If I'm out in the woods, a bull will have a hard time getting at me between the trees. We might play ring around the pine tree a few times, but I'm not running away to give him a good run at me.

As for shooting him...whatever you use for elk should do, eventually. Like Tex said, they won't drop unless you get it right, so be prepared to avoid him for a bit.

 

For putting an animal down I generally use my .357mag, our mobile butcher used a 22mag but these are for stationary animals and headshots as Tex described. Charging animal and all bets are off. My .357 mag would be the smallest I would be comfortable with.

 

if you have to shoot from the side, can you shoot behind the shoulder like for a deer? a moving bull would be hard to hit between eyes.

 

Because in the movies, ALL bulls are angry.

 

I dont know, but i can assure you that having an unexpected angry bull come up on you is scary as hell. I was not armed. I was taking a break from riding my dirt bike. I jumped on and took off, fast.

 

Riding the dirtbike with a rifle "just in case" you might have to defend your life from a raging bull while you happen to be on a break, and not paying any attention to your surroundings is not going to be fun, but sure, go ahead.

 

Were you on private property?


Tex

 

There are hiking trails here that go through pastures with cattle in them. Actual government owned trails that are almost entirely in state or national parks but cross through private pastures with a right of way. I've hiked through these fields (they supply a ladder on the fence for you). Sometimes you'll have to pass right through/by a herd of cattle and you can't really avoid it because leaving the trail would be trespassing.

One time I had a bull who was not entirely pleased with my presence near his ladies and so he gruffly escorted me down the trail until I made it over the fence. All I had on me was a 22 Plinkster as I was really only concerned with snakes and maybe getting myself a rabbit or something. So I got my 22 ready just in case he decided to charge with the plan of basically side-stepping and trying to pop him a few times. I figured there was a pretty good chance that the noise and pain would essentially prod him away from me (as I figure the pain would be about the same as a cattle prod). Dropping him wasn't really going to be an option no matter what I was carrying as even if I put a 44 in his head a charging bull has a lot of momentum and he was likely to run right through me before he died anyway. So focus was on using my superior agility to dodge, and then secondarily on simply scaring him off long enough that I could get to cover. Honestly I think I was probably as well off as far as my safety with the 22 as I would have been with something heavier. Though maybe something with a louder sound would have helped.

 

I still want to go walking back there, so maybe i need to take a rifle with me. if this isnt enough bull****, now my mom tells me she saw a large cat with a long bushy tail out in the yard.

 

If it isn't your property, it might be wise to not trespass. Shooting a ranchers bull because you wanted to walk through his territory could land you in some serious trouble.



Tex

 

Im in the deep south, lots of cotton fields, creeks, cattle farms around. There are now some deer living in the area. I used to only see a single deer every few years, now their are groups of them walking around.

 

thats a good point tex, its private land, but not closed off with fences or anything, it was in the woods that divides our land with someone else. that cow must have came from across a creek that i never cross myself. it runs down the side of our land. that cow was trespassing.

 

What you call a rancher,i call a drunk with some live stock, when they are not throwing kitchen garbage bags off into the creek,they are throwing dead cows into it. I know it didnt accidentally fall off into it because the feet are tied together.

 

but getting back to what would be a good rifle to walk with when situations like this could pop up again, then there is that cat thing. ive actually had a m1a or some sort of scout rifle on my mind lately like that ruger 308 scout, that would be sweet.

 

If he has a nose ring just grab it <G> you lead he will follow. but since yer after a 308, scout rifle will do tha trick, if you wanting to fill the freezer with Mooooo

 

i probably just need to stay out of the woods all together and maybe go for one more walk for old times sake and let that be it. there have been some weird people seen walking out there also now days (they may have been talking about me)..i hear there are some meth labs back in the hills.

 

Grew up on a farm. You get your hands on his nose ring or ear and you can make the angriest of bulls do what you want.

 

would the noise from a gun scare off a bull?

 

Warning shots will probably **** him off. I worked for a rodeo stock contractor for a while, most breeds of cattle are pretty docile, even the bulls. Had a 2500 lb hereford bull we had to pull, push, kick, whstever to get his lazy ass in the trailer. Had a 2000 lb black angus we used 6 foot long prods on from the outside of the pipe panels.

 

Ok let me see if I have this straight
You are planning to go for a walk through some family owned property that isn't clearly delineated from the neighbors , their cattle are crossing over on to the property and you're concerned about being attacked by these domestic cattle.

On top of this your mother has reported seeing a large cat with a "large bushy tail" could this been a squirrel on the window sill?
And meth head, may be cooking on this land.

Do I understand this right?

If you have a side presentation on a bovine it isn't charging you.
PHs carried 450, 500 and 600 doubles loaded with solids to stop a charge from the big 5 (buffalo,elephant,rhino,lion, and leopard) so that covers cattle(buffalo) and large cats with bushy tails (lions and leopards) I'm sure there has been a poacher or two shot buy PHs and I don't figure they change up like golf clubs so it will work on methheads as well.
I would go with at least a 338 or 458 bolt action that way all the bases are covered without the cost of NE ammo and gun. Still go with the solids since you may need to take a head shot on the cow.

 

If its famiky land .

Pay to have it survayed.
Once you know the boundsries for sure. Contact bulls owner tell them they have cattle running loose and your worried about the saftey of yourself or ither small children. Make sure you have that convo/messege recorded.

If it keeps happening shoot it and enjoy alot of steak

 

wonder if they make a magazine fed 600 nitro express? just to be sure......

 

HEYM USA
http://www.heymusa.com/heym_bolt_action.htm

Pretty too

 

AR-10. I love my Ruger Scout, but it wouldn't be my first choice for a charging bull.

 

My backyard couple years ago - no bulls yet...

 

Hey op, are you close enough to the meth lab that you are breathing some in?
Anyway, a good 200 grain bullet leaving the muzzle at the minimum of 2500 fps is the lowest I would feel safe with in that situation. And it would be a Swift A Frame or a solid, if head shots were the most likely..

 

Seriously, most bulls respond well to a chchchchch sound, some you can make a buzzing noise that sounds like a prod and theyll haul ass the other way. If you must put a bull down, depending on what part of the country youre in, you could end up in court, even if the bull was trespassing. With all that being said, a partner of mine was pullin an old mossy horn out of the brush. It turned in him and gutted his horse, he killed it with two shots from his .45LC Ruger Vaquero. Cattle, cape buffalo, bison etc are not as difficult to kill as the great white hunters make it out to be if you have some basic bovine anatomy knowledge. Mobile butchers use .22 shorts, longs or mags at the base of the skull to sever the brain stem in a pen. On the range you could get by with a .38 or .223. Now with that being said, when im gathering brush cattle, i carry my .45LC ruger vaquero and my .32 win spl model 94. You certainly couldnt go wrong with a .44 mag. All of which would be fine for a rabid meth head or a crack addicted squirrel or cat.

 

I'd take my EDC barret .50bmg out of my backpack, point it at the ground directly by my feet, and shoot as fast as I can. That will launch me up into a nearby tree where I can have a vantage point. Then I'll take out my 9mm glock and toss it down near the bull.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!! Looks like I'm having beef tonight ladies and gentlemens

 

MMMMM steak and potatoes.

Wait, what were we talking about. Oh yeah. Fences. I recommend an electric fence. Cheaper and easier then putting up a 5 wire barbed wire fence.

Call the Sheriff if there is a dangerous animal repeatedly wandering onto your property. Let them shoot it, if it threatens anyone.