never heard of banding horns.

i remember working for another hereford outfit when i was in grade school.  the guy had probably 50 or so mature cows that had untouched full racks - I thought they were beautiful and he wanted to get rid of them.  So we sorted those cows out and i was expecting to maybe cut them off with something.  the first cow gets caught in the chute and this guy tells me to get back and he swings a big old sledge hammered over his head and cracks those horns right off.  i could not believe how well it worked with very little blood - very quick job of it too.