Posted on May 13, 2009 - by Hubba

In Pictures: Doctoring A Cow

It would be the height of folly to suggest in an article on the internet that technology hasn’t changed ranching.  However you may be surprised to learn how some of us have adopted technology on the lone prairie.

Doctoring a herd of cattle has changed very little; there have been advancements, such as the serpentine chute, “semi-automatic” vaccine guns, pour-on dispensers, and women wearing visors, but the premise is the same- gather the cattle into an enclosed area and subject them to whatever medicinal benefit we think they need.

But the doctoring of individual cattle, often on the aforementioned lone prairie, has changed immensely for those who want it to change.

It used to be (and still is in many places) that if a corral wasn’t handy, you saddled your horse, got down your rope, caught the cow, doctored her, and let her go.

Except we were never all that good at roping, and increasingly we don’t have time to improve our skills on the battlefield, as it were.

And so Dad bought a dart gun.  It’s a standard 50 caliber muzzleloader (if you’re not familiar with firearms, don’t freak out, its not as big as you think) fitted with a removable chamber which holds a blank .22 shell, the propellant.

In the series of pictures that follow, my brother John Paul demonstrates the use of the dart gun.

1.  The dart is filled from a syringe.  If the volume of medicine is less than the capacity of the dart (say 3 cc in a 7cc dart) the dart is filled with sterile water.

2.  A small amount of Vaseline is applied to the tip of the dart.  Why, you ask?  TO KEEP THE MEDICINE FROM DRIPPING OUT OF THE DART.

3.  After “breaking” the gun, dart is inserted in the bore.

4.  Dart is followed by the fitting holding the charge.

5.  After shutting the gun, John Paul gets within 15 to 25 yards of the cow (a rotfoot), ears back the hammer, aims and fires.

6.  Most animals seem to become quite animated after this procedure.  The cow runs away, and we go home to drink iced tea.  The base of the dart has a layer of wax, which is melted by the body heat of the cow, and the dart falls out.

If the “Great White Hunter” method of doctoring cows isn’t your thing, they also make a dart crossbow, for those who like their cattle doctoring with a side of medieval warfare, and a dart spear, which most people use from the back of a running pony, for a shall we say more Native American experience.