I'm to be involved with the culling of a few ostriches soon. Others have asked my advice and that just made me realize that if you do not know well enough to give good advice, it is better to ask for advice. I have seen the skin and feather damage caused by post-death running reflexes if a brain shot is taken with a .22 Hornet - terrible! What are the alternatives?

So I ask what advice on caliber, bullet type and particularly shot placement can the collective expertise on this forum give. The objectives to be achieved are: (i) Ethical and humane kill with (ii) preserving as much as of the good meat as possible (ii) with limited damage to the skins and [less critical] the feathers.

Any advice as "Do's" and "Do Nots" from knowledgeable persons will be appreciated.

Andrew:

A "Hole in One" always scores maximum points

I would suggest anything in the 6.5 - 7mm range would suffice and keep damage within your expectations, to include a humane way of parting company.

Andrew,

I've always found the Texas heart shot with anything from about .270 calibre or upwards to be highly effective. Extra bonus is no significant carcass damage etc.

Has anybody tried a shot lower on the neck?

I've shot one ostrich, in the head. You REALLY don't want to shoot them there. If I were to do it again, I would like to have some way of stopping the bird. When walking, they create some real shot challenges. Whistle? Predator call?

quote:

Originally posted by shakari:
Andrew,

I've always found the Texas heart shot with anything from about .270 calibre or upwards to be highly effective. Extra bonus is no significant carcass damage etc.

+1

You end up with the biggest Xmas turkey you have ever seen!!!

K

This is an interesting thread. I shot one in Botswana twice in the body last year with a 375 H&H and that old boy ran a half mile before piling up.

8 bore shotgun?

I've killed a few with bow. Aim farther forward and lower than you think. About 5 inches in front of the leg or more.

I agree with Shakari, shoot em in the ass with a .416.

My experience with shooting ostriches includes a grand total of ONE!

Mine was running away at an angle, at about 300 yards, and the bullet hit him in his rear end.

He dropped like a stone.

Obviously Steve is right then

Broadside on you need to shoot them quite far forward of the leg, a shot in line with the leg will be a gut shot, a .22 hornet will be perfect for those type of shots at appropriate ranges. For the texas heart shot you need to be dead in line and use a bigger calibre, if not perfectly centred you will get significant meat damage. Once you have skinned one and seen where the rib cage and vitals are situated it will be easy to figure out

I think a lot of people forget they're actually a lot of feathers and a much smaller body than many would imagine..... which is why the THS is so good for them.

It is only sporting if you shoot them when they are flying.

Depending on distance, I would have thought a load of buckshot to the head would do it.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
It is only sporting if you shoot them when they are flying.

Three feet to the left. This way you avoid paying for and plucking these ugly, giant chickens!

Years ago I had a young hunter with me in the Danakil Desert who had an Ostrich license.
He asked me the same thing. I'd never shot one
myself but didn't want to appear inexperienced so I said, "Shoot him where he looks the biggest". Based on the results I think it's still good advice.

Rich Elliott

For me, the Texas heart shot made a brown mess. Would not do that again.

In the ear hole or between the eyes.

George

Feed them corn soaked in some kind of tranquillizer, then then they go to sleep cut their throats.

I would think ostrich or emu would be the easiest thing to NECK shoot, no worries about allowing for bullet drop, just need to think about a bit of windage or just shoot on calm days.

In May, a friend and I took 6 in one day of culling. Head shot is terrificly effective, but not easy to pull off. And if you don't pretty well take out the brain,they run. and run. and run.

Body shot, center of the circle made by the chest worked well with a 30-06. Or from the rear with a centering THS.

Rope them cowboy style!
Ride like a horse till they get tired then 22 to the noggen.
Please video.

The object of the exercise is to avoid a brain shot so as to prevent it from charging about like a "headless chicken", damaging its feathers and skin in the process.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
It is only sporting if you shoot them when they are flying.

This is a little off the subject. One really has to be careful with these things. They can hurt you badly.

I few years ago, my youngest son shot one with a 30-06. It was down but still alive. Peter Thormahlen grabbed the head with the idea that the tracker put a knife through the head. Well, this thing started kicking. We all had a good laugh at Peter holding on for dear life. After it was over, we were not laughing. The bird had kicked Peter's boot right where the Achilles tendon it. Some how this thing cut the boot open, cut the sock open yet never toughed his skin. It was damn lucky for him. He could have had his Achilles severed.

Back to the subject. I have shot several. The head shot is spectacular ( I did it once with a 375). The TX heart shot worked quite well.

OK...been living and hunting in the Great State of Texas my whole life. The first time I ever heard of the so-called Texas heart shot was when I went to Africa the first time.

Probably been discussed before...but who coined this phrase or how did it get its origin???

I would be inclined to fire a warning shot across the beak and leave it at that.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
It is only sporting if you shoot them when they are flying.

.................. Good one Andrew!

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
I would be inclined to fire a warning shot across the beak and leave it at that.

................+1, I have zero intention ever shooting an ostrich, unless in self defense or if starving and in need food!

quote:

if starving and in need food!

Red meat - zero cholesterol (so they say) and has become very fashionable in Europe - possibly due to the zero cholesterol marketing ploy.

Obviously has a demand in RSA as well.