22 for boar and bull???

[VAZTR]

Hi All,

Just sent my paperwork off for Cat A and B, but really don't know what I need.

I have a small farm where I raise pigs and cows (pigs and cow breeds are both small). I spoke to my local gun shop and they suggested a 22 solid will be fine for humanely killing both boars and bulls. But I keep reading that a 22 just doesn't have enough grunt.

Your thoughts??

Thanx

VAZ

[Norton]

TBH I can't say it's something I've done, but I'm seriously doubting a .22 will consistently get through a cows skull.

Personally, I'd step it up to a small centre fire calibre.

Rimfire is for punching paper and busting bunnies. Not inches of bone...

Those are my thoughts anyway.

[Member-Deleted]

If there for human consumption they should be sent to a processor for a start not shot with anything. I can't understand why you would suddenly need a rifle, What did you do before needing a rifle? When we take a sheep from our paddock for our own consumption it's just done with a knife.

[Guliver]

We used to regularly kill pigs on the father in laws farm, .22 though the top of the skull, put them down without a problem.

[VAZTR]

Thanx Guys,

Jaso - we have a mobile butcher who does most of the work but he doesn't do the kill - I've never killed a sheep but I'm guessing you've never killed a pig cause there's sure no way I'd want to be anywhere near a pig with a knife. The animals are new to us, so these will be our first 'kills' - it's also handy to have the gun just in case we need to euthanise them at any time.

Think I'll ask around the other farms, see what they're using

VAZ

[Baldrick314]

Can't say for bull but a 22 to the head will definitely despatch a boar

[Bills Shed]

A 22LR will do the cow at close range with out issue. We use to put a beast in the freezer every year and the mobile butcher would do the cutting. Now the butcher does the lot. He carries a 22LR and will do three or four beasts a day. He has been doing it for years. It is quiet and quick. It is all about shot placement.

Bill

[cruze82]

have done plenty of bulls with the .22lr but its very personal shot placement is important
get yourself a centre fire if you want to be safe

[D9er72]

I use a 22 at an abbatior on beef & bigger pigs where animals r confined , just got hit them in the spot that's all , old bulls need something bigger

[Hennie Dreyer]

Since I can remember, and growing up on a farm, the .22 was THE tool for despatching pigs and cattle (The other calibres were used for hunting etc). These were always done at close range (not more than 3 metres), and with correct shot placement (in the brain)....I never ever witnessed any 'bad outcome', and neither have I heard of any. All of those that I have witnessed ( and believe me there were many) resulted in a 'pole axed' outcome/fashion. To this day I believe this to be a humane way of dealing with farm animals at an acceptable cost, but also because it proved extremely effective. The shooter, though, need to know what he/she is doing

[Norton]

Well there you go, I stand corrected.

I didn't think a ..22 would have the guts for a cows skull. Obviously I'm wrong.

[D9er72]

We shot cows & bulls for years with a 22 lr witha verity off cheap 22 bullets even subs and pistol , bulls have thinker seem of bone downe the middle off the head so aim 2 cm left or right of center and most go down ! We had a bolt gun that did the job if 22 didn't but that was over a 1$ a shot and ya had to watch for sharp horns , 22 is 5-6c and ya could shoot em from a meter away .

[MeccaOz]

Well if you make sure to put it right in the ear or barrel right on top of the head , they will go straight down. Ive done it with horses and sheep, apparently .22LR's are a nightmare for trauma surgeons in the US, because they go in and zip around the body and dont come out, they just destroy the insides, in this case the brain.

[Vati]

"If only he'd been shot with a 7.62mm" they say?