What is the most painless way of killing a heavily wounded mammal?

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MOSFET-Engineer

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Assume the animal’s brain more or less resembles that of an average sized mammal (similar in size and properties of the brain of homo sapiens sapiens). EDIT: Nothing is to be fallaciously extrapolated from this: See my response below.
You aim for the brain point blank, but what angle/impact point do you pick and what kind of round do you use:

A .410, 10, 12, or a 20 gauge slug or a .4 HydraShok AE or a generic .5 AE?

The objective is minimization of expected pain and time to death of the animal. Please establish a ranking on the previously mentioned projectiles based on the objective.

Best regards,

MOSFET-Engineer

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Brains of mammals, while larger or smaller, are constructed in similar fashion.

Assuming that you can get to it, note on all mammals where the back of the skull opens, and the top of the neck begins.

At about a 45 degree angle upward, a shot directed in that area will destroy the pons--the nerve center of the body. This is the body's circuit breaker--destroy it and death is instant.

As for the firearm used to put the animal down, a .40 caliber bullet or larger will usually do the job for medium sized animals. This is assuming that you can approach the animal from the rear and deliver the shot from almost muzzle contact range.
 
Thanks for your informative answer, Powderman.

Suppose you could not do the rear. What's the next best option w.r.t. to the objective defined above: the side or frontal?

Moreover, which of the above-mentioned projectiles would you assume has the highest fatality probability and will optimize the objective defined above?
 
Well, drat. Always a wrench in the works....:D

If you HAVE to do a frontal shot, you have a problem. The skull is thickest in the front. If you have to take a shot through the skull, then I would opt for penetration as opposed to expansion.

For most instances, I'd take a look at a high speed full patch (jacketed) bullet. A 9mm Parabellum--probably a 124 grain or better--would get the nod. Barring that, a .45 ACP loaded to standard ball ammo specs (850 fps or better) will do; so will a .357 with full jacketed loads--or even something shooting a HARD cast bullet.
 
Now I know that the HydraShok is inferior to the .5 AE when the entry is frontal, but doesn't the generic .5 AE beat all the projectiles you just listed (because of larger width)?
 
1. 10 gauge slug
2. 12 gauge slug
3. 20 gauge slug
4. .410 gauge slug
4. .5 AE FMJ
5. .4 HydraShok AE

1. Rear
2. Side
3. Frontal

I think this is the answer.
 
Why no high velocity rifles on your list?

While this is a common question, this thread has a weird feel.

What animal do you have in mind?
 
In some seventy years of shooting rifles, I've yet to see any shot into the brain with a high-intensity cartridge which did not result in instant flop. (Several javelina and whitetail deer, and a few feral dogs.) I'm reasonably convinced that the same holds for shotguns and major cartridge handguns. Since the brain has no nerves to signal pain, any quivering does not represent what we normally think of as "suffering".

I have seen animals bounce about after a brain shot from a .22 rimfire, but, again, no pain in the brain. Just disconnected motor signals to the extremities.
 
The skull is thickest in the front.
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Not necessarily. In some mammals, one of the thicker areas of the skull is the frontal bones. In some, the rear of the skull where you suggested the animal be shot can be thicker. If your upwards rear shot does not pass through the foramen magnum, then it will hit the occiptal or one of the occipital condyles. The occiptial is is often much thicker because of the natural anatomical position of the head relative to the body. The head is supported out in front of the body by the neck muscles that attach primarly to the rear of the skull. In order for the skull to be held in this position with the rear of the skull supporting the rest of the head forward of the muscles, the skull is often thicker there.

On a deer, for example, the frontal bones are thinner than the occipital and the frontal bones are not further protected by much soft tissue, occipital condyles, mastoid processes, or bony ear structures such as the petrosals that are located laterally at the rear of the skull at the corners between the temporal bones and the occipital.

In some seventy years of shooting rifles, I've yet to see any shot into the brain with a high-intensity cartridge which did not result in instant flop.
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I am with Art on this. I have not seen a penetrating brain shot on the hogs I hunt that has not resulted in as he called it, the instant flop. Given that wounded hogs often seem to run into some of the thickest and thorniest brush, down into creek bottoms, and further away from me than when they were when shot, I prefer to use brain shots to drop them in place. And speaking of hogs, while they do have a "thick" set of frontal bones, the interior and exterior aspects of the fronts are quite thin and so what make the bone so thick is a large gap between the bones that is filled with soft tissue. Much thicker and comprised of much more bone is the area at the top rear of the skull where the occipital and parietals meet.

MOSFET-Engineer, any of your calibers would work fine for putting down just about any North American mammal. Given that many animals are much more dangerous when injured than not, I would suggest that whatever caliber your choose that it be fired from a long gun which will makie it easier to shoot accurately from a longer distance and hence keeping you safer.
 
Assume the animal’s brain more or less resembles that of an average sized mammal (similar in size and properties of the brain of homo sapiens sapiens).
Click to expand...
This is a fallacious assumption, Homo sapiens have very large cerebral hemispheres, "lower" mammals do not, birds none at all. A hit to the cerebral hemispheres alone will not kill a human, there are many, many documented cases of people shot in the head who survived. The goal is not to hit "the brain" per se, the goal is to hit a vital part of the brain, i.e. the brain stem. The brain stem (medulla oblongata, pons, midbrain) controls autonomic functions, equilibrium, coordination, and basic sensory functions. So, you need to impact the brainstem. Having witnessed the killing of millions (literally) of animals, the way you do that is to draw an X from each ear to the opposite eye, and shoot where the lines cross. The animal will collapse on the spot.
You aim for the brain point blank, but what angle/impact point do you pick and what kind of round do you use:
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Killing an animal does not take much energy, any of the choices you listed would be sufficient if you hit the right spot. I have seen 2,000 lbs bulls dropped where they stood with a single shot to the forehead from a 22. I have seen rabbits shot with shotguns that run off never to be found. Placement counts.
 
This thread feels very strange. I'm wondering about the motives behind the question/scenario.

The OP also seems to have a liking for the .50AE. Given post count and relative tone about the thread I'd wonder about the experience the OP has with firearms.

Now about wounding animals - I have never shot an animal I had to shoot again to kill. Most of my kills fell where they were struck and died where they fell. In the last 15 years of hunting I can remember about only a dozen that ran for more than 20 or 30 yards before dieing.

Now then I can tell you that a .45acp FMJ will take out a ****** off bull from 20 yards if you hit him in the brain. Found myself facing off with a bull that had broken out of its enclosure from a neighbor's land and in self defense I shot at it with the only gun I had on me at the time - a 1911 in .45acp. It charged me and I took aim and shot. The bull dropped and slid to a halt 10 yards from my position. After checking to make sure my pants were still clean I watched it for signs of life... after several minutes I decided to put another one in its head just to make sure but it was already dead I'm sure. No bull. lol! Anyway I wouldn't want to be in that position again. I KNOW that was a lucky shot and no way do I expect to make a shot like that again.
 
Since you've already wounded the game, its already in pain, is it not? Pushing the animal would only cause it more pain and suffering. If you failed to make a DRT killing shot initially allowing sufficient time for it to expire would be the best thing. If you have to finish it off, a bullet in the ear hole usually does the trick.

Personally I'm a big believer in the high shoulder shot where the spine passes through the blades and enough gun to punch that area out. Take out the spine and you don't track them much at all.
 
This guy is trolling the forums with the same question and same list. Ignore him.
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Must be that same feller that had his toy shot down by us SC boys for messin with a pigeon eradication program.

BTW for those interested word on the dirt road here is it was a .308 that took it out.
 
This guy is trolling the forums with the same question and same list. Ignore him.
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Funny, I clicked this thread, read your comment, clicked to the only other gun site I visit, and it was the first thread showing.

You don't need a shotgun to kill a mammal with a head shot.
 
LOL at the pigeon plane. I wondered.


The term mammal is what weirded me out.
I woulda asked pig, deer, dolphin, grizzly ect....
 
Scorch said...

This is a fallacious assumption, Homo sapiens have very large cerebral hemispheres, "lower" mammals do not, birds none at all. A hit to the cerebral hemispheres alone will not kill a human, there are many, many documented cases of people shot in the head who survived. The goal is not to hit "the brain" per se, the goal is to hit a vital part of the brain, i.e. the brain stem. The brain stem (medulla oblongata, pons, midbrain) controls autonomic functions, equilibrium, coordination, and basic sensory functions. So, you need to impact the brainstem. Having witnessed the killing of millions (literally) of animals, the way you do that is to draw an X from each ear to the opposite eye, and shoot where the lines cross. The animal will collapse on the spot.
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I think witnessing all those animals being killed has been at the cost of understanding anatomy. Even in a "lower" mammal such as the primitive armadillo and in bird that you claim have none, the cerebral hemispheres are pronounced. A quick Google search reveals many article dedicated to avian cerebral hemispheres. Heck, even in the alligator which is evolutionarily lower than birds, the cerebral hemispheres are quite pronounced, though the overall size of the brain is small. Even frogs have them.

http://www.biolbull.org/content/12/4/285.full.pdf
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/48500/48594/48594_gator_brain.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1249087/pdf/janat00540-0104.pdf
http://www.tutorvista.com/biology/nervous-system-of-a-frog

Your directions for locating the brain stem externally for shot placement suffers the exact same problem that people spout when claiming shot placement is everything. Without penetration and trajectory, shot placement is just an external spot. You can shoot animals on your X all day long and not hit the brain stem without the correct trajectory and sufficient penetration to reach it. Put another way, you have provided 2D directions to find a 3D target via another location.
 
The way I figger, I try to hit them in the neck where there's plenty of juices to let the hydrostatic shock to do the dirty work. 'cept that when the eyes pop out, it gives me the Willies. Sometimes a 45 to the head is not as speedy.

With coyotes any Varmint round to the fuselage is usually instant incapacitations.

But, now the disclaimer: I base my facts on my own theory of the facts, not on any real facts, and can't be proven by any reasonable means
 
I hate to push this thread up because I already got my answer and I might incite some anger/aggressive responses by doing so.
First of all I want to thank everyone who gave a serious and relevant response.
Then, I want to address the charge that I’m a “troll” because I posted the content in other forums: My only intention was to get more answers, thus increasing my chances of getting a high-quality, competent answer.
In hindsight, I have to admit it does look a little suspect with the homo sapiens brain reference in there. I only wanted to signify that we’re talking about a big species (like a buffalo, bear or deer).
The extrapolation that I’m anti-gun person or attention-seeking troll, I don’t understand at all. Layman yes, but I respect the 2nd Amendment as one of the most important parts of the Bill of Rights because it defines freedom, responsibility and democracy.
 
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