Have any of you had the need to shooot a big dog (or a coyote or wolf or hyena) with a handgun?

Tell us what you used, the impact area on the animals, and the results, please.

Thanx,

T-Star

I can tell you that I have seen a couple of State Troopers have to dispatch a deer hit by a car with a 9mm. Goes something like this. Bang..bang..bang bang bang...bang. With a .45 ACP, Bang. I do know of a guy who whacked a coyote with a .357 Magnum, don't recall the bullet he used, but he said it went down like it was hit by a truck. I have shot a half breed feral cat with a .22 Magnum (that was interesting). I imagine a good .38 Special if put right through that coyote's boiler room should do the trick, anything more powerful should be as equally efficient. If you can kill a whitetail with a .357, a coyote or a dog should not be a problem.

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Vaya con Dios

If I have to shoot a dog, it will be because it is attacking me. On duty, it will be issued 45ACP 230 grain Gold Dot. It has a good track record on humans, but dogs are tougher, quite often. If off duty, it would be attacking our dogs; I carry a 296 (44 special) with the blazer 200 grain gold dot, and anticipate a contact or near contact shot, as close as possible to the center of the chest. Making sure I hit the problem and not my dogs or a bystander is one of the reasons for the contact shot.

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NHI, 10-8.

It wasn't a dog, but it was the biggest woodchuck I've ever seen in my life and it was all of 35 lbs. I shot it with a 6" 686/Remington .357 125 gr. SJHP through the left lower back with the bullet traveling up into the chest cavity. It rolled over on it's back and locked up like it was hit by lightnining. It's nervous system was obviously in a state of overload and it was an instant stoppage. I then shot it in the head to end any suffering that it might be experiencing (besides it's teeth were about 2" long and they scared the hell out of me). A smaller animal I shot with the same gun and ammo was a racoon that I would guess to be about twenty pounds. I caught her on the run and shot her through the pelvic area. It literally knocked her *** end over, but didn't stop her. She ran for my mother-in-law's fence and I ran up to her as she was just getting done squeezing through a hole. I hammered her with three rounds through the chest in rapid fire. The first one through the chest was, in retrospect, all that was needed.

A handgun is not my first choice for dog/coyote dispatch, 12 ga with 00buck is the ticket.

But the times I have used a handgun on yotes, it was 45acp shooting a 230gr LRN bullet at 880FPS.

One shot drops on the 3 times I have had to do it.

I heard about an officer who had to dispatch a cow that was hit by a car. Bang, Bang, Bang... And the thing is just as alive, and now in considerably more pain. It just wouldn't die. It kept wheezing and wheezing, but wouldn't die. Well, The officer wasn't very familiar with bovine anatomy. He shot it between the eyes...which is the nasal cavity, not the location of the brain. So in addition to broken legs, ribs, etc. - the cow now had a severely broken nose. I believe someone with some knowledge about cows finally pointed out his mistake, and they were able to put the poor thing out of its misery.

If you ever have to put a large animal down, draw an imaginary line from the left eye to the right ear, and the right eye to the left ear.

One bullet at the intersection of those two lines guarantees a quick, humane kill.

Don't shoot them in the head if you've been bitten, or if someone else has - the brain is useful for rabies testing.

I shot a big chow just under the chin with a Glock 27 loaded with 165 grain Hydra-Shoks. He was facing me at about 15 yards. He bolted at the shot and I thought I missed him, but I found him dead the next day about a quarter mile away. No autopsy, but I suspect the abundant neck hair plugged the hollowpoint up some.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

Back in the mid 80's I was attacked by two Rottweilers. I fired a single shot from my 4 inch 38. The round was a Speer lawman 125+p. It struck one square in the chest which staggered it and turned it away....the second ran off like a cartoon character at the sound of the shot. The wounded Rott survived because the owner was willing to pay for the surgery. The Rott continued to walk around and bleed for at least 20 minutes until animal control showed up. I would count this as a stop because the attack ceased and the dog had no desire to continue it but consider myself lucky.

Last year I had the undesireable task of rounding up three pit bulls in the ciy. One turned on me without provocation and bit my gun hand. In that instant I just knew he was about to die of lead poisoning. I drew my Sig 229, kicking the dog away from me as I was drawing. This caused him to bite my shin, but he let go as I cleared the holster. He then started to run around to attack my back, which could've been tricky because there were two other officers and a citizen behind me. I swung through from behind and dropped the hammer just as the front sight crossed the shoulder at a range of 5 yards max. At the shot the dog started yelping in agony. I looked at my hand and realized I was bleeding. All I could think is "Damn, I hope he dies soon so I know if I'll need rabies shots or not." He then circled around and came back in front of me. The Speer .40 180 gr. Gold Dot Hollow Point hit dead center in the chest, slightly behind where the front sight had been. He had been moving faster than I thought and I didn't lead quite enough. He was still screaming bloody murder and blood was shooting in a very high arc from the entrance wound as he staggered away. I remember thinking it was like the proverbial garden hose. Finally the dog slowly staggered about 10 yards onto the closest porch to lie down. After about a minute of very labored breathing it finally died. There was no exit wound, which did not surprise me, as in my experience these Gold Dots don't penetrate people very well either. I feel the Gold Dot is the best bullet out there but Speer does not load them hot enough. They lack velocity. Of course, this greatly pleases the police administrators. And I have seen these bullets literally fall out of the entrance wounds of other dogs and humans that we have shot. I really like the Gold Dots but would prefer a bigger cartridge with more velocity.

Dave Sinko

The one time I pulled a gun on a dog, the dog was a medium German shepherd, and the gun I had with me was a J frame .357. I didn't have to shoot, but it sounds like the consensus is that it would have been sufficient.

I recently got a 4" model 29 .44 magnum for hauling around in the hilly woods of Western W.Va., where the coyotes are getting fat off the ground hogs. The coyotes are likely the biggest problems out there, but there's everything ranging from cougars to black bears, no telling who you're gonna meet.

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Not legal advice/solicitation

A very large German Shepherd mix. About 2 feet from the muzzle to his nose. 6 inch Model 66 with Federal 125 grain .357 Mag ammo. The dog was coming straight at me, mouth wide open when I shot. His head was tilted upward as he looked like he was staring at my face.

The bullet entered his open mouth and penetrated the top rear of his throat. It exitted his neck just below where the spine connected to the skull, I believe, above his shoulders. 3 inch diameter exit wound that contained small bone fragments, and I could see the severed upper end of the spine where it was cut by the bullet. It looked like a vertebrae was just missing.

The dog was running at me, the low, crouched, smooth run as opposed to a bounding run. He seemed to just 'shut down' as I shot but he still ran into my legs, probably from momentum as opposed to leg action, nearly knocking me down. His rear legs and tail quivered for a few seconds but nothing else moved.

I quivered for about a half hour!

My patrol area at the time included the foothills of the canyon containing Snowbird and Alta, the ski resorts. I had to shoot dozens of injured mule deer there, along the roadway, mostly in the winter. Even though the deer were badly hurt from being hit by cars, being filled with adrenalin made them harder to kill than a deer that was healthy and didn't know you were there, like when hunting. The 6 inch .357/125 grain combination always exited. I usually used neck shots, but the bullets exited torso heart/lung shots, too. For a while I carried a .22 LR in my gear bag for this task, which worked pretty well if I put the bullet just behind and below the base of the ear. If the deer could move it's head, getting the right angle for that shot was hard sometimes as the deer kept moving it's head to follow my movements, so I went back to the .357.

I tried a 12 ga. pump with #6 or #8 birdshot in areas with houses close by, to try to minimize the risk of richochets. At a muzzle-to-deer range of about 5 feet, it worked great but was very messy.

Attacking Rotweiller, thorax hit with Cor-Bon 115 gr JHP, dropped at the shot, DRT.

I've killed a few medium to large dogs with handguns over the years, and have forgotten specifics of many, and most have been dogs suspected of being rabid or that were critically ill, and that I've killed with head shots from very close range.

I killed a coyote with a Star BKS loaded with Sierra 115gr. JHPs over a case-full of Herco many years ago. (Speer #8 max., as I recall. ) Range was about 15 yards, shot was broadside to the shoulder/chest, and it dropped dead instantly. I shot a mongrel bitch that would have weighed about 40 lbs. after it wandered onto my place and snarled at my kids playing in the yard. I hit her from about 25 yards with the dog on the run, using a Commander loaded with my old IPSC loads, a 200gr. H&G 68 at about 900fps. Again, DRT, with a shot to the shoulder. My brother had to shoot a big Rott that a drug dealer sicced on him a few years back when he arrived to serve a warrant. The gun was a Colt Commander, ammo was Speer 230gr. Gold Dot. Two rounds, square into the front of the chest, from about 4-6 feet away, instant stop. Both bullets exited, having traveled almost end-to-end in the big dog. Unlike some of the underloaded .40 Gold Dot loads, the 230gr. .45s penetrate adequately.

These cases are interesting Keep 'em coming.

I've heard that a big dog is hard to stop, and I work a security job in an upscale area where people are careless with leashing their mutts. They have some expensve, big dogs that look like they'd bite off a human limb with one chomp.

I'm seriously worried that I'll be attacked some night.

Been carrying the Federal No. 38G lead HP .38 round. May decide to go to .357's in my M-66 with four-inch barrel. Been thinkng of carrying a 9mm Beretta at times, but am unsure how it would deal with a big dog.

The more posts we get here, the better picture will emerge.

One advantage to the revolver is that if you have to make a contact shot (which you may well have to in order to minimize risk to others, or because the threat is not apparent enough to allow for other options until the dog is right on you), you can do so. With an autopistol, you may push it out of battery under the stress of the moment. That could suck.

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NHI, 10-8.

I've shot feral dogs over the years with everything from .22s to the .45 Colt. Large or small, they all were easily stopped with good hits. That is except for a certain medium sized dog which seemed to shrug off good hits with a .44 Magnum. Won't go into detail but one would have thought the .44 Magnum was inadequate. I guess there's one in every crowd.

Sounds like you ran into a "bullet sponge", bmc. I hope you didn't get bit out of the deal. May I ask what kind of bullets/cartridge were you using in the .44?

Years ago, I managed as many as 125 cows on a 450 acre farm, and I had a constant running battle with the feral dogs. Many of these were pets to somebody, coming in packs over a big hill from a housing development almost 2 miles away. I always hated shooting someone's pets, but these packs can put a full-grown cow down in a matter of minutes -- and for them, it's all good fun...

I shot dogs with all manner of rifles and handguns in many calibers, but about the most "definitive" handgun round -- even on a couple of really HUGE dogs -- was the .45 acp. I never saw a dog go 10 feet after a solid hit with a HydraShok 230 gr. jhp. I much preferred its performance over that of the .357 magnum. I didn't own a .44 Magnum st the time, but there's no way it could have killed them deader, quicker.

Not quite as awesome, but still plenty effective on ribcage shots, was the old Federal 9BP load, a non-+P 115 gr. JHP. A widow friend of mine had a pair of barns literally infested with dozens of feral cats, and an Argentine 9mm Hi Power pistol using the same load proved to be sovreign medicine on those critters when she asked me to help her get rid of them.

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Pisgah

I know a park ranger that had to shoot a hog
that pretty much had the same experience.
I'm not sure where he placed all the rounds,
but he had to dump almost his whole mag to
kill the thing. He said it was a pretty ornery
one..
That was using his Glock .40 with I assume LEO
hollow points.
I decided to use FMJ or cast "woods" slugs vs
the hollowpoints for mean animals.

I've never had to shoot a dog yet, but out in
the sticks, it's probably the most likely of
all the varmints I'd have trouble with.
They run in packs around there, and I've had
them blow through my property.
I saw some kind of coyote, or something the
last time I was there, but it ran across the
road in front of me, and zipped off into the
brush. So I didn't really get a very good look.
But it was a big coyote/wolf looking canine of
some type.

While I do not want to shoot any dogs, if I were being attacked by one, it would get the honor of either being shot with a Federal 125gr JHP 357 Mag from my PC 586 L-Comp, a Winchester 175gr STHP 10mm Auto from my 610, or a Federal 230gr Hydr-Shok from my Taurus Tracker.

Flop-shank;

It was a heavy hand load with a Sierra 240 grain JHC. I was not bitten.

Menacing, huge grey wolf versus S&W 460v 5" barrel using Hornady 200 grain SST ammo @ 40 yards. Shot hit rear hip bone area and spun the critter around like a helicopter 8'. Final shot was head shot from 20 yards.

The Hornady SST ammo is best I have used. My S&W 500 uses the Hornady 300 grain SST's.

The first thing I think when I hear Sierra JHP, or JHC, is serious secondary fragmentation. Sierra makes a great bullet. If fact the 629 sitting on my desk right now is loaded with hotrod Sierra JHP handloads. I'm glad the "sponge" didn't bite you.

Mega huge ST. Bernard at 10 feet. One round of 230 grain 45 hardball to the frontal area of the skull. The dog dropped to the ground, struggled up and ran away. We found it later and it had an entrance wound almost exactly between the eyes with the bullet sliding over the skull and exiting low on the back of the skull. A nasty entrance and exit hole but no penetration of the bone. The dog survived and recovered.

That's one hard headed dawg..
Lucky too.. I've heard tales of lesser rounds
doing that, even on people, but I don't think
it happens with the .45 too often. Must have
been just the right/wrong angle to make it want
to slide along the skull.

Large doberman, Louisville slugger upside the head. Crude, but quiet and effective.

A pit bull showed up at my grandparents farm and attacked my grandfather's border collie. He walked up to it and put a near contact shot to the top of it's head with a 22lr. It dropped on the spot.

I have a surviellence video of one of my security officers fighting off a Rottwieller with his PR-24. He was not hurt and he convinced the Rottie to leave. When I asked him, why he didn't just shoot the dog (He had a Glock M21 .45acp) he said he didn't want to kill it. I told him if anything like that happened again he'd better use his gun.

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Formerly know as Lucky Derby

Originally posted by MK:

"
That's one hard headed dawg..
Lucky too.. I've heard tales of lesser rounds
doing that, even on people, but I don't think
it happens with the .45 too often. Must have
been just the right/wrong angle to make it want
to slide along the skull."

It is surprising how often that happens, especially on people.

On a warrant service a few years back, the target's dad sicc'ed a large German Shepherd on us. The deputy that the dog went for put a Federal .40 180 gr. Hydra-Shok right between it's eyes from about 3 feet. Exit wound on the back of the head. Dog got up and limped off! It had come out the front door of the house. It limped around the house, went in a side door to the house's basement, went upstairs and silently stood behind the handcuffed old man with it's tail between it's legs, cowering. No skull penetration, the bullet just rode the skull's exterior around until it exited.

You know that had to be some serious hurt to
have that happen with a big cal pistol like a
.40 or .45.. ouch..
I've heard lots of stories about .22 rounds
doing that, but didn't know it was that common
with the larger stuff. I guess dogs have some
tough skulls.

Back in 90 or 91 if I recall 50lb coyote fell to a 240 grain Keith load out of my 629 1 shot through the neck at 100 yds, scoped and off a rest of course. Had to shoot a chow a few years back also, 240gr XTP about 25yds, I was not real happy with the performance. As I said 240gr XTP over 23gr H-110, the bullet hit between the eyes, laid the left side of the skull open but did not go completely through. It took another round to completely dispatch him.
I think if I had to choose a bullet for large dogs or other dangerous situations with animals I would stick to a good hard cast slug. This is just MHO.

Was starting to take the wheel off a bush hog when a very large aggressive Doberman male attacked.Thank God for practice---wrench dropped and 21/2 Mod.66 out as fast as I ever drew-one Silvertip 357 in the head and he made one more step and fell against the bush hog.Never a wiggle or whimper-at least by the dog --I was shaking like a leaf when it was all over, but the hammer was already back.I don't know if the bullet traveled through the neck to the chest,but there was no exit wound.I determined to never allow a strange aggressive dog to remain on my farm.I hate to think what might have happened if my gun had stayed in my truck.

80 pound wild mix. 5 feet and charging. Warm 180 gr Sierra .44 mag out of a 4" 29. Dead center chest. Stopped at 4 1/2 feet.

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PC semiauto collector

I had a female friend in NJ who hit a deer while pregnant and injured it badly. She called the police and as he was standing there hemming and hawing about shooting it, she said, "Oh for crying out loud" [or words to that effect] and, grabbing a knife out of her truck, slit the deer's throat.

I've shot some coyote's over the years while deer hunting with my S&W 57 and I can say for a fact that the Federal .41 mag 250 grain hard cast while killing the yotes it didn't do it quick or clean. I shot them all though the chest at distances anywhere from 20-100 yards (w/scope) and I had to chase every one of theses down on foot to finish them off with a shot to the head. Every single one ran well over 100 yards and while they went slow (for a yote) they still moved off fast enough to where I had to run after them for the finisher. I'm sure a hollow point would work much better for stopping them on the spot. The 250 gr. hard cast just zips right though them without much immediate noticable effect, blown off hair but no blood trail on the ground except at the impact site of the shot.

Kirmdog

Good info, Don. I guess you really need to hit the heart or spine to drop them quickly with a purely penetrative shot.

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Now go make God proud...

Stick to that. .357 Magnum rules the day.

My kinda woman!

I have been lucky and have never had to shoot a dog (or coyote) with a handgun, but I did put out a rabid feral halfbreed cat. All I had at the time was my Ruger Single Six with the .22 Magnum cylinder in. I had to empty a whole cylinder full into that cat's head and shoulder and it still wasn't dead yet. After all six went into that cat's skull it still tried to get back up. I had to put my boot over that cat's throat to finally put it out. I remember putting that cat out where some chickens had been used as bait for coyotes and racoons. Nothing would touch that big old cat.

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Vaya con Dios

I have shot several over the years harassing livestock. Never used a handgun, but a .308 with 165 grain works wonders on any dog.

Two of my coworkers were trying to take a wanted man into custody on the landing of his apartment complex. They're fighting on the landing and one suddenly feels a tugging at his leg. The pit bull had come out of the apartment to join the action! He kicked it off, but it came back again. Finally, he draws the Sig 229 and puts a 180 gr. GDHP dead center between its eyes from almost contact distance. It killed the dog instantly. The officer later confided to me that he had closed his eyes before he pulled the trigger. That didn't surprise me, since we had gone throught the academy together and I knew he was a terrible shot. To my amazement, there was enough of the brain left for a rabies test.

Another officer had a new guy with him and they were called to check for a huge pit bull terrorizing the 'hood. He told me he instructed the new guy to leave the shotgun in the truck, "so it doesn't look like we're HUNTING pit bulls." Sure enough, the dog then came charging down on top of them. He was able to draw and fire one shot, which killed the dog instantly. Upon examining the carcass, he was unable to find a bullet hole and was going to conclude that it had died of fright when he decided to check the mouth. Sure enough, he had shot the dog down the throat, splitting the tongue just as it was jumping up to greet him.

Another officer was lucky enough to hit two pit bulls that had attacked him in a residential area. One was shot in the head and was killed instantly. The other took a shot to the body and ran around in circles emptying its bowels until it too dropped over dead. After I arrived on scene I looked down at my feet and there on the sidewalk was one of the bullets that had hit one of the dogs. It had actually fallen out of the body as the dog ran away. Like I said, I really like those Gold Dots but they need to be loaded a bit hotter.

When I am attacked by dogs I hold my fire until they are literally on top of me. I can not simply pump bullets downrange and hope that they hit the target. I remember being charged by a pit bull and seeing just before the draw that there was a woman and a young child in my line of fire. I bobbled the draw and the dog ran away before I could shoot, but my only shot would've been straight down through the hips if that dog had attempted to chew on me.

Shooting dogs on a moment's notice can be very tricky business, especially in an urban environment. I need to be very careful, since accidentally shooting even a scumbag will have ugly consequences.

Dave Sinko

7.62x54 surplus ammo works pretty well too. Dropped a large stray pitbull in our pasture last week with my M44. The dog was knocked over sideways off it's feet at a dead run and never moved after. If I had to choose a handgun round it would be the .357 magnum. Fast and deep.

rd

This pic from yesterday shows the Barnes bullet to effective against dogs in 300wsm flavor. We were calling in wild boars (in the lead free Condor zone...don't get me started on that) and look what came in...missed her mate though.

Entrance at the chest, the abdomen unzipped as the dog was flipped 180 deg during eviceration, wisp of dust 20 yards behind dog, and ricochet hit hill 1/4 mile back...overpenetration would be a bit of concern. This is my Boar/bear/elk round and I was not setting out for yotes yesterday.



I think in handgun calibers for most dogs 38 special and up should work if placement is good.

Speer 135gr Gold Dot out of my 637, I aimed for his left shoulder and hit him there (to my suprise), I had to finish him off but the first round broke his front shoulders, the bullet did not exit the other side.

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William H. Smith

Way to go guys! PPS, that yote looks about the last woodchuck I hit with my .44 magnum.

This is proving quite informative! Thanks!

T-Star

That's sometimes due to policy. Quite some time back, State Police in PA were forbidden to put animals down-at least deer. They had to call Game Wardens. I questioned this and was told command didn't want them to appear to be shooting Bambi. Don't know if that's changed, found out about it during a bizarre incident on the PA Turnpike.

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Life happens while your making other plans