*#@**!! POS .22 rifle...

S

Scruit

New member
I found a possum outside my house yesterday - it had been hit by a car, and was lying in pool of blood. As I approached it I realised it was still alive, bleeding from the mouth, ears and it's back end was paralysed. It looked at me, yawned, and bled more, then just looked at the floor, at the puddle of it own blood...

This broke my heart. I went back to the house and got my rifle. I couldn't just stand by and watch this animal suffer. It was obviously going to die, and slowly at that.

My wife asked why I was getting the .22 out, and I told her. She came out to look at the animal because I wanted a second opinion on if putting the animal down was the best thing to do. When sh saw the sorry looking thing she agreed that we had to do the humane thing.

I knelt down, about 10 yards away, loaded up with a .22LR hollowpoint, aimed at the animal's temple, and told Amy to look away. Then I fired.

The bullet struck it's head right where I aimed. To my horror, instead of just dying on the spot it began to writhe in more pain. I fired again. Again the animal took a bullet to the head, and again it continued to writhe and struggle. Then a third shot, and a fourth, before it was finally still. A total of 6 seconds.

Amy also thought it would die on the first shot, and had turned around and watched the last 3 shots. She was freaked. :eek: I knew once I pulled the trigger there was no going back. It was messy, but it had to be done.

So this is why I'm so pissed off... Either that Possum is a superhero, or the rifle is a wussy little squirt-gun that is incapable of killing anything. All I wanted to do was put this little critter out of it's misery, but it's last few seconds were probably 10x worse. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

What gives? This thing had four bullet holes in it's head but until the 4th shot it was still struggling vigoroursly... This .22 is gonna have to be limited to paper targets and rats... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif
 
The skull is a hard target, and hollowpoints don't penetrate very good. Try shooting through some boards some time. Use some .22 hollow points in one area, then some solids in another. The results will likely surpise you.

Use solids for head shots, HP's for for the body. single round through the lungs would have been very quick, especially compared to what you just described.
 
I'm not so sure the problem lies with the 22lr.Throughout my short life, I have had to dispatch injured animals from time to time.I have used the 22lr on everything from horses and hogs to cattle and house dogs. These were not hunting or recreational events. These were in your face, I want you dead now events. The only animal that I ever needed more than 1 shot was a possum. I won't go into details, but it was the hardest animal to kill that I have seen.

Because it was so tough, I did a little research.
The opossum has not changed since the days of the dinosaur. They are survivors. Outside of man, there are very few animals that will eat them. Most dogs won't even pick them up. They have more teeth than any North American animal.They eat everything.A post mortem on one revealed thatnearly every bone in it's body had been fractured and healed, including several skull fractures.They are tough, and they don't die well.

BTW, I don't want to give the impression that the 22lr is my Cal. of choice for this nasty business. My Rem. 1100 short barrel 12 Ga. works much better.

Redfrog
 
My guess is that the possom was dead instantly after he took that first shot to the brain. What you saw was reflex action. A brain shot hog will often kick like crazy for several seconds also.
 
Well guys,

Believe it or not the .22LR is the (HSUS) recommended choice for euthanasia for such instances as described above. When no other method is available. However, there is a method to doing it, a side of the head shot is not acceptable, the way to maximize effectiveness is by making an imaginary line from the left ear to the right eye, and from the right ear to the left eye, where the lines would intersect is the most effective placement of your bullet.

If the animal is on a hard surface and ricochet is a danger, move it to softer ground so that the bullet is less likely to travel, and even then, chances are that the animal will squirm from involuntary muscle movements. I used to have the manual that described the process in great detail, but have lost it over the years.
 
Possums are just dang tough to kill. Short of blowing up the carcass, they tend to always show some resistance to immediate expiration. The only one I ever saw give up on the spot was shot at 10 steps with a 17 Rem. 22's just seem to make them mad.

Rick
 
Possums have skulls like USGI issue kevlar helmets, very hard heads. I have put down near 30 chickens since I was 6, 13 now, I have only had one not squirm after being shot, he dropped instantly for some unkown reason, going to shoot 2 roosters soon, maybe tommorow, going to use my ruger 10/22 with CCI stingers. Will let you know what happens, maybe will even post some photos if they are not too gorry...
Matt.
PS: Forgot to add one kill, one of our ducks had a fractured leg so my mom told me to grab her .22 revolver and shoot it, I went out, saw it, shot it in the head from about 3-4ft, squirmed a second or two. Animals hate to die...
 
Rich is exactly right if your first shot hit the Opossum in the head the bullet went striate through and out the other side and he was most likely dead. Opossums are tuff but not bullet proof. His nerves are what caused the extra movements. If you had shot a raccoon you would have had a real show.

Q-Wagoner
 
I have shot hundreds of trapped coyotes with a .22 pistol. They pass on easy. Porcupines and possums however are two of the hardest critters to kill. I have seen porkys take a whole mag of .22 and 9mm (to the body) before expiring. Some die with one good headshot but it is not uncommon for them to take a couple. This will sound kind of crude but a length of rebar or a club is much more effective. Maybe it has something to do with their brain only being the size of a pencil eraser. Naaahh, can't be that. Otherwise I would feel no pain either.... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
I had to shoot one four times with a .44 mag. before it would stop moving! It was the same kind of deal with about a ten foot shot and I was shocked he did not exspire on the first round. I have finished hogs with a .22 pistol with one shot between the eyes and an inch high with one shot so the .22 is a good round although I like the solid lead bullets.
 
I wouldnt be too quick to blame the .22, it has plenty of power. Possoms are very hard to kill as previusly stated. A 22 has tons of power for its size. If you have ever done any squirrel hunting you would know that some animals take a lot more than others do. The only possom i have personally shot was one that i came up on laying next to a tree while rabbit hunting. I walked up and let him have it to the head at a distance of about 5 feet or so with a 20 gauge 2 3/4 heavy pheasant load. Needless to say he didnt squirm to much! Some of the deer i have shot have also moved after i knew the were dead. I think it was due to involuntary muscles contracting.
 
Just because the critter is still moving does not mean it's not "dead". Anyone ever kill a snapping turtle by cutting off it's head? The headless (dead) snapper will take off running and 50% of the time will head back for the creek. It's involuntary reflexes, muscle spasms, nerves, whatever term you're used to calling it. Same with cutting the head off a chicken. It's gonna' flip, flop, cartwheel, and run around the yard, too, if you don't restrain it. Shooting it won't make it any "deader". As soon as the oxygen supply to the muscles is depleted, it will stop moving. A brain shot to the medulla takes out the involuntary reflexes such as breathing and cardiovascular functions. A shot to the cerebellum puts the kabash on muscles and voluntary movements. Even without a head, there is enough oxygen rich blood in the body for a few seconds of muscular activity.
 
Sorry, Doc. I forgot about the more "sensitive" individuals of our membership. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Good grief! I've killed pickup loads of varmints with 22 golden bullet hollow points. I will admit possum's are tough. Try a axe! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
Please don't blame the .22 LR I shot one point blank with a 20 ga. shot gun in the head, to have it walk away minutes later. Mother nature is to blame. Hard head, small brain. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif
 
As a kid I trapped more possums than I care to admit. A 22 in the ear, run the rest of the trapline and maybe he'd be done with the funky chicken and I'd pick them up on the way home. I think coyotestryker said it straight. SMALL BRAIN, he was through playing possum with the first shot.
 
I read an article years ago (mid 80's?) where they compared the brain size of certain animals. The used a bean (navy bean?) as the main media for the test. These numbers are by memory but they went something like this:

House cat brain cavity: 14 beans
Raccoon brain cavity: 13 beans
Opposum brain cavity: 2-3 beans

Might explain a couple things.

CB
 
I stuck a possum deer hunting this year as i was walking back to the house with a broadhead at 15 yards...that sucker ran 40 yards with an arrow through his neck!!!...and i checked it when i found him ...it wasnt just a flesh wound
 
The worst mercy killing I was ever involved with was with a possum. Somebody else had hit the animal with their car and the possum's neck was broken.

I used my pump .22 to fire CB caps at point blank range into the possum's skull. It was pretty nasty after five shots, and the possum wouldn't stop moving. I have used CB caps plenty of times to dispatch trapped raccoons and cats, and I would say that the .22 is a very humane way of dispatching animals if used with preciscion. However, for possums, there is no way to dispatch them without the 15 minute flop.
 
Back
Top