My neighbor just came by and showed me a coon lying in his yard, still barely alive. He doesn't own a gun and asked me to dispatch it. We own acreages that are still just barely in town. I thought about using the house gun, a 4" M10 S&W but figured a .22 would suffice. Got my 60 year old Ruger Standard Model .22 pistol loaded with CCI Mini Mag solids.
The coon was lying on it's side, still breathing. I felt kinda bad, cause he was actually kind of cute, but I put a slug through the back of his head. Still kicking. Squeezed off another. Same thing. Now he rolls over, OK, how 'bout side of head. Two more there. He rolls on his back. I put the rest of my available rounds through his chin up through his head. Blood everywhere around him. The sucker is STILL KICKING!
At this point I am out of .22 ammo (I had 8 rounds in the gun) and am wondering if I am going to have to resort to my backup, the M340 PD that lives constantly in my pocket, loaded with full power .357s. Fortunately he stopped kicking shortly after round # 8, and when I kicked him he laid still.
I've never dispatched a coon before. I think next time I'll use a shotgun.
Are these suckers that hard to kill, or were these just "death throes"? If the former, I'm gonna give 'em a wide berth unless I'm heavily armed. SHEESH!!!
Jim