her about an inch higher with the same effect. (At this point I'm not sure she had a brain.) No more bullets, two shots and I just know the woman is wondering what is going on since I assured her it would be quick and painless. Finally got the knife I use to slit the throat and wrestled with the cow (she outweighed me about five to one) until I got her throat cut and she bled to death. Loaded her and took her to the processing plant for someone who paid me the haul bill of $50.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), February 04, 2002.

I had to put a cow down with a .30 Carbine, about a .38special powered round. I came across it in the brush, where the poor animal had slipped a leg on a steep part of earth and dislocated its rear hip. The ground all around the animal had been stripped of anything of food value, there was a large amount of dung directly behind the poop chute, and its eyes were sunken in. It was clearly suffering. It saw me appear, but I skirted the animal in the brush and waited a few minutes. I then snuck up behind the animal, so as to not alarm it, and put a round through the rear of the skull and exiting the forehead. The head dropped to the ground, followed by some convulsive shaking about 10 seconds later. This went on for about 15 - 20 seconds, then stopped. The animal died pretty quickly; I felt bad, but it needed to be done.

-- j.r. guerra in s. tx. (jrguerra@boultinghousesimpson.com), February 04, 2002.

Hey Don, when you use a 12 ga. shotgun do you use birdshots, buckshots, or slugs? I admit that a steer will have a thicker skull than a pig, thats why I recommended at least a 38 caliber. But I have never heard of anyone using a shotgun before.

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), February 04, 2002.

r.h., at a distance of inches you think it would make a difference? Actually, it might - a charge that dissipates energy rapidly would be better than one that charged right on through.

Actually, I'm speaking from mixed experience. I've often used .22 rimfires on sheep, and in one case they didn't do a good job - the sheep were sick, exhausted, and backed up against a tree-trunk trying to defend against marauding crows - and I needed a third bullet for the one that I couldn't get behind.

On the other hand, there was a good herd bull. The cattle bedded down under a particular tree, they'd pretty well cut the ground to powder and it had been eroded away, the bull had got his front leg under a tree root and then stood up. It was either the root break or his leg break. I came back later with an axe and took the root out. However, he was lying there with his leg bent in the wrong place, still caught with the broken leg under the tree root, compound fracture, bone through the skin, and he was never going to be healed, and we'd confirmed that with a phone call to the vet. He needed to be put down, and I was visiting home for a few days. Dad was terribly upset, but the animal needed to be put down, so I took the shotgun from Dad and did it myself - the bull didn't mean as much to me as it did to Dad, so I could do the job without as much upset (although I can still remember saying quite gently "Steady on old fellow, it will all be over soon"). Bulls can be marvellously gentle and friendly animals - just never trustworthy. Then I shot him, from the front as I've been advising people not to do, between and just above the eyes. 12 gauge shotgun though at inches distance, so he could have been wearing a plate-steel helmet and it wouldn't have made any difference. At least it was instantaneous.

Funny thing - Dad still remembers having to put down that animal. I did it, but Dad was so upset about it that doing it was already seared into his consciousness - being relieved of actually pulling the trigger didn't relieve him of the image of having done so himself.

-- Don Armstrong (from Australia) (darmst@yahoo.com.au), February 05, 2002.

In the slaughterhouses they used to use a compressed air power puncher that drove a steel bolt into their brains (sorta like a nail gun). At home we just use a .22LR and cut the jugular vein, and lifting the carcass on a rope attached to the ceiling chain hoist. With pigs, we just slit the jug and lift.

-- al (yr2012@hotmail.com), February 06, 2002.

I don't think either way is much different as far as pain to the animal, I have heard interveiws with people that have had bullets in the head (and lived) most say that there is no real pain from the bullet going in,[the brain it self has no nerve endings to 'feel' anything] and I know of one person that survived a self-inflicted cut throat, in both circumstances recovery was more painful than the event.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), February 06, 2002.