Do the Irish Deer commission humane dispatch course in Jan. That will give you a stronger"legal footing"[FWIW] with both council and AGS. http://irishdeercommission.ie/online-humane-deer-dispatch-course-register-now/?fbclid=IwAR044ZT88XqNXYuorEJaj1ifYKebotYcYmHV6VFyLcrE4fBGKqSGbGAmeYYn

Next, I'd look at possibly getting a sub calibre device for a 12Ga/20 ga to a pistol round for a shotgun a being a safer alternative, or even a .22 magnum rifle or even one of those UK legal folding SBBL 410 pistols with a variation for 410 shotgun slugs for humane dispatch. The thing is, are you going to have that many deer to dispatch PA that will require ANY sort of specific firearm for the job and justify the "good reason to possess?

As there is a good reason to possess in the Garda guidelines and they mention a particular type of .32 cal device,[Cash man]it should be a doable propositionin some shape or form. However, there is a whole lot of difference between dispatching a wild deer and a lame horse. Many of those vet dispatchers are captive bolt killers using a blank charge to drive a spike into the animal's skull and brain in a controlled environment. Others are like a loaded spiked hammer that fire the charge when it impacts the animals' skull. However, most vets just do euthanisa these days with lethal injections rather than having these devices about. As all 3 are in controlled environments and not out in the wild or at a roadside where you might be tackling a broken legged deer you will need some sort of standoff distance rather than a captive bolt killer to do this humanely. Nor are you looking for any fancy shots either, you are looking at a skull shot in the weakest point of the skull to instantly drop the deer if it is down and in the safest way possible too on a public road. In that case, a .22 magnum will do the job well. Folks who slaughter their own beef or pork have been using those for years. Plenty of YT vids of slaughters in AZ/NZ dropping steers with a silenced .22mag.

Part and parcel of a German hunters job to deal with roadkill if your let is crossed by roads. Most hunters have a registered pistol/revolver to deal with a downed animal, and as the police are there any way to deal with the road traffic accident, they do the traffic control while you dispatch the animal. Some old school hunters can still do a dispatch with a hunting knife. By severing the spinal cord between the 1st vertebrae and the skull. It's not taught anymore in the hunting course as it is considered inhumane and rather dangerous as a few lads have gotten antler tines thru the hand while holding onto[wrongly] the dying animal.

Yup Accles& Shelvoke,did,or still do make slaughtering instruments and cable spikes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accles_%26_Shelvoke

If Harold Shipman was a vet

I dispatched an animal injured on the road once after a call from the Gardaí to my Dad, friend of his called him as no wildlife officer was available. Twas an awkward shot from a few yards in a sort of a double ditch with a Sako TRG and 8-32 Nightforce. The deer was still pretty mobile, I wouldn't have liked to have had to got humane bolt close to dispatch it.

A battered old CZ hornet using the iron sights would probably be the cheapest/handiest option.

A .22 will drop cattle and hogs as the day is long once you hit them in the right place in the head. Same for dispatching deer.But then again you could just as easily use 00BUCK[called that for a reason] shot or a slug,if a rifle was inappropriate.

Its rare but not un-heard of, someone being stabbed/impaled by deer antlers, its common enough for anyone working with cattle to get smacked with a head/horns from time to time.

As Feisar says a battered old anything at 10 odd yrs will do the trick. In all honesty any experienced user with a rifle scoped or not could/should not miss from this range.

Irish Gun Laws = FUBAR. 😀

Are humane dispatchers not exempt from firearms licensing? Also regarding the 32 ACP cashman, AGS can't give you a license for it as it's a restricted short firearm. Am I missing something or is this another case of AGS playing legislator?

I'd say it is almost academic in the small amount of them out there as most vets nowadays use;

1] Lethal injection [2] A captive bolt killer fired by a Hilti blank or compressed air without the complications of licensing [3] Have maybe once or twice in their entire career to deal with an ultra dangerous animal that needs that kind of standoff In which case a 32 is a pretty lame cal to be using.[4] These are guidelines which I assume were put there to deal with the odd live round dispatcher that might show up in a day to day Supers workload,as to what to do with such.