coup de grace

R

roy reali

New member
How do you all finish off wounded birds? I have seen all sorts of methods. One was very unique.

I was pheasant hunting in Southern California on a private preserve. The owner and guide was a very large African-American man. I mean he was NFL linebacker size. Nicest guy in the world. The first bird I shot was brought back by the dog very much alive. I grabbed the bird and then he took it from me.

He had the bird in one hand held up against his chest. I'm looking at the bird and after a few minutes it goes limp, dead if you will. I did not see him ring the neck or do anything to the pheasant. I asked him what happened. He said he placed his hand on the birds chest and squeezed his fingers over its heart. The pressure shut the heart down and the bird expired. Very clean and very quick. I have tried that method without any luck. He had big hands so that may be what I am lacking.

So, how do you all finish off birds that are not quite dead? Anyone have a unique method they would like to share?
 
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I just grab the head and spin the body fast and hard a couple times, it breaks the neck if you do it right. But the best way to do it is shoot em again, although some people think this is unsportsmanlike but if you ask me a wounded bird getting shot on the ground is better than a wounded bird getting away.
 
The squeeze method works good after you get it down, squeeze right where the wings join the breast, I usually do it with the bird upside down because its easier.
A good squeeze right at the base of the skull works well too, it separates the spinal cord from the brain stem and its lights out.
 
I used to wring the neck til an old farmer said that looked too much like work... He grabbed the neck in his fist, and took his thumb right at the base of the skull and pressed in. Like if he had nails, it would sever the neck... he said it "clipped" the spinal cord.

Brent
 
I usually twist the head around a few times to break the neck. I was duck hunting with a guy one time, who was an interesting character to say the least. When his dog brought back a wounded duck he picked it up by the neck, right under its head, opened his mouth, and put its head between his molars. Cracked its skull and dropped it in the boat. Never tried it, and never hunted with him again.
 
Surely one can figure out numerous ways to quickly dispatch a wounded bird or any other animal for that matter. And, other than trying it on yourself it would be hard to prove which is the most painless.


Why don't we dwell on the most mentally unpleasant pictures for the minds of all the anti hunters out there?
 
My dogs bite their head so it is dead when I get it. Used to do a crack the whip on em, worked for me. Wrung the neck of a quail Ishot, dowen the road that quail was running around the inside of my truck bed. Popped the head off and he expired.

Anti hunter message, I belong to peta

P eople
E ating
T asty
A nimals

:)
 
ducks & geese get their skulls crushed by grabbing the body and smacking the head against something hard (blind, tree, gun stock). Doves & quail, i smash their head between my thumb and forefinger.
 
He said he placed his hand on the birds chest and squeezed his fingers over its heart. The pressure shut the heart down and the bird expired.
Click to expand...

This is a method we were taught for killing small animals for scientific preparation. We learned to do it in mammalogy with mice. It is fairly quick and should only take seconds, not minutes, but you must be careful not to actualy crush the bones.
 
i just break their necks. its quick and easy. if its a turkey or big angry goose ill just shoot them in the head. its the way i was taught
 
With dove and quail I just pull the heads off with my thumb and forefinger. It pops right off and I can get back to shooting birds;)
 
I don't do much bird hunting. The only ones I have ever had to finish off were too wild to pick up. They got quick head stomps (brutal, but effective). You know... I can honestly say, none of those wounded birds were shot by me (mostly because I hunt fowl so little).

If I did have to finish something off, I would probably use the "spinal separation" method (holding the neck, and applying pressure to the back of the skull, until it pops). This is the same method I use on birds, mice, and rats my cats bring in the house. I pick the body up with a paper towel, hold firmly, and apply pressure to the base of the skull (from the back) with my thumb. When you feel, or hear the "pop", you'll simultaneously witness all activity cease in the animal. It works well*, and very quickly. I have done it dozens, and dozens of times.



*The method failed me once. The cats brought in a mouse that was mortally wounded. It had puncture wounds in its chest, with an audible pneumothorax (sucking chest wound, which results in collapsed lungs and pressure on the heart), had many broken ribs, had a missing leg, had no tail, and appeared to be in the last throws of death. I picked it up, gave it the neck "pop", and it was 'lights out'. He went into the trash can, in sub-freezing weather.

In the morning, I took the trash out. ...Only to be surprised by that damned mouse running around on three legs, like nothing had ever happened. He lived through a freezing night in an empty trash can, with the pre-existing wounds, and a broken neck. I couldn't kill him again...
I pulled the tough bugger out, and let it go in my neighbor's wood pile. :rolleyes:
I saw the cats playing with it a couple weeks later, but he managed to escape again. Toughest mouse I've ever encountered.
 
Only birds I have ever shot are grouse, I just step on the head and pull on the legs to pull the head off.

If I ever get to hunt other birds of any kind I will do the same unless the laws say the heads must remain attached for identifying sex or species.


Michael Grace
 
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