Preface

I have been using tranquilizing equipment in for over twenty-five years to medicate and sedate my cattle.  I started out with equipment from a company that utilized reusable darts in conjunction with their projector, or “dart gun”, which was not equipped with an adjustable power control.  Should the dart not bounce out of the animal and waste my medication, it would stick in the animal too long and fall out in knee deep grass.  As a result, I collectively spent hours that added up into days looking for expensive “lost darts”.  I never found many of the darts, and when I did they would require the smelly mess of cleaning them along with the not-for-free process of recharging them for future use.  All this became very frustrating and I would prefer to pen the animal by horseback unless it was next to impossible.

I knew the premise of administering a remote injection to a sick animal was correct.  I could avoid all the stress created from running the animal a half or three quarters of a mile horseback. This was hard on the sick steer’s lungs, elevated the temperature and provided for a worsening of its overall health.

As a result of “horseing” the animal in, I ended up putting the steer in the “sick” pen with the others and doctor on it for a week!  This required more drugs and more of my time!  If I could just give the animal the medication out in the pasture at the first indication of need, it would eliminate all the stress by just letting it stay with the herd.

While doing some pre-scouting for an elk hunt at the Wichita Mountain National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma I met the fellow in charge of the refuge.  We got to discussing “tranquilizing” and I found out about Pneu-Dart disposable darts.  He was kind enough to give me the phone number of the company.  I called and placed an order.  I haven’t used the “reusable” types since.

Way back then, the largest capacity dart they produced was a 6cc and the shortest needle length available was three-quarters of an inch.  Running a stocker/feeder operation, I was buying steers and bulls hovering around four hundred pounds and Micotil had just hit the market.  On this size of calf, as long as I shot the animal in the loose hide in front of the brisket, I could make a sub-Q injection.  This worked great, as Micotil was a very effective drug at that time.  If I would screw up a little on shot placement and get the drug in the muscle, it would make a knot for a couple of weeks; however the drug was still effective.

I became acquainted with Bob Waldeisen, the owner of the company at that time, via telephone.  Bob invented the disposable dart system and founded Pneu-Dart, which started as a small basement operation in 1967.  The primary source of his sales were zoological applications.  We became acquainted over the telephone and become good friends.   I would pester him two or three times a week.  It became a contest to see who could get the other out of bed first, and was great fun as long as I was the caller.  I kept after him to manufacture larger darts. I told him that there were more cattle to dart than deer and he was missing the boat on the cattle industry.  After him hearing all my tears hit the floor and begging for the larger darts, he handmade me twenty 10 cc darts and sent them to me for Christmas.  After I told them how well they worked, the company began manufacturing larger capacity darts along with projectors, or “dart guns” to shoot them.  My good friend passed away in his early eighties.  The new owner is a progressive type of fellow and intensified the efforts to meet customers’ needs for what they require and with what works.  He has surrounded himself with a bright staff and the team is constantly striving to improve products, making the company the leader in the remote injection industry.

This second edition of “Shooting the Bull” has been facilitated not only from advancements in the pharmaceutical industry, but also from advancements made by Pneu-Dart equipment.  I am constantly in the learning process as well.  Much, if not all of the information that was contained in the first printing will be contained within.  New advancements warranted an update with this second printing.  I’m attempting not to make this reading too “dry”, but much of it is due to subject matter.  Try to read this book from cover to cover and obtain a broad overview before you start.  Much of the material in one chapter will be relative to a subject in another chapter.  Mark anything you might have an interest in so you can easily find it again.

It is likely that I will be repeating myself from time to time and from chapter to chapter on issues that I feel are critical for you to do a good job with your equipment.  I am not a know-it-all.  Learning is an evolving process.  I hope this writing will help you avoid mistakes that I had to learn the hard way.  I have earned my diploma from the School of Hard Knocks.  To repeat myself right off the bat, new developments in the pharmaceutical industry as well as improvements in the Pneu-Dart equipment have facilitated this second edition.

When a dart hits an animal you must be observant of the impact trauma.  To properly use remote injection, you want the dart to strike the animal with just slightly more force than is required to implant the needle.  This will be enough force to detonate the dart.  Anything over this invites bruising or forming a hematoma beneath the animals’ skin.  Not only will this pool of coagulated blood hinder the absorbtion of your medication, it can also result in a knot forming at the injection site. Another reason for controlling the impact concerns “bounce outs”.  A high velocity strike on soft tissue can react much in the same manner as striking a rubber ball, with the dart not anchoring into the animal’s skin and venting your drugs into the atmosphere.  In this case, all that will be accomplished is the waste of your dollars while needlessly injuring the animal.

It is very important to use practice darts to sight in your projector and get acquainted with the equipment.  These darts are weighted and are very close to the weight the live darts are when they are full of the medication of choice.  Sight your projector in and keep the impact trauma in mind while doing so.  Although your projector will come with “suggested” trajectory charts that contain information of dart capacity, range and projector settings; one size does not necessarily fit all.  Just because your neighbor down the road has darting equipment just like yours doesn’t mean your projector is going to perform just like his.  It’s important to do your own homework, customize the application regarding the equipment for yourself, and document such for future reference.  This needs to be done on each dart capacity size you will be using.

Dart guns have an arc, or “rainbow trajectory” when properly used.  The darts fly at speeds that are well below those of a bow and arrow.  Your goal should be for the dart to strike on the last one-third of the arc as its velocity lessens.  I highly recommend an optical sight on your projector. … No, you don’t need the magnification per se on large animals.  What you do need is a reference point.  An optical sight will greatly extend the range your projector will be useful at.  (Aiming above where the dart will strike is called “holdover.”  If I need to aim eight inches above the crown of the neck on a calf that is thirty yards away, and allow the dart to fall from that point of aim and strike six inches below the crown of the neck, I can’t do it with iron sights.  (This would be a 14 inch holdover.)  The iron sights just cover up too much real estate and I have no idea where that eight inch point above the neck would be in order to make a precise injection.

I have encountered people having problems with two topics that are related to iron sight usage on dart guns.  One guy called me from western Oklahoma that was having darts with a one inch needle bounce out of his cattle, thus wasting his dart and the drugs they contained.  He wanted to blame his problem on faulty darts.  That was not the case. When I asked him the size of dart he was using, the distance he was from the animals and the power load and setting of the rifle, it was obvious to me that he was hitting the cattle way too hard.  I told him to either turn the power setting down on the projector or shoot them from a further distance on that load/power setting combination.  He then exclaimed, “Well then I can’t hit them!”  I guess when he missed them at least the dart didn’t bounce out.  Some people just don’t get that it’s a dart gun, not a 30-06, and that extended shooting distances can require a little “Kentucky Windage” on the shooters part.

Do not have the misconception that you get your equipment out of the shipping box, fill a dart with medication and just pull the trigger expecting to doctor your cattle. Please note our recommended point of injection is forward of the shoulder just at the fold of the neck line. Pneu-Dart, Inc. does not condone nor promote the extra-label use of veterinary pharmaceuticals unless on order and under supervision of a licensed veterinarian.