So I'm sitting in the blind stewing a bit because my morning hunt has been, and will continue to be, worthless since the herd decided to set up shop around my feeders. It's a random Thursday morning and I'm at the lease hunting, so I'm not trying to complain too much, but now I'm scheming a way to "shoo" these guys away. The only thing I can think of is a quality air rifle that would be accurate to 50-75ish yards, pack enough punch to encourage the cows to move it along, and most importantly, not get me kicked off the lease. I fully admit my ignorance on air rifles and herding cattle, so if this idea is hilariously bad, then have a laugh at my expense... but I'm posting this from the blind on a gorgeous morning.

Hunters are annoying. \cows

It's really easy if they are horn trained.

Air soft?

It does not have to be a "quality" air rifle. You can use any BB gun and with the right elevation you can hit the backside of a cow at 50 yards.

It is almost like a fly to them. The first hit will do absolutely nothing. But after you hit one a few times they cannot figure out what is happening and they leave. I use one sometimes to put cattle back on the side of the fence where they belong.

They will also begin to figure out the sound of the BB gun and leave when they hear it.

I've had the same issue and gotten out of the stand and run them off. Have had to do it multiple times on same hunt. Throw a rock or two at them. Otherwise, they may stay around for the duration. You have nothing to lose by getting out and doing it.

Good luck!

You might try going over to them and start whining about all your problems in life. That would make me want to leave.

If you decide to use tanerite in some fashion please be kind and do not film in vertical mode when you post it here.

At the old lease we had slingshots in the stands for this reason

EskimoJoe said:

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It's really easy if they are horn trained.

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damn right. Also if they are diesel truck motor trained.

When I win the powerball, we'll go to Australia so you can take out your frustrations

http://www.australiawidesafaris.com.au/hunting-safaris/wild-cattle-hunting-safaris/

do you have feeder pens?

Sorry for the delay, cows moved out, then "Clooney" moved in, or so I thought. I think it's his little brother, definitely needs another year or two and a nickname.

Get a sling shot and some ball bearings.

Put a bow in your blind with a blunt tip (big rubber tip). Shoot at the hind quarter with a low power bow (50-60!lbs). The longer the shot the better. Don't hit ribs and don't let rancher see you! Used to do this a lot on public land hunts with 50-70 yard shots.

If I saw someone leasing my property shooting an air rifle or a sling shot with "ball bearings" at my cows you would find yourself off that property so fast you wouldn't have time to pack your crap.

Throw a stick, that's fine, but spooking cattle like that is how people get hurt when those cows get in pens.

Just remember those cows are worth more to the land owner than you are. You are looking at an easy way to be in the market for a new lease.

Yeah, we cycle the cattle off to the side of the ranch fenced off and away from the feeders. That being said, beef up (no pun intended) your feeder pens. If the cattle and deer occupy the same space, it's not a huge deal and when they move out, the deer move in, but don't spook them (cattle).

If you really want to keep them away, and the land owner is cool with it - maybe set up a molasses lick tub or a mineral block away from the feeders. Only put it out during the season and take it up when over or on weekends when you are out. They'll find it fast enough and head that way.

I admitted my ignorance on the subject, I've only been on this lease for two years, still new to the sport and am actually willing to listen to advice.

On a related note - Turkeys creating trouble, not cows.

These massive flocks of turkeys, 100 or more at a time, would rush our feeders and wipe them out in a matter of 60 seconds or so. On our lease we got in the habit of carrying a red rider to the stand to plink the feeder barrel with when they moved in. This was really effective in scaring them off right away. (As others have said, you don't need some high-powered air rifle to scare off the cows) Anyways, one day one of the old farts comes back to camp on opening morning with a turkey. He hit that dude right in the temple and killed it with blunt force trauma via red rider BB from ~75 yards or so. Needless to say, that guy caught his fair share of crap for (1) being a terrible shot with that BB gun and (2) having to use one of his turkey tags on opening morning of deer season.

You've got a good attitude dude. Welcome to hunting.

Just remember those cows are home and they don't know where you do or don't want them. Ike FF I'd rather not have mine shot at; I'm sure a little shooing here and there will accomplish you goal. Good luck.

Not to derail the original topic but I have a similar problem

We have some family land we lease out and they have some cows. They have multiple leased properties and not all of the land they lease has hunters. Is it fair for us to ask them to keep the cows away during hunting season or at least in the pastures we don't hunt in?

cbminers said:

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On a related note - Turkeys creating trouble, not cows.

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Last season I had 30-40 whistling ducks come in nearly every day and clean up the corn.

Do cows really bother the deer?

I have had 10+ deer under a feeder with 20+ cows before. I understand you wouldn't want to shoot into a bunch of cows, but they didn't seem to chase off any deer.

It's hell to have to hunt deer on a ranch.

powerbelly51 said:

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Do cows really bother the deer?

I have had 10+ deer under a feeder with 20+ cows before. I understand you wouldn't want to shoot into a bunch of cows, but they didn't seem to chase off any deer.

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Same here.

The larger problem is displacement. The deer are not bothered by cows on my place but generally the deer will not walk into the middle of the herd if they are crowded around your feeder area. And like you said, you want the cows out of the line of fire. I am sure you will get varied opinions about how much deer are afraid of cattle.

Maybe some of you have some spooky cattle. I can shoot MY cow in the rump and it will walk off, NOT RUN OFF. And it usually takes only a couple of times and they know the sound. Then you dont have to actually hit them. They hear the unusual sound and walk off. We are talking about a Red Ryder, not a 1200 fps air rifle.

Like many on this thread, my deer feeders are not fenced off. When I catch my cattle spending time under a feeder, I make sure they have salt and molasses elsewhere (as others have already mentioned).

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They have multiple leased properties and not all of the land they lease has hunters. Is it fair for us to ask them to keep the cows away during hunting season or at least in the pastures we don't hunt in?

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It's a fair question. Just be polite about it. It's neither easy no cheap to move cattle around. Do these properties touch? Is it a matter or leading them through an open gate to another section of the property, or rounding them up, loading them onto trailers, and driving them to another seperate property? If that's what is involved, I highly doubt the landowner is going to do that each season. It's a monumental PITA and can be both dangerous and expensive. If it's another pasture - landowner is thinking about quality fences, convenient access, and of course water.

Answer to the OP is either wait them out or to get down and shoo them off in person. Would not shoot them, reasons explained above by many other posters.

I'd employ some 50lb cowboys at the opposite end of the place or at the catch pen

My grandfather would take a slingshot to the stand pretty regularly to get rid of cows.

He didn't call it a slingshot, though.

rather be fishing said:

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He didn't call it a slingshot, though.

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Did he use it to shoot Brazil nuts at them?

AgEng06 said:

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rather be fishing said:

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He didn't call it a slingshot, though.

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Did he use it to shoot Brazil nuts at them?

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Possible

AgEng06 said:

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rather be fishing said:

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He didn't call it a slingshot, though.

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Did he use it to shoot Brazil nuts at them?

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He probably only shot them at people who annoyed him.