Moo-cow headshot - caliber?

[mtmuley]

Dang you beat me to it!

Rokslide beef. mtmuley

 

[Nick87]

I know for a fact a .300 Weatherby mag works pretty good on a horse at around 20 feet.

 

[Rie Bread]

22 in the right spot in the ear

 

[noharleyyet]

 

[JV842]

I’ve literally done thousands…my uncle had a custom slaughter side to his wild game processing n I was the kill guy….22lr works just fine…straight on, between the eyes left to right, up and down depends on the angle; your actually aiming for the “foramen magnum” the hole in the back of the head where the brain stem n spinal column are. After I would split em, I would usually find the 22 slug in the spinal column. Make sure not to use hollow points!!!! Drops em like a sack of potatoes

 

[WildWill]

Dad's 45. 1911 with a FMJ has yet to fail.

 

[Dakotakid]

Last one I was involved with entailed a 357, a tractor and a little rush job.
Tbone was a steer a buddy had been finishing on ground peas. He was a voracious hoover of peas reaching ideal size when we came by the friends house. The evening we arrived, Tbone as usual consumed his share of peas as well as shares of the other cattle to the point that he bloated, was wheezing.
A shot to the ear, lifted him up with tractor and a quick split, disrobe and we put him in a cooler to hang.
Extra knives, a tractor loader and a cooler are extra helpful tools, besides heavy tables.

 

[MThuntr]

HuntTalkMan would be proud of all this talk about head shots!

 

[Valley1320]

I've seen some steers soak up a .22 in the head a few times. Unless you get it in just the right spot.

Edit just noticed you said mag probably makes a little bit of difference.

I shoot alot of beeves with a regular 22 but usually try to use something with a lil more power on a older beef.

 

[Moserkr]

Thanks guys, great comments as expected. This is a pasture cow, not a bull, but she is full grown. Will come right in to a bucket of feed for the shot, we are not keeping a skull. The last thing I want is a rodeo. There is a tractor on site but not big enough to lift the whole cow up which is why we are opting for the gutless method on the ground. Once in pieces the tractor can load the remains into a dump trailer.

Most meat will be ground up in a big grinder. Since she is not grained, the steaks wont be prime. Still making some ribeyes, filets, tri-tips, shanks, and ribs. Will have a lot of ground meat bags, vac sealer for steaks, big coolers, big tables, and sharp knives.

We own and have access to an assortment of firepower. One concern is enough power to drop her, which seems like most anything will do. Biggest concern then is not having a shot open up the lumpy jaw and contaminate any meat. Leaning towards my .357 with a hair trigger. Will see if someone has a bolt .22 mag though.

 

[SaskHunter]

That air punch thing the guy with the Oompa Loompa haircut uses in No country for old men.

 

[Nick87]

That air punch thing the guy with the Oompa Loompa haircut uses in No country for old men.

Scroll up lol. I enjoyed that description though.

 

[SaskHunter]

Scroll up lol. I enjoyed that description though.

I refuse.

 

[Doublecluck]

I had this buddy, we used to hunt dove on his place. He had this aggressive cow that used to come after people. One day he’s like we should go hunt by the pasture. I was like yea there is a pile of birds but what about that cow. He’s like I’m tired of that cow, I don’t care what my wife says, that thing comes after us today and I’m shooting it and butchering it. I thought he was joking. So, and there we were, 1911 point blank, dropped it where it stood.

 

[Jbotto]

I've seen some steers soak up a .22 in the head a few times. Unless you get it in just the right spot.

Edit just noticed you said mag probably makes a little bit of difference.

A few of these stories sound familiar to me too. Used a .22 for a long time as that’s what my dad always used. One rodeo was enough for me and I went to a .357 Mag and haven’t looked back.

 

[Treeshark]

Staysharp would have been in heaven with this thread.

 

[Bryerific]

Sounds like you are getting a good idea of a plan. I’m not sure what the terrain is like where you’ll be slaughtering it and maybe it is just a flat field, but my contribution to this thread will be to recommend you consider butchering location just as much as the shot itself (you probably are already) and to think through what might happen and what you’d do if the first shot doesn’t do what it needs to do. Probably unlikely, but I know some folks that learned the importance of not letting a wounded cow get into a thick draw. Now they are more careful of where on the property they do it and have switched from a 22 to a 223.

 

[EYJONAS!]

22 250 55gr vmax

 

[Sheltowee]

22 250 55gr vmax

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You shot Bevo? #HornsDown

 

[SaskHunter]

22 250 55gr vmax

View attachment 351621

Rite in da fuggin' head!