Digger Down

Jump to latest Follow Reply
3

3Crows

Member
Mar 14, 2022
481
661
Wichita, KS, USA
Skunks have caused me many $ in damage digging under my sidewalk and under the barn foundation. I was on patrol and found signs of digging by the sidewalk and the chicken wire I had buried to discourage digging torn up. Last evening the culprit showed up. It was about 9 PM. I chose my M-Rod Cobra Super Light to end his days.

I hit him in the high shoulder first to stun him so he would not spray. He was knocked down and got up and turned to spray but did not. He then started wobbly running my direction. I fired again at his head now but missed at about 10 yards! I ran (!) upwind and he was slowing and turned towards the tree line when I placed the next shot on his head and pulled the trigger. I saw the pellet hit, his head snapped away and his body rotated 30 degrees and he fell DRT.



The Cobra, .25, JSB Hades at 900+ fps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Rich_B, maxtrouble, Contndr35BB and 2 others
Struckat said:
Crows, please tell more about your experiences with spray or not. I am curious and need the advice.
Click to expand...

Well, it was night time and I was shooting using the porch light. My aim might have not been perfect.

Yeah, running is a good thing to do when it comes to skunks. This skunk I am pretty sure is the one that sprayed my neighbor and his dogs a few days ago.

Skunks are also a primay rabies vector.

I have been told and it seems to be true that shooting the skunk in the body behind the shoulder is the best kill shot and it prevents spraying. I usually try to finish with the second shot being a head shot. But sometimes head shot accuracy is difficult when running, just saying :eek:.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Struckat
Upvote 0
BlackICE said:
Did it spray anything? I give them a pass because of many past smelly experiences!
Click to expand...

Cannot give them a pass once they decide to come into the yards. I do try to get them where their stinkyosity will be the least concerning. Or where the wind favors away from the house. And me.

So far, I have killed dozens. Usually with a .410 shotgun and previous to that one of my many .22 rimfire rifles. On a few occasions they have sprayed but usually not. They are still quite stinky, sprayed or not. Just a little less so. I loaded this one, my normal recourse, into the bucket of my Kubota tractor and dumped him several hundred yards away into the woods. And downwind of prevailing direction.

Urban legend is that body shots they will not spray, head shots they will. I usually double tap with a rifle, body, then head. A .410 shotgun with number 4 shot is devastating to raccoons and skunks at under 25 yards. But the M-Rod is much quieter than the .410 and much less ricochet potential than the rimfire rifles. Which is what brought me to PCPs to begin with.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Struckat
Upvote 0
I never put to much stock in legend but sometimes there is some grain of truth. I have killed a bunch of the things, never been sprayed and only had them spray a few times.

Once they start undermining foundations or spraying my neighbors dogs and kids they have to go. Skunks, foxes and raccoons are the primary vectors for rabies so it is not the odiferous stench that makes me want to end the human proximity, it is the damage they do and the high likelihood of rabies.

Not this skunk, another night, another skunk:



And this is him the night before digging up my steps:




And the rest of the story, he is dead now.
 
Last edited:
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back
Home
Forums
Resources
Menu