26 Jan 13
Yesterday, I was asked to put-down a crippled bull at a ranch here in FL where I’m currently conducting Courses.
The bull was large, upwards of 1500 lbs, and a victim of territorial struggles with rival bulls. He had numerous broken bones, and doubtless, serious internal injuries.
He was out in a field, and I approached him with my guide, making my way around to his front. He was laying in the grass, and I wanted to get where I had a straight-on shot at his head. I was armed with my Robinson Arms XCR-M. A round was chambered, and its 20-rnd magazine was fully-charged with Cor-Bon 168gr DPX (308).
When I got within ten meters, the bull started to get up. That is not what I wanted! I had expected him to stay put. Animal behavior is never predictable!
I could see that movement was extremely painful for him, and I could hear his broken bones grinding against each other as he tried to move. It sounded like someone squeezing a bag of potato chips! I had to again move sideways to get a head-on shot. Like most people, I surely don’t like to witness suffering, and that is clearly what this unfortunate animal was undergoing.
I rapidly mounted and put my Aimpoint T1’s red-dot just over the imaginary line between his eyes, allowing for mechanical offset.
The first shot broke, and the animal reeled backward and to the side, blood gushing out of his nose and mouth like a ruptured pipe. His rear legs started to fail. I caught the link and, as his head turned away from me, my second shot hit him just behind his left ear, following the first by five seconds.
That one demolished his brain-stem, and he collapsed instantly, falling in a lifeless heap. A few kicks, and he was gone.
Neither bullet exited, nor were they recovered, but they clearly did their work, as Barnes bullets always do!
Rifle and ammunition performed perfectly! The XCR-M is light and handy, compared with most 7.62×51 battle rifles, and operation is smooth and fast.
Next week, I’ll be pig-hunting with it, and put it, and myself, once more to the test!
/John
