Tranquing a cow to capture

[JenLamb35]

We have a rougue 900 heifer in our 100 acre timber with no way of convincing her to get back in with the other cattle. She has gotten wild enough to herd like a hog. We can get about 20 feet from her and she bolts into the brush like a deer. So....with all options exhausted - we're considering a tranquilizer dart. Our vet will let us borrow his gun and get us the tranq and reversal meds.

Has anyone had experience with this and could give us a few tips? Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Cubes and feed wont work?
If you tranq her, do it in an open area you can get your trailer to

 

[JenLamb35]

She won't take anything out of our hand and if we put feed down, if we get within 20 feet of her - she's outta there and doesn't care about the feed. She is in some lush green timber right now so she is FAT. Unfortunately, there is a chance she'll drop in the timber and I don't know if we'll have to drag her out with a tractor or something to get panels around her to load her? We're just hoping for the best on that part. I just want to make sure we do it right the first time.

 

[Anonymous]

Can you feed her in a pen that you close behind her? I'm not a fan of tranquilizers. A rope and good cattle dog are safer. Either way you got to get her out of the thick stuff to do anything with her

 

[JenLamb35]

No, Hook - she is out in 100 acres of opened timber and knows when we are trying to take her towards fence or panels - we've tried all of that. She'll play along for a little while and then bolt into the brush where we can't get near her. We made a pen in the timber to feed her in - she won't have anything to do with it. She'd rather not eat the feed than go in there. She has plenty to eat without inticing her with feed right now. If she wasn't so big, we'd rope her, but she's a thick strong healthy heifer. I don't think a cattle dog could navigate in the underbrush. She is in the worst possible place imaginable for herding a half-wild cow. Once we get her in a trailer - she's headed straight to the sale barn.

 

[Anonymous]

Shoot her in the head and burger her. Lol

 

[JenLamb35]

Hahaha - that thought HAS crossed our minds. Her name has been Missy - but I've been calling her T-bone.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

The wild ones that you have to fight all the time always taste the best. Kind of that final justice :lol:

 

[dgree]

Our neighbors had to shoot there's. It made its way about a mile in the woods and set up a nice spot on one of my friends land. At night it would make its way to feed around his house tracking up his yard. He wasn't very happy. After about 4 weeks and a bunch of tries enough was enough. She was pregnant and all of a sudden turned into a wild boar.

 

[Howdyjabo]

Be careful not to get any of the trank on your skin. If you do get some have a caffiene supper drink on hand to drink.
You need to dart her while she is quiet so you need to find a way to ambush her. If her adrenalin is going you won't have long to get her loaded, if you get her hot and bothered you increase the chances that she will die.

You would be amazed at the amount of uderbrush a dog can work thru.

 

[1982vett]

Shoot her in the head and burger her. Lol

Was thinking along the same line.....bet she can't outrun a 357....might not even bother to drag her out. Varmints need to eat too. ;-)

 

[dun]

Shoot her in the head and burger her. Lol

I'll go along with that! If you don;t want the burger you can donate it to some worthy cause in your area. We use COPE house which is for abused women and children

 

[bbirder]

We have a rougue 900 heifer in our 100 acre timber with no way of convincing her to get back in with the other cattle. She has gotten wild enough to herd like a hog. We can get about 20 feet from her and she bolts into the brush like a deer. So....with all options exhausted - we're considering a tranquilizer dart. Our vet will let us borrow his gun and get us the tranq and reversal meds.

Has anyone had experience with this and could give us a few tips? Thanks.

Where are u located?

 

[Dega Moo]

This may feel a bit like throwing good after bad but when you're desperate ..... cattle are herd animals and the instinct to stay together is strong. We've had a couple of similar situations which we've handled by putting three or four easy handling cows in with the single crazy. Make sure those cows learn to feed in that pen and give her some time to adjust and find her spot in the new herd. Keep hand feeding them in your corral and eventually she's likely to join the others. With some perseverance you should be able to capture her.

 

[Anonymous]

This may feel a bit like throwing good after bad but when you're desperate ..... cattle are herd animals and the instinct to stay together is strong. We've had a couple of similar situations which we've handled by putting three or four easy handling cows in with the single crazy. Make sure those cows learn to feed in that pen and give her some time to adjust and find her spot in the new herd. Keep hand feeding them in your corral and eventually she's likely to join the others. With some perseverance you should be able to capture her.

And then what? Sell her at the barn so she becomes someone else's problem? Not that I disagree with what you're saying but in this case she needs to go the packer without running the risk of any unsuspecting buyer thinking they are goin to buy her and turn her out

 

[Dega Moo]

She may calm down to the point where she becomes a useful herd member. If not then feed her out, sell her at a barn take her to the packer. Any of those choices should be more profitable than shooting her and leaving her to the coyotes. BTW: aren't most barn sales really someone buying anothers problem? I think most of those sales the possible problems are baked into the price.

 

[Anonymous]

Not true all salebarns are selling some one else's problems. Some you can mark the cows as kill only. Some barns you can't. A lot of good cattle go through the barns for any number of reasons.

 

[cross_7]

We have a rougue 900 heifer in our 100 acre timber with no way of convincing her to get back in with the other cattle. She has gotten wild enough to herd like a hog. We can get about 20 feet from her and she bolts into the brush like a deer. So....with all options exhausted - we're considering a tranquilizer dart. Our vet will let us borrow his gun and get us the tranq and reversal meds.

Has anyone had experience with this and could give us a few tips? Thanks.

For a 100.00 you could hire someone to come out and rope her and depending on what you're wearing they might take her on to the sale barn for you

 

[redcowsrule33]

Just remember if you tranquilize her that there will be a meat hold from the drugs. Better find out from the vet how long you have to keep her around.

 

[Bigfoot]

I have caught many wild cows. You have a bad situation. Someone experienced with dogs would be the way to go. I have a capsure tranquilizer gun. In extreme cases I will use it. I brought one out of the woods one time on a car hood. If you hobble her, you will never get the hobbles, shy of tranquilizer her again. It might kill her. We tied this one up with parachute cord. Had her tied off hard and fast to the trailer when we cut her loose. The excitement in and of itself, maybe enough to kill her. You had better get ahold of a rope that want set all the way down on her. You can make your own. It's hard to explain the concept. She'll be hunting you when she comes up. Good luck, and Gods mercy with your endeavor.