Dart Guns- friend or foe
- Thread starter Bootheel
- Start date
little bow rancher
Well-known member
I've never used one , heard good and bad about them for years , but I figure if it works for you stick with it :wink:
Big Muddy rancher
Well-known member
Anybody seen the movie Despicable Me? :lol: :lol:
Shortgrass
Well-known member
What brands do you use, What do you use in the way of darts, types & sizes, Air or cartridge powered projectors, What other accesories are needed??? I've been interested for a year or so.........
movin' on
Well-known member
Here's my take on it.
Pneu-Dart is the brand I'd go with. They have a really neat system for metering the gun. Instead of having color-coded cartridges that determine how far you can be from your target, there is simply a dial on the gun that you set from 1 to 5 and always use the same size cartridge. I guess there must be a valve in there that either directs the full force to the dart or lets some of the force bypass the dart, resulting in a gentler shot for shorter ranges.
As far as CO2 or cartridges.......I would suggest cartridges wholeheartedly. You can pick up .22 blanks from the hardware store and you're set. Set the dial on the gun where you want it and all your shots will be exactly the same. It seems like with CO2 there is some variation in shots.
Dart guns these days are really a pretty neat deal. Your eye can't follow the dart to the target. The old ones had to be kind of "rainbowed" over to the animal. Now, just point and shoot!
It would be neat to know how many thousands of hours have been saved by dart guns.
Pneu-Dart is the brand I'd go with. They have a really neat system for metering the gun. Instead of having color-coded cartridges that determine how far you can be from your target, there is simply a dial on the gun that you set from 1 to 5 and always use the same size cartridge. I guess there must be a valve in there that either directs the full force to the dart or lets some of the force bypass the dart, resulting in a gentler shot for shorter ranges.
As far as CO2 or cartridges.......I would suggest cartridges wholeheartedly. You can pick up .22 blanks from the hardware store and you're set. Set the dial on the gun where you want it and all your shots will be exactly the same. It seems like with CO2 there is some variation in shots.
Dart guns these days are really a pretty neat deal. Your eye can't follow the dart to the target. The old ones had to be kind of "rainbowed" over to the animal. Now, just point and shoot!
It would be neat to know how many thousands of hours have been saved by dart guns.
Pneu Dart was the one I tried yesterday, CO2 powered.
Hard a hard time pulling the trigger, never did like to shoot something I was not planning to kill
Doctored 2 calves and a cow, the darts on the cow blew the ends out when the charge went off. I am not sure if that is normal?
Hard a hard time pulling the trigger, never did like to shoot something I was not planning to kill
Doctored 2 calves and a cow, the darts on the cow blew the ends out when the charge went off. I am not sure if that is normal?
I think the one we used to use was Medidart, but the air chamber broke on it and that spelled the end of it. Once the syringe had emptied itself it would push itself out of the animal.
I've been borrowing the neighbours the last couple of years and I kinda like it. Its not a gun, it's more like a jousters lance. You gotta get close enough to stick it, and the syringe stays in and does it's thing. The syringe is connected to the lance by about 200 feet of retractable string, so if the animal is on the move the syringe has time to inject before the string comes tight and pulls it out. It works equally well from quad or horseback if the bush isn't too thick :wink:
I've been borrowing the neighbours the last couple of years and I kinda like it. Its not a gun, it's more like a jousters lance. You gotta get close enough to stick it, and the syringe stays in and does it's thing. The syringe is connected to the lance by about 200 feet of retractable string, so if the animal is on the move the syringe has time to inject before the string comes tight and pulls it out. It works equally well from quad or horseback if the bush isn't too thick :wink:
Ben H
Well-known member
I have a Dan-Inject, been really happy with it. It operates the same way as the the PneuDart, adjust for range with the manometer, but the darts are totally different. The PneuDarts are one time use, the Dan Inject I can re-use. I pressurize them with a syringe. I can use the PneuDarts in my DanInject with the larger barrel. I have used it to capture a couple animals and also to give some Lutalyse.
I picked up a laser range finder in the Bargain Cave at the local Cabelas, it helps a lot if you have a chart telling you what to set your manometer to. The Dan-Inject can do up to 3cc with the 11mm barrel and up to 10cc with the 13mm barrel.
I also have a MediDart bow for larger dosages (up to 30cc), which I have not needed yet. Figured it would be good for Tetradure, fortunately haven't needed it since I bought it a year ago.
Animals don't associate the dart hitting them with you, it is low stress. When you use it to capture, you want to leave them alone after you dart them until the drug has done its thing.
I picked up a laser range finder in the Bargain Cave at the local Cabelas, it helps a lot if you have a chart telling you what to set your manometer to. The Dan-Inject can do up to 3cc with the 11mm barrel and up to 10cc with the 13mm barrel.
I also have a MediDart bow for larger dosages (up to 30cc), which I have not needed yet. Figured it would be good for Tetradure, fortunately haven't needed it since I bought it a year ago.
Animals don't associate the dart hitting them with you, it is low stress. When you use it to capture, you want to leave them alone after you dart them until the drug has done its thing.
John SD
Well-known member
Never used one, but after what I saw yesterday dart guns scare me a bit. Don't know what brand it is but I helped neighbor's do fall shots on a bunch of calves that had been sick.
They had shot one calf and the dart went in about 4" deep in front of the shoulder blade. Left a pretty deep hole about 1/2" dia. Lucky it didn't hit anything vital. Neighbor is not inexperience with the dart gun either. He wondered if that particular shell had a bigger powder load than it was supposed to have.
Gave the calf some more Draxxin, pine tar in the wound and screwworm spray all over the general area. Calf actually acted like it felt pretty good under the circumstances.
They had shot one calf and the dart went in about 4" deep in front of the shoulder blade. Left a pretty deep hole about 1/2" dia. Lucky it didn't hit anything vital. Neighbor is not inexperience with the dart gun either. He wondered if that particular shell had a bigger powder load than it was supposed to have.
Gave the calf some more Draxxin, pine tar in the wound and screwworm spray all over the general area. Calf actually acted like it felt pretty good under the circumstances.
Ben H
Well-known member
Sounds like it was adjusted for a longer range and they shot it too close. Poor training likely.
John SD
Well-known member
Ben, I was editing in while you were posting. 
My neighbor has had this dart rig for several years and does have some experience using it. Never had something like this happen before though. He had also used it on bulls and cows for foot rot, so he might have been too close to the calf.
My neighbor has had this dart rig for several years and does have some experience using it. Never had something like this happen before though. He had also used it on bulls and cows for foot rot, so he might have been too close to the calf.Ben H
Well-known member
Was it pneumatic or blank operated? If blank, may have used the wrong charge. Sometimes it's tempting to take the shot when you shouldn't because you have the chance and don't want to take the few seconds to adjust. With blanks you have to actually change them, with pneumatic manometers you just relieve a little pressure.
Having grown up playing paintball and being on the recieving end, I know about the physics of the joules of energy hitting the target. Paintball guns you can't adjust and don't take a shot at close range.
Having grown up playing paintball and being on the recieving end, I know about the physics of the joules of energy hitting the target. Paintball guns you can't adjust and don't take a shot at close range.
John SD
Well-known member
It is a blank operated gun, and he does suspect the charge was wrong in that particular cartridge. Guy is on the radio now advertising the Dakota Dart gun. http://www.cammackranchsupply.com/store/product.php?productid=1
Ben H
Well-known member
I would encourage CO2 because it is so easy/fast to adjust the pressure.
I keep two copies of the tables handy. One I keep in the grip of the gun, the other is in the toolbox for my accesories that I can put in my pocket when using it, I had them laminated as well.
I keep two copies of the tables handy. One I keep in the grip of the gun, the other is in the toolbox for my accesories that I can put in my pocket when using it, I had them laminated as well.
katrina
Well-known member
We have a dart gun and like it......
Ben H
Well-known member
Let me know how you like those darts, some of them I can use in my Dan-Inject 13mm barrel.
Northern Rancher
Well-known member
I had one of those jouster lance deals when Shauna was packing one of the kids around I'd rope them and she'd do the treating-I never liked it all that much and leant it to a neighbor with instructions not to be real quick about returning it. The vet used his dart gun on one of our rodeo heifers-she was kind of in a bad spot to get a rope on her so we darted her and pulled the calf-she took about double the dose he'd thought she would need. I've worked on some outfits that use them and they are a good deal to treat big bulls especially. One time up in The Pas A big Simmy jumped in the river and snoozed off in midstream which didn't work so well but they are easier than stretching out big cattle especially in the bush.