(Sad) You have 1 shot to kill a horse DRT What rifle and load.

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Ok so I was called to shoot an old horse that you could not get near and all I knew is it was needing put down and the vet would only do it if it was roped and in a corral.

That was impossible with this horse.
So I was thinking what rifle as it could be 20 yards or 150 yards.
I found out in my mind what rifle and load as I wanted ZERO suffering and the target would be the brain.

I had no idea how hard the skull was and if a side shot or head on shot was going to be presented.
I do love my 55 v max .223 but I have skidded a 30-30 round up a deer forehead and the bullet took the top of the skull off.

I do not need any skidding and so i thought heavier bullet would be less prone to change directions and go on and enter the head.
Now I chose my .308 18" heavy barrel savage and the load is a very good one for killing critters.
4064 powder and Lapua neck turned case along with 165 Game King HP boat tail.

That bullet has never let me down all 1 shot kills DRT.

I did get a side shot 70 yards and it died on the spot. Fell like a sack of bricks.
Hate that I had to shoot a horse but the owners were very happy it went quick.
I chambered another round and got to the horse quick just to make darn sure it did not need another one.
No need for another.
Told the horse it is in a better place now.

I deer and hog hunt with the mindset of 1 shot kill but I have killed many of them and know what it takes.

What would you choose in your possession when you have just 1 shot?


You did good.
 
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This was a very very old horse and became blind in one eye and badly infected and had lost about 300 to 400 lbs in the last few weeks is what I was told by the owner.
You could not get within 50 feet of it as it would try to kill you.. like it was mad.
The eye area got bad and was swollen to about a football size and had a hole in the side of the face with maggots eating on it.
They tried for a couple weeks to get someone out to put it down.

No not eating it as it was owned as a pet for a long time.
And the infection was way gross.

No one new it was maggot infested as you could not get near it.

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I studied these pictures and others and knew it was walnut sized.
I was not worried about putting the bullet where I aimed but i did go out the day before and shoot the .308, 6.5 CM and .223 and made darn sure I was on the mark not any of that sighted in 2" high stuff.

I knew where my round hit at 50 and at 100 and at 50 the rounds literally went into the same hole for the .308.
15 MPH winds day of practice and day of shooting.
I felt I did the horse and the owners right.

And i did not accept any cash as they are used to paying for this stuff.

I told her to make me a sandwich.

I never had a Stromboli and it was nearly 2 foot long and all homemade including the bread around it.
I ate on it for a few days as did the grand kid and wife.
Excellent sandwich.
 

HFS

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I told her to make me a sandwich.

I never had a Stromboli and it was nearly 2 foot long and all homemade including the bread around it.
I ate on it for a few days as did the grand kid and wife.
Excellent sandwich.
Thank you sir for being concerned enough to do the right thing by the animal.
On a lighter note, I've never had a Stromboli either. Sounds like a good sandwich.
 

retrieverman

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This was a very very old horse and became blind in one eye and badly infected and had lost about 300 to 400 lbs in the last few weeks is what I was told by the owner.
You could not get within 50 feet of it as it would try to kill you.. like it was mad.
The eye area got bad and was swollen to about a football size and had a hole in the side of the face with maggots eating on it.
They tried for a couple weeks to get someone out to put it down.

No not eating it as it was owned as a pet for a long time.
And the infection was way gross.

No one new it was maggot infested as you could not get near it.

View attachment 368247

View attachment 368248

View attachment 368249

I studied these pictures and others and knew it was walnut sized.
I was not worried about putting the bullet where I aimed but i did go out the day before and shoot the .308, 6.5 CM and .223 and made darn sure I was on the mark not any of that sighted in 2" high stuff.

I knew where my round hit at 50 and at 100 and at 50 the rounds literally went into the same hole for the .308.
15 MPH winds day of practice and day of shooting.
I felt I did the horse and the owners right.

And i did not accept any cash as they are used to paying for this stuff.

I told her to make me a sandwich.

I never had a Stromboli and it was nearly 2 foot long and all homemade including the bread around it.
I ate on it for a few days as did the grand kid and wife.
Excellent sandwich.
The fact that you took the time to study equine anatomy before undertaking this task tells me all I need to know about you. :thumb:
 

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I would use what my dad recommended and it has never failed me since 1981. The undisputed "All American Champ" and at one time the envy of all the world, the inevitable 30-06. And just as we have sporterized and rebarrelled old military rifles to varying cartridges, the rest of the world wisely rebarrelled theirs to '06. I believe it killed a XXXX load of horses in WWI unintentionally and made everyone believers in WWII. Just sayin', ya know.
 
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My grandpa raised feeder pigs, people would come pick one out and he would drop it from 100 ft to farther with a single shot 22. His son my stepdad who raised us came home one time with 85 piglets and we raised them, I was like 7 years old when I was taught to cut their nuts! Well came time to eat one before we ever sold any and my stepdad shot one, ended up shooting it like 7 times before he jumped in the pen with a hammer. He turned to us boys and said not to be telling grandpa!! Haaaa! The brother below me 4 yrs old, first time seeing grandpa he told him dad beat a pig up with a hammer! Been a joke in our family for years. He was a shooter in the military and an excellent shot hunting, but he screwed the pooch on that first pig. He did figure it out and was able to do as grandpa could. It also was a short lived pig operation too. We all hated pigs.

We have had to put hundreds and hundreds of animals down on the farm, from horses, calves, cows, sheep, goats, chickens, pigs and even 2 buffalos and all the hunting we did.

But a horse being put down is about the hardest to swallow in my mind.

Again @swampratt, you did good.
 
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Cold Smoke

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I know a fellow in the mustang program with the department of whoever is in charge of mustangs. Watching them devastate what was once unbelievable native grass pasture will knock the gloss off of them pretty quickly. It’ll be generations before the rangeland could be resuscitated. Not everything with hooves should be wild and free. Sometimes a glue bottle and dog food sack is the best bet. Don’t get me wrong. They have yet to build a machine that comes near a horse for working cows. Not everything that can kick your guts out is a cow pony or something you can trust on the trail.
 

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