Best way to use a Hot Shot

[cow pollinater]

I carry two in the truck and have a spare next to every chute. I like to work cows fast and quiet and I've learned that the best way to do that is to be ready for whatever they hand you before they hand it to you. Most of my cows get slapped on the butt and that's about it. Anything gentle that doesn't go with that will get a few dry pokes followed by a quick zap and after a while they learn to move when poked and they stay gentle but move when you want. Goofy crap that want's to act stupid gets a clear message to do what I want the first time around because the more time they get to think and build up steam the harder it gets and the more stuff they tear up... It's best just to shove them on through and not give them time to get to worked up. To them that hotshot is child's play.
The problem that you run into with using one to keep a bull out of your space is that he learns to respect IT and maybe not YOU. I've had good luck using one to keep them out of my face but last year I had a bull that wanted to run up and fight when I fed. He got to where as long as I had a hotshot or a dog he'd leave me alone but if I tried to feed without either of the above he'd come after me... I wish I would have put him up in a corner and beat the crap out of him the first time he made a run at me which was at about three hundred pounds.

 

[Brute 23]

There is nothing worse than spoiled cattle. I use hot shots with the 5' rod parts. The only difference between it and a stick it the button and only you choose when to use it. The hot shot is only as good or bad as the person operating it. As a general rule I don't use it except when crowding them in to chutes. Bumping them in open pens has never been productive... in fact its quite the opposite. I have aslo learned that letting cattle come back on you when your trying to crowd them increases the odds of you or them getting hurt... or tearing some thing up.

With that said... I am the only one allowed to use a hot shot when we work cattle. Every one else gets sticks. Very seldom do I actually have to press the button.

You hit my dog with a hot shot and its about to get western... and I believe in an eye for an eye. ;-) Im the only one who tunes on my dogs.

 

[grubbie]

The best way is to never use it. Crazy cowboys make crazy cows.

First, I am not a crazy cowboy...so enough of that. This question stems from a question I asked earlier about keeping a too friendly bull out of my space. I already know I need it...now I would just like to know the best way to use it.

Lots of real informative posts on these boards... :bang:

Okay,...ease it up a bit and relax. That probably wasn't meant as an insult. I agree, don't use it. I have one, have used it once, to get a cow moved through a chute that just refused to move. Usually a sorting paddle will do the trick. I have a very large bull that is too friendly. Would rather have that than one that is mean. Either way, keep your distance and don't take your eyes off of him. Meanwhile, don't take things so personally, most are here to help, and it's hard to get a feel for their intent looking at text.

 

[Anonymous]

Like any other tool a hotshot is only as the person using it

 

[CKC1586]

:nod:

The best way is to never use it. Crazy cowboys make crazy cows.

Agree!! :tiphat: :wave:

 

[salebarn junkie]

I only use one if a cows in a confined space and can only go one direction, into a trailer or a headgate. Iwould never use one on a bull in the open. That sounds like the first part of a really bad story. If they ddon't respect a stick its time to sell the animal.

 

[ChrisB]

I'm wondering what kind of hot-shots you guys have that make your cattle so wild that it causes wrecks or is hard to work them? My hot-shot will just get them to move forward at a normal pace. Maybe I need a new or bigger battery?

 

[Brute 23]

I'm wondering what kind of hot-shots you guys have that make your cattle so wild that it causes wrecks or is hard to work them? My hot-shot will just get them to move forward at a normal pace. Maybe I need a new or bigger battery?

If you burn on cattle to much they will blow up on you. My cattle will blow up if you get the pushy. Its a balance... you have to read them. Too soft and they will run over you... to hard and they will blow up.

With any kind of negative reinforcement, no matter if its cattle, dogs, your kids... what ever... you start at the least amount and see if you get a positive reaction. Cranking up the heat in any of those cases rarely yields a positive response. The people who have burned cattle up... dogs... ect didn't have the sense to know when to stop or when to even do it in the first place.

Even seen those parents that whip their kids all the time. After a while the kid either turns around and back hands them or just laughs. They overplayed their hand.

 

[highgrit]

Cows and Dogs, that all depends on the where and why. If your dog bites me on your land I will kick him off. If your dog bites me off of your land I am going to shoot to kill. But if I had a hot shot in my hand I might try to shock it off of me.

 

[Chris H]

We don't own one. Our vet has on occasion used his to get a cow up when she thought she was dying, but wasn't.
I use a plastic step-in post as a walking stick, to guide them, tap them, scratch them, replace broken posts when I come across one.
We do have a walkway that leads to our corral and 3 different fields. Sometimes they get stubborn about heading to the corral. I have a strand of polywire I can use behind them and touch the hotwire on either side. If they're being stubborn I don't mind touching them on the butt with the wire. They move quite nicely then :tiphat: .

 

[TennesseeTuxedo]

Cows and Dogs, that all depends on the where and why. If your dog bites me on your land I will kick him off. If your dog bites me off of your land I am going to shoot to kill. But if I had a hot shot in my hand I might try to shock it off of me.

If my dog bites you on my land and you're a guest I'll kick him myself. If you weren't invited...well that's a different story altogether.

 

[cow pollinater]

Cows and Dogs, that all depends on the where and why. If your dog bites me on your land I will kick him off. If your dog bites me off of your land I am going to shoot to kill. But if I had a hot shot in my hand I might try to shock it off of me.

If my dog bites you on my land and you're a guest I'll kick him myself. If you weren't invited...well that's a different story altogether.

:lol: Of course, if my dogs do bite an invited guest it probably means that I wasn't to far away from hitting them(as in the guest, not the dog) with a hotshot myself.

 

[highgrit]

You guy's have smarter guest. I told a couple 2 times, that the dog on the chain bites. Well you can figure what happened. :dunce:
As long as you don't over do a hot shot there a good tool.

 

[B&M Farms]

I was hauling a Hereford bull for a fella one time. He had the no hot shot rule and spent almost 30 minutes trying to get that bull in the trailer. Would just stand in the chute and not budge. He was just a big old baby. One tap with a hot shot and I could have been on my way. If your not an idiot with one, it usually causes less stress than taking too long moving them. I would rather give one a quick tap with a hot shot than mess with them for 30 minutes trying to get them to load or go in a chute.

 

[BRYANT]

This debate started from a post I made on another thread I kind of figured it would stir up the "anti hot shoters" there has been some good post and there has been some stupid post
Good

I was hauling a Hereford bull for a fella one time. He had the no hot shot rule and spent almost 30 minutes trying to get that bull in the trailer. Would just stand in the chute and not budge. He was just a big old baby. One tap with a hot shot and I could have been on my way. If your not an idiot with one, it usually causes less stress than taking too long moving them. I would rather give one a quick tap with a hot shot than mess with them for 30 minutes trying to get them to load or go in a chute.

Like any other tool a hotshot is only as the person using it

this is just a few of the good post.Like I said and many others its how you use them hot shots can mess up a cow if not used right. when I worked on a kill floor in a meat packing house I saw cattle that would not bleed out right because they were shocked tho much.We saved lots of blood for fish bait and you shock a bull and make him mad his blood will not clot up like others will. So if they are not used right they are bad but so is a gun ,car,knife,dog ,ect...
Several of you all like a stick well I think they can do more damage to a cow than a hot shot. I have seen people hit cows across the nose and blood be pouring out,cows nose can be broke then they rattle, and I can't count the times I have saw cattle at sale barns hit in the eye with a stick or whip and get their eye messed up
Someone posted the vet would leave if you got out a hot shot Like I said my cows are hot shot broke all it takes most of the time is the buzz and no one know his cows like the man who owns them, including a vet, so he might leave but he would not be back cause I would not let him.

Iwould never use one on a bull in the open. That sounds like the first part of a really bad story. If they ddon't respect a stick its time to sell the animal.

I don't have a clue how it can be the first part of a bad story . Never went bad for me ????

Alan wrote:
The best way is to never use it. Crazy cowboys make crazy cows.

this is just one of them stupid post I do not have a crazy cow on the place and every thing I own is half to full Brahman, except for an Angus bull, if they are crazy send them to town. More like "crazy cows make crazy cows"

 

[dun]

Someone posted the vet would leave if you got out a hot shot Like I said my cows are hot shot broke all it takes most of the time is the buzz and no one know his cows like the man who owns them, including a vet, so he might leave but he would not be back cause I would not let him.

You wouldn';t have to worry cause he wouldn;t come back. I asked him about it one day. He maintaines that all of the times he has been hurt bad enough to be layed up was because of the owner using a hotshot. He just sees it as good for his health. But he is apparantly the exception becuase he actaully gets in the cows and helps to work/sort them.

 

[Alan]

Let's see if I got this right BRYANT, the good post are the ones that agree with you and bad post are the ones that don't. Then there are the stupid ones. :? , you are correct in one thing "crazy cows do make crazy cows". Bad handlers (crazy cowboys)make crazy cows also. Cattle, especially confined in a working pen, will react to the handlers and the other cattles actions, stir one up and many get stirred. I used a hot shot in the past, it's now collecting dust in the barn. My older cattle know there is only one way out of the working pen and most line up at the chute to get out. Younger ones take a little more effort, but not much.

I should say in a very few cases a hotshot is a helpful tool, such a the big baby of a bull who refused to move up in the chute. I also watch a steer in the show ring lay down and refused to get up no matter what the poor kid did. Someone went out of the ring and came but with some small hand held device he was trying to hide in the palm of his hand. On touch to the steers hind end and it was no secret what he had. Steer was up and went straight out of the ring.

Do you know what's really nice BRYANT, I get to work my cows my way and you get to work your cows yours. I'll stand by my statement "crazy cowboys make crazy cows". If anyone breaks out a hotshot on my place for my cattle, their gone.

 

[BRYANT]

Let's see if I got this right BRYANT, the good post are the ones that agree with you and bad post are the ones that don't. Then there are the stupid ones.

Not at all is that the way I think BUT I think you just agred with me when used right they are a good tool and even you have used one so I guess we are both what you would call "crazy cowboys"
dun as for the vet I had rather the vet work at the shoot and let me bring my cows to him because I know MY cows better than anyone, I have an old Brahman cow I think you can beat her to death with a stick or whip and not get her in a shoot but the buzz does wonders , very seldom do I have to touch her with and if I do it is very light, don't know what your vet would do in this case but I doudt he would get her in the shoot???

 

[Brute 23]

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[Brute 23]

No one is trying to tell any one else how they should do it. You have to know and learn what works best with your cattle.

The idea that ALL cattle can be worked with out a hot shot is rediculous and the ideal that ALL cattle have to have a hot shot is just as rediculous.

I would be leary of the vet who says he will not work cattle if a hot shot is out. Not because of the hot shot issue... but because it shows he is not very open minded.

It would be interesting to see the average number of head owned among the anti-hot shot crowd? Could you imagine running 100, 200, 300+ head with out a hot shot. :shock: Put cubes in the trailer and get out your lawn chair like that one post. :lol:

Hoes, axe handles, and all that stuff are a bad idea. Way too short and stout. Those good thin fiberglass slicks are the way to go. I keep one in the truck and several in the barn at all times. You can get a pretty good pop if you flip it right. When you hot shot break your cattle always put the hot shot against them and poke a couple times. If they don't go the hit the button. The learn those pokes. Then when you just have your stick you poke them a couple times and they will move. Little do they know that's not the electric stick. Kind of like using the beep on a dog collar before you actually shock them. Plus, you can kill rattle snake with the fiberglass stick if you hit them behind the head.