Wild Cow Hunting

[SavageSniper]

I remembered an article that I read in Outdoor Life back in the 80's on hunting cows. Not cow elk but the moo-moo kind. They were doing this around the TX-LA area. I can't remember if the hunts took place in the 80's or if it was some time earlier. The author was using a .458, that I do recall. He used the .458 because 1) the size of the critter 2) the hunts were in real thick areas, cane if I remember right and 3) they were really aggressive. My question is have any of you ever heard or participated in a wild cow hunt.

[TX Hunter]

No thats a new one.
I did however hear about a Farmer, who was going broke, and needing money.
He turned his Hogs loose, then ran an add in a hunting magazine.
A bunch of city boys paid him big money for Guided Hog Hunts.

[hogdogs]

I know of many hog doggers that have had their dogs trash on feral cattle... What are you gonna do? Go in there and grab the back legs and tip the cow and stick her with the ol' Buck 110...

Brent

[Nnobby45]

My question is have any of you ever heard or participated in a wild cow hunt.

No. Out here in Nevada that's a felony called cattle rustling.

You might even get to serve time with O.J. at the Nv State Prison in Lovelock.

[phil mcwilliam]

I've hunted feral scrub bulls in the top end of Australia. Most of these cattle have a bit of Brahman in them and are huge compared to Herefords.
These scrub bulls can be fiesty & Ive even seen the occassional one charge a vehicle.
If hunting on foot I would recommend 308 or 30-06 using 180 grain bullets minimum, as this is what we had success with. I went scrub bull hunting with a mate that was using a 270. After 7 chest shots he eventually dropped this particular bull. In my experience 30 caliber seems to work better as a minimum.

[Dannyl]

Hi,
In some of the cattle farms in Namibia it is not uncommon for the odd cow to turn"wild", breakaway from the herd and live like a buck.
Seeing that there is no way to capture them without too much effort and money spent, often they end up being shot as farm meat (by the farmers)

Never heard of anyone hunting a cow.

Brgds,

Danny

[roy reali]

No. Out here in Nevada that's a felony called cattle rustling.

Killing or harming a cow here can also be quite expensive. I can guarantee that the cow you harm will be the farmers prize winning animal.

[rickyjames]

i remember an article about feral cow hunting a number of years back in one of the hunting rags. i don't remember much about the article but it was featured on the front page and it took place somewhere in the south west, texas i believe. the details were the same, high grass, aggressive cows, big bore rifles so yes i saw the article too and no your not crazy. was it a legal hunt? who knows but it was printed.

[Art Eatman]

All along the Rio Grande are breaks of what we call "River cane". That, plus the salt cedar and mesquite, make a hellacious jungle in the bottoms. Upstream from Roma and downstream from Eagle Pass (either side of Laredo), there are feral cattle in these jungly areas.

Some of the bulls have charged trucks or men on horseback.

So, a ton of mean critter with horns in up-close-and-personal situations, what would you use for a rifle? I suggest at least "sorta big". You can find yourself in a sort of Tueller Drill situation, so stopping is more important than killing.

You can also find cougars, jaguarundi, coyotes, deer, javelinas, dope smugglers, people smugglers and probably other interesting creatures.

[davlandrum]

Larry Csonka hunted wild bulls on Hawaii on one of his shows, if I remember right.

[sc928porsche]

Take along a Matador for back up.

[slammedsi]

while not wild, i have to shoot several of my cows a month do to the large number of the herd and the heat. But there is no need to shoot them with a 458. 22mag is all i use. hit them behind the ear and it drops them like a rock..

[Old Grump]

Old next door neighbor used to pasture Longhorns next to me. His bull would take it into his head to go get himself a little alfalfa in the field across the highway and would just walk through the fence. Electric wire, barbed wire and woven wire and not even slow down...or hurry up either he was a slow moving eating breeding machine. To get him back most anybody could walk up to him, grab him by the ring and he would follow you docilely back to his pasture, no hard feelings.

In that same field he had a heifer who was rangy and she spent more time in my garden eating my beans and wild flowers then she did with the rest of the herd. A few days before time to drop her calf she leaped the fence and headed for the DNR forest. This was not a docile creature and the warning went out that if you saw her and you were armed shoot her.

Happy ending, she came back 3 weeks later with her calf, leaped the fence then walked to the gate on my land and bellered till I came over and let her calf into the field. It was the last time she ever jumped the fence but she had been a target for nearly a month. After what she had done to my garden I would have cheerfully shot her if I had found her.

I would not want to deliberately have to go after another like her. She moved through the woods like a deer and was just as quiet when she wanted to be. Glad I never had to milk her.

[troy_mclure]

i know a guy that was spotlighting deer and shot one of his cows, does that count?

[Old Grump]

i know a guy that was spotlighting deer and shot one of his cows, does that count?

Tell it to the judge

When I was knee high to a hiccup our neighbor lost a Jersey heifer to a hunter. The guy did everything right except learn to identify his prey. A Chicago lawyer whose career was winding down as he eased into retirement and he wanted a new hobby. Bought all the gear, drove up to Viola Wisconsin, asked our neighbor about hunting the ridge above his house and received permission.

Saw the Jersey, right color, he didn't know how big they were supposed to be or that deer have antlers not horns. 'Bam', downs the cow. Drags it down to his Cadillac and how the old boy ever got it up on his fender, (I told you this was a long time ago), I'll never know because he wasn't that big.

Next he drove to Milwaukee on his way back to Chicago and when he stopped for gas he was informed by some of the locals of what he had.

He turned around, drove the 150 miles, (and there was no interstate back then), to the farm, dropped off the frozen carcass, apologized profusely, gave his hunting gear, red checked jacket, boots, hat gloves, and new Savage semi-auto 30-06 to our neighbor and asked him where he did most of his trading at. Wheelers Feed Mill he was told. For the next year everything fr0m that feed mill was paid by a check from the lawyer who I presume found a different hobby.

He should have come to our farm but I suppose he wouldn't have shot a Holstein. 20 years later our neighbor was still wearing that coat for a barn coat. Best one he ever had he said.

[Nomadicone]

Never shot a wild cow but have shot and seen a number of domestic cows shot. There is no need for a .458 Win Mag. I always used a .22 LR between the eyes. They go down so fast they hit the ground in less than a second. I guess if I were hunting them as wild game I'd want a larger caliber then a .22 LR but no need for an elephant gun.

[troy_mclure]

my mom worked at a deer check/processing station. she had a guy check a billy goat.

since it was on state land he was able to get a new tag.

[bswiv]

A friend in Mass., actually not to far outside Boston city limits, shot a cow last year. Seems that it had escaped from a farm not to far from where he hunts and hard as the farmer tried it could not be rounded back up.

In fact it had gotten quite wild and my friend had seen it only a couple of times, the cow bolting off as soon as he saw my friend.

My friend finds the farmer and tells him that the cow is on the piece of property he is hunting and that the farmer needs to come get it. The farmer tells him that the cow is more trouble than it is worth and that he just as soon shoot is so that it did not get out into the road and cause a accident which the farmer would be libel for ( It's Mass. you know!).

Took my friend about two weeks to get the cow.......200 pounds of beef and a nice hide...............

[SavageSniper]

Art the area you described sounds just like what I remember reading. Thick cane swamp where I would imagine that they would have trails that they would travel down. I kinda like the idea of being able to hunt wild cattle. Give new meaning to the term "Free Range Beef" I would imagine it would be kinda like hunting water buffalo. I too have killed cattle with a .22 but there is a BIG difference between shooting a steer behind the ear in a pen and having to stop 1000 pounds of charging bull.

[oneounceload]

Places out West where I have lived that have free ranging cattle, many ranchers paint "COW" on the cows. Two out of state hunters when I lived in Colorado thought hunting meant drinking Jack Daniel's for breakfast - one hot a billy goat, the other a mule. When they stopped at the game check station, the state boys were so amazed that the deer tags were properly attached, they let them go back to TX - they figured the embarrassment was enough punishment............

[stevelyn]

There's a couple islands out here in the Aleutians about two hours out from me that have wild cattle on them that people hunt. I'm planning a trip out this fall with a guy who owns one of the islands. The other is owned by a native corporation.

On Sanak, the larger island, folks that lived there were raising beef under a military contract during WWII. Now the cattle and horses just run wild. It's all grass-fed beef.

[Art Eatman]

Sheesh! This thread is NOT about shooting Elsie the Borden Cow or Ferdinand the Bull while he's sniffing flowers.

You go to messing around in those canebrakes with a pipsqueak cartridge, you'd be a bunch better off staying home and culling bobcats.

[GallowGlass]

Fishing for brook trout on the Rocky Mtn. Front,I experienced a"tite" moment.While flippin' spinners into the beaver pond,the willows start movin' & alot of cracklin' snaps.I turned to the ruckus expecting Mr. Grizz.,and to my relief there was She Whiteface on a mission to run me over.All I had was my pole & alot of wind behind my yell.This wild cow was aggressive & wouldn't give an inch.I got a softball sized rock & drilled her in the mellon.End of the encounter in the willows. Lessons are hard learned about protecting your self in the "wild". I carry a gun now! .45ACP

[saltydog452]

Mr. Eatman,

If you can tolerate the heat down there, I envy you. There is good food there even w/o the Chili Fest. I understand Sheriff Jim was wading in those waters also.

Have you seen any chupacara amongst the goat herd yet? Is The Mayor still in apparent good health?

Thank you for your many posts. I appreciate them.

salty

[aarondhgraham]

Back in the early 80's I was a Seismic Explorer, a Doodlebugger,,,
I explored for oil by blowing 60 lbs of dynamite in a 160-200 foot deep hole.

We were down by Quanah, Texas,,,
Real sandy ground down there.

My shooter would hook 200 feet of line to the charge,,,
And drive his truck as far away as possible,,,
The charge was in the bottom of the hole,,,
The hole was then filled with gravel.

Imagine a huge-mongous shotgun pointed straight up.

Well, my shooter drove over a hill and radioed in,,,
I touched off the charge and it went boom.

My shooter didn't see the cow that wandered over the shot hole,,,
Remember what I said about that huge shotgun?,,,
Blew that steer in two separate pieces.

That raggedy arse old steer immediately became the finest prize winning bull in all Texas history,,,
My company ended up paying many thousands of dollars for that scraggely old steer.

.