How to humanely finish a crippled bird

[Marc]

I grew up with a buddy who watched too much of the pre-tv show duck commander videos and he'd actually bite down on duck heads to finish them off.

I probably know as many duck hunters that use this method as don't...  And it started long before the Duck Commander made it popular.

Fine for smaller ducks, but a bit "tough on the teeth" for larger ones...  I was never enthusiastic about this method, although it is very effective.  I currently have a "Finisher" on my lanyard, and it works well for waterfowl species of all sizes...  As mentioned above, I used it on a turkey last season...  It does make some birds bleed excessively for a bit.

[CowHunter71]

Stretch their neck. Foot just below head and pull tight on feet.

[bigriverbum]

I grew up with a buddy who watched too much of the pre-tv show duck commander videos and he'd actually bite down on duck heads to finish them off.

I probably know as many duck hunters that use this method as don't...  And it started long before the Duck Commander made it popular.

Fine for smaller ducks, but a bit "tough on the teeth" for larger ones...  I was never enthusiastic about this method, although it is very effective.  I currently have a "Finisher" on my lanyard, and it works well for waterfowl species of all sizes...  As mentioned above, I used it on a turkey last season...  It does make some birds bleed excessively for a bit.

duck hunters gotta prove how tough they are. specially when they're hunting flooded rice fields on private land lol

take the duck and wring its neck or slam its head against the side of the boat.

guys who wring the neck on turkeys? how big is an average tom where you hunt?

[JohnSouth22]

It is important to add that if ringing their necks don't just grab their heads wait and then start spinning. You need to grab it and immediately start. Had a well endowed bird put an end to that a few years back as soon as I grabbed his head he contorted himself into sending his spurs into my hand. Cut me wide open and had to glue it shut later that day. So if your gonna ring, grab and get to it quickly

[btodd00]

I grew up with a buddy who watched too much of the pre-tv show duck commander videos and he'd actually bite down on duck heads to finish them off.

I probably know as many duck hunters that use this method as don't...  And it started long before the Duck Commander made it popular.

Fine for smaller ducks, but a bit "tough on the teeth" for larger ones...  I was never enthusiastic about this method, although it is very effective.  I currently have a "Finisher" on my lanyard, and it works well for waterfowl species of all sizes...  As mentioned above, I used it on a turkey last season...  It does make some birds bleed excessively for a bit.

duck hunters gotta prove how tough they are. specially when they're hunting flooded rice fields on private land lol

take the duck and wring its neck or slam its head against the side of the boat.

guys who wring the neck on turkeys? how big is an average tom where you hunt?

I hunt florida so its more like ringing the neck on a really big chicken lol

[bigriverbum]

I grew up with a buddy who watched too much of the pre-tv show duck commander videos and he'd actually bite down on duck heads to finish them off.

I probably know as many duck hunters that use this method as don't...  And it started long before the Duck Commander made it popular.

Fine for smaller ducks, but a bit "tough on the teeth" for larger ones...  I was never enthusiastic about this method, although it is very effective.  I currently have a "Finisher" on my lanyard, and it works well for waterfowl species of all sizes...  As mentioned above, I used it on a turkey last season...  It does make some birds bleed excessively for a bit.

duck hunters gotta prove how tough they are. specially when they're hunting flooded rice fields on private land lol

take the duck and wring its neck or slam its head against the side of the boat.

guys who wring the neck on turkeys? how big is an average tom where you hunt?

I hunt florida so its more like ringing the neck on a really big chicken lol

lol! ok that's why i asked. i'm no expert but the thought of flinging around a 27lb midwestern bird didn't seem like a great idea.

thanks to this thread i'll definitely try, the foot on neck and pull legs method

[bigriverbum]

but preferably i get a few inside 20 yards and stone cold drop'em

[Delmar ODonnell]

I grew up with a buddy who watched too much of the pre-tv show duck commander videos and he'd actually bite down on duck heads to finish them off.

I probably know as many duck hunters that use this method as don't...  And it started long before the Duck Commander made it popular.

Fine for smaller ducks, but a bit "tough on the teeth" for larger ones...  I was never enthusiastic about this method, although it is very effective.  I currently have a "Finisher" on my lanyard, and it works well for waterfowl species of all sizes...  As mentioned above, I used it on a turkey last season...  It does make some birds bleed excessively for a bit.

duck hunters gotta prove how tough they are. specially when they're hunting flooded rice fields on private land lol

take the duck and wring its neck or slam its head against the side of the boat.

guys who wring the neck on turkeys? how big is an average tom where you hunt?

Respectfully, I disagree with you here. It's common practice with almost every duck hunter I know to quickly bite the heads of smaller ducks that have not expired. For Mallards and geese, we typically use a finisher. Not because it's "cool" or "tough," but because it is the quickest and most effective way to end the duck's suffering. I've seen people whirling birds around by the neck like a helicopter and still be very much alive afterward, or occasions when someone takes five attempts at banging the birds head on something before it works. In addition, it damages the bird much less. Personally, when I take any animal, I want it to be in as pristine condition as possible after the kill when I admire it, and I've seen too many times of ducks with their heads hanging on by a thread.

Now, if anyone does this to be "cool." I'm adamantly against that. It's not something to be celebrated or advertised. When hunting with new hunters or guiding clients, I will turn away so to not let them know what I was doing. It is grotesque, but it ends the suffering of an animal I respect quickly.

As for turkeys, I have only had to finish one, but grabbing the head with one hand and immediately under it on the neck with the other and twisting sharply was immediately effective.

[ChesterCopperpot]

I might would bite down on a wood ducks head but there's just absolutely no way I'm biting down on a gobbler's head that has been shot all to hell with pellets and has skin like an old man's scrotum If it comes to that I'll shoot him again.


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[Cottonmouth]

I keep a dove load in my vest. Instant death.

[Hobbes]

Maybe I'm misreading the posts, but it sounds like the majority of you are trying to "finish" something that is already dead.  If you're talking head up and eyes blinking, by all means do something to end it.  If you are just trying to stop the flopping because you think that's somehow humane, you've been misinformed.  Flopping isn't an indication of life.  The only reason I grab those birds is so they don't beat the heck out of themselves and look bad or roll down a hill or mountain or into water. 

[Sixes]

Maybe I'm misreading the posts, but it sounds like the majority of you are trying to "finish" something that is already dead.  If you're talking head up and eyes blinking, by all means do something to end it.  If you are just trying to stop the flopping because you think that's somehow humane, you've been misinformed.  Flopping isn't an indication of life.  The only reason I grab those birds is so they don't beat the heck out of themselves and look bad or roll down a hill or mountain or into water.

Yep, if he can't pick his head up off the ground, then he is flopping dead

[g8rvet]

I wring necks on big and little ducks.  With practice you can stop before you pull the head off (unless you are my brother who ALWAYS pulls the head off  ) I wring the necks on Canada geese as well - honkers, not just cacklers.  Takes a little more effort, but easy and quick. 

For turkeys-learn the anatomy of a turkey online.  Then a quick knife to the brain while standing on the neck.  You instantly know you hit the right place after you have done it a couple of times, they start that twitchy wing flap.  They don't really bleed a ton from the knife hole either. I carry a fairly pointed blade and it is simple and very effective.

https://inspection.canada.ca/food-safety-for-industry/food-specific-requirements-and-guidance/meat-products-and-food-animals/guidelines-for-stunning-techniques/eng/1538160892409/1538160892704

Scroll down.

[Yoder409]

........ there's just absolutely no way I'm biting down on a gobbler's head that has been shot all to hell with pellets and has skin like an old man's scrotum If it comes to that I'll shoot him again.

            

[Mallard1897]

Always been a proponent of the "Model T start" for dispatching crippled ducks and geese. If you hold them firmly where the spine meets the base of the skull a quick spin till you feel the spine pop is all that's needed.

On bigger geese sometimes I'll grab at the base of the skull and make a quick whip motion and the spine will detach from the skull under their own weight. I can see the appeal of the finisher to some. Had a buddy "ring" a birds neck that popped up from the pile when we went to pick up.   

Turkey is a different story. If they still have their head up and legs under them I'm not about to try the above methods. Follow up shot is quick and clean. If flopping I just let em flop but that's a yankee turkey hunter for you I guess.

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