A grazier from Queensland's Scenic Rim says his family is stressed after his cattle were shot with a crossbow in two separate incidents.

Key points: A southern Queensland grazier says it's heartbreaking to have handfed cattle through the drought and then to see them shot in this way

A southern Queensland grazier says it's heartbreaking to have handfed cattle through the drought and then to see them shot in this way The RSPCA says it is not an isolated occurrence, with four or five similar incidents reported each year

The RSPCA says it is not an isolated occurrence, with four or five similar incidents reported each year Anyone with information should contact police

Sean Winks found the first heifer shot dead a week ago in a small paddock near his family home outside Boonah and was shocked to discover a second incident days later.

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: This story contains images some people may find distressing.

"I could see a little tiny piece, just looked the end of a lead pencil, in her head," he said.

"And I pulled this seven or maybe eight inch [18 to 20cm] bloody arrow out of its head.

"I honestly did not think it would happen again."

Mr Winks said the two incidents had concerned his family.

"It doesn't worry me a whole lot other than the fact of the welfare of the animals," he said.

Mr Winks says this arrow was stuck in a heifer's head for a day or two, but it's now recovering. ( Supplied: Sean Winks )

"My partner's packing it every time we go somewhere.

"She's at home packing death that someone's going to shoot me with an arrow or something and rings up every couple of minutes checking I'm alright.

"So she's certainly unnerved by it."

Second heifer 'doing OK'

Mr Winks said he was hopeful the second heifer would survive the second brazen attack.

"[The arrow had] been stuck in its head for a day or two," he said.

"It seems to be OK at this stage … so hopefully this one survives."

He said, while the financial impact was not great, it had demanded a lot of his time.

"I've been going up every day counting them all making sure they're all there," he said.

"It is consuming my life at the moment.

"I keep on checking these cattle.

"Trying to get through to police stations, and talking to people and things like that, so it's taking up a bit of time."

This heifer is recovering after being shot with an arrow. ( ABC Southern Queensland: Baz Ruddick )

Handfed cattle 'like pets'

Mr Winks said it was another blow after handfeeding the cattle through the drought.

"They're like pets these little things," he said.

"You feed them every night and morning for months on end, and then to just put them out in the paddock and this to happen."

The grazier said he was hopeful the culprit would be caught before more animals were hurt.

"I just wish it was all over, really," he said.

"When it happened once I just thought someone's done something stupid.

"And then lo and behold a few days later here's another one."

Mr Winks said it was hard to make sense of the vicious attacks.

"Are they doing it for fun? I don't know," he said.

"They've got to get caught now or who knows where it will stop."

Mr Winks says he's baffled why anyone would do such a thing. ( Supplied: Sean Winks )

'Seriously disturbing' animal cruelty

RSPCA Queensland spokesperson Michael Beatty said, while "extremely disturbing", these were not isolated incidents.

"[There are] four or five of these incidents a year with either wallabies, pelicans, curlews, horses and now these cattle as well," he said.

"Shortly after a couple of television programs came out [such as] The Hunger Games and The Walking Dead sadly we did see an increase then.

"They mainly tend to occur during school holidays."

Queensland Police were investigating the matter and urged anyone with information to come forward.