go to Chicago or NYC in the subway tunnels , rats the size of house cats are the norm . Scary to see several approaching you on the waiting platform
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How come more people in US aren't into small game eradication hunt (rats etc).
- Thread starter jgg765
- Start date
It’s a lot more cool to hang an elk head with a huge rack, or a stuffed mountain lion rather than mounting a bunch of little rat heads. Most guys that hunt big game in America aren’t hunting everyday. When they do get to hunt they want something they can brag about and have a cool story to tell when a house guest sees the trophy hanging on the wall. If you had a bunch of taxidermied vermin I don’t think you would have as many house guests coming over. I’m not saying big game hunting is more fun but it sure does make a cooler looking trophy.
Also, most hunters have yet to discover the joy of a PCP air rifle and the opportunity it gives to shoot/hunt more often and in places that firearms aren’t allowed.
Another bonus about big game hunting is you can get away for a few days if you’ve got a crazy wife you need a break from. With small vermin pesting you usually only have a few hours.
Also, most hunters have yet to discover the joy of a PCP air rifle and the opportunity it gives to shoot/hunt more often and in places that firearms aren’t allowed.
Another bonus about big game hunting is you can get away for a few days if you’ve got a crazy wife you need a break from. With small vermin pesting you usually only have a few hours.
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What most people don’t realize - in decently populated areas rats are inevitably everywhere at night. I have overgrown ivy between an old garage that has been brewing rats for years. Myself & Neighbors don’t poison or trap due to dogs & cats. Yes I live in a populated area so do this at your own risk.
Using low fps l2 .22 with Donny fl. Nest camera for monitoring. Old cheap atn scope.
Setup an easy chum station where you see / might suspect them with good backstop. Fish sauce and sunflower seeds. Don’t be stupid
Using low fps l2 .22 with Donny fl. Nest camera for monitoring. Old cheap atn scope.
Setup an easy chum station where you see / might suspect them with good backstop. Fish sauce and sunflower seeds. Don’t be stupid
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So as a professional pest control person I can tell you there's no way you can control rats by shooting them with airguns, as much as the airgunner in me would like to nod my head in agreement it just isn't possible. A baiting/ trapping program including sanitation efforts is the only way to eradicate rats.
With prairie dogs the numbers can be cut way back by shooting but not full eradication, you have use gas to do that, they can even become bait shy like other rodents.
That doesn't mean airgunners shouldn't shoot rodents, it's a lot of fun, but be realistic. I treat prairie dog towns every year where varmint hunters have promised landowners they could get rid of them, they do reduce the population but it doesn't take long for them to be extremely wary of people and gunshots.
With prairie dogs the numbers can be cut way back by shooting but not full eradication, you have use gas to do that, they can even become bait shy like other rodents.
That doesn't mean airgunners shouldn't shoot rodents, it's a lot of fun, but be realistic. I treat prairie dog towns every year where varmint hunters have promised landowners they could get rid of them, they do reduce the population but it doesn't take long for them to be extremely wary of people and gunshots.
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I’m seriously envious….The “rats” I shoot are BIG. most people call them prairie dogs.
I’ve shot thousands of them over the last few years.
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I live in town. A stockade wood fenced city lot ~10k sq ft. I'd never seen evidence of any vermin around my place.
I got into the habit (or hobby) of feeding wild birds long ago when I couldn't afford any other hobby. I enjoyed watching the different kinds of birds come and go with the seasons. I've continued to feed them throughout my life and enjoy identifying the birds that come to the feeder, their mannerisms, feeding habits and such. The red headed woodpecker that insists on hanging upside down while feeding. You get the idea. So, I guess it's completely natural that there would be a scavenger or two taking advantage of the seed that the birds drop on the ground, but I'd never seen any evidence of that here.
When I was just learning how to shoot, my dad would take my brother and I to a city dump located alongside the Missouri River in a little town called Sugar Creek. We went there to shoot rats. Now city dumps back then aren't the same as they are today. People used to burn their trash in a barrel and the trash man would empty the burn barrels and take what was left to the dump. Trash dumps used to be stinky and smoky with fires burning randomly from the embers of whatever we threw away. There were rats there. Big ones. Big as cats. They gave me the creeps. They were everywhere you looked. Great moving targets for a 10 yr old boy with a Springfield Model 53 single shot 22LR.
I used to be a smoker. I quit that habit 20 yrs ago. I was banned from smoking inside the house when the kids were little. My youngest was asthmatic and I was forced onto the back deck when I needed a nicotine boost. No problem. It taught me to sit and think. I was sitting out there smoking one night sometime after sunset. The fading sunlight was still evident, but was mostly dark outside. I glanced toward the feeder -a large tube type with a 24" diameter steel squirrel baffle over the top. I'd never seen a squirrel defeat that thing. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It looked like something was dangling from the baffle and getting to the tube feeder and then scampering quietly, effortlessly back into the large cedar tree the feeder hangs from. Squirrel? A Small Opossum? A....rat? I hate rats. I didn't want it to be one.
Wha the? I had an old springer in the gun safe I'd bought for a previous Grackle invasion. A Gamo Shadow 1000. Very powerful in .177, but an erratic shooter at best. Looked around and found a tin of H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 gr and popped one in the chamber. I retrieved my Streamlight flashlight off my Rem 870 Tactical and attached it to the Swift 4-12x40 scope mounted on the Gamo. Turned on the floodlight on the corner of the garage but the light didn't quite touch the feeder. I crept back outside and sat in silence watching. It was a lot darker now. I wish I had an IR scope...Waiting... I hear something through my tinnitus, sounds like tiny fingernails on the tin squirrel baffle. I point the rifle toward the feeder and lit it up with the Streamlight. There! OMG a rat! Oh damn. It's freaking huge. 18" head to tail. Pop! Head shot and he dropped to the ground DRT! Haha I got him.
Over the course of the next few weeks I killed 18 rats. All large and very well fed.
I got into the habit (or hobby) of feeding wild birds long ago when I couldn't afford any other hobby. I enjoyed watching the different kinds of birds come and go with the seasons. I've continued to feed them throughout my life and enjoy identifying the birds that come to the feeder, their mannerisms, feeding habits and such. The red headed woodpecker that insists on hanging upside down while feeding. You get the idea. So, I guess it's completely natural that there would be a scavenger or two taking advantage of the seed that the birds drop on the ground, but I'd never seen any evidence of that here.
When I was just learning how to shoot, my dad would take my brother and I to a city dump located alongside the Missouri River in a little town called Sugar Creek. We went there to shoot rats. Now city dumps back then aren't the same as they are today. People used to burn their trash in a barrel and the trash man would empty the burn barrels and take what was left to the dump. Trash dumps used to be stinky and smoky with fires burning randomly from the embers of whatever we threw away. There were rats there. Big ones. Big as cats. They gave me the creeps. They were everywhere you looked. Great moving targets for a 10 yr old boy with a Springfield Model 53 single shot 22LR.
I used to be a smoker. I quit that habit 20 yrs ago. I was banned from smoking inside the house when the kids were little. My youngest was asthmatic and I was forced onto the back deck when I needed a nicotine boost. No problem. It taught me to sit and think. I was sitting out there smoking one night sometime after sunset. The fading sunlight was still evident, but was mostly dark outside. I glanced toward the feeder -a large tube type with a 24" diameter steel squirrel baffle over the top. I'd never seen a squirrel defeat that thing. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It looked like something was dangling from the baffle and getting to the tube feeder and then scampering quietly, effortlessly back into the large cedar tree the feeder hangs from. Squirrel? A Small Opossum? A....rat? I hate rats. I didn't want it to be one.
Wha the? I had an old springer in the gun safe I'd bought for a previous Grackle invasion. A Gamo Shadow 1000. Very powerful in .177, but an erratic shooter at best. Looked around and found a tin of H&N Field Target Trophy 8.64 gr and popped one in the chamber. I retrieved my Streamlight flashlight off my Rem 870 Tactical and attached it to the Swift 4-12x40 scope mounted on the Gamo. Turned on the floodlight on the corner of the garage but the light didn't quite touch the feeder. I crept back outside and sat in silence watching. It was a lot darker now. I wish I had an IR scope...Waiting... I hear something through my tinnitus, sounds like tiny fingernails on the tin squirrel baffle. I point the rifle toward the feeder and lit it up with the Streamlight. There! OMG a rat! Oh damn. It's freaking huge. 18" head to tail. Pop! Head shot and he dropped to the ground DRT! Haha I got him.
Over the course of the next few weeks I killed 18 rats. All large and very well fed.
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They come out in the nights in the mountains. I can not afford thermal so I do not hunt them. I have tried night vision but in the fields and woods its to hard to pick out a target. I wish with all my gumption I could afford something to see the buggers at night. I would love to thin the vermin.
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It isv the fear of guns that keep oportunities scarce for pest control. I live in the country, scoped my 10 meter match rifle, low velocity so the buildings and animals don't get hurt. Only ocassionally do the farmers ask me to help with birds, snakes and other vermin...to afraid someone might call the sherrif on a guy with a gun walking around !!! Kept busy doing this 15-20 years back but very scarce nowadays. Some years back there was a small restaurant on the outskirts of town. After closing we would park our vehicles with the headlights on the garbage dumpster. Just a big empty field beyond. After all the garbage from the day was dumped....rat heaven !!! Not hard to get an easy half dozen in 30 min or less. Owner thanked us, but we had to quit because of " crazy people with rifles" after dark...all the evidence and explanations did no good!! Just cant have fun anymore !!
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JJG , Hello , as most points have all been covered I'll just add , YES , Its damn fun to smack rats , sparrows ,starlings & pigeons !! I'm over 65 and I'm having as much or more fun doing air pesting as before w/ other game ,large or small, hunts !
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Well, the majority of Americans aren't in to hunting in general. Some areas like WBGVA, VA and TN might have a slightly higher %, but theyr'e on the decline everywhere. Besides that, I'd say 90% of Americans have never seen a rat. How can they hunt what they don't know? I've seen maybe 5 in my life and i'm 45. If I lived in India or Baltimore, I'd probably take it up though.
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Fewer people hunt because there is less game and fewer places to hunt. Much of the countryside has been divided and built up. What's left in Rural Areas is heavily "Posted" with "Keep Out, Stay Out, NO Hunting and NO TRESSPASSING." What signs do you have up? I hate people that put up such signage. IF I ever do post any they'll be "Hunting with Permission."
Not trying to sound critical of your post, I'm just addressing the cultural war part of it with my point of view.
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Agree w/ most points so far . Yes many reasons for sure . I'm 65"-ish" now & retired 1&1/2 yrs . I've seen the changes in game #'s , hunting access to land , loss of habitat & land to development , additional tags & associated $ for them etc. Health issues have affected me also. I've lucked out over the years at each area we've had homes w/ access to pigeon & g-hogs. Now I have several farms within a few minutes drive . I've pretty much given up game hunting in general & prefer to let the young ones have the space that fun .I'm happy now sniping pesty feathery critters & small & medium furred critters.
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Do you have any advice for me in terms of how to build relationships do you drive up to the property and talk to the person or do you send a letter
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Drive up to the property, introduce yourself and take it from there. If you have references you might present them. Generally you’ll get a guarded reception, because you are an unknown to the property owner. Once acquired, cherish the permission, because it is a privilege to be allowed to shoot on someone else’s land..
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I would disagree with several of your points, there's more game now than I've ever seen, more elk, deer, mountain lion and bobcats where I live and hunt than in the last 45yrs. Now that being said they're all on private land that's either been bought up by city people who don't want anything hunted or bought by people who have wanted their own little hunting paradise their entire life and just like you or I have no intentions of letting anyone else in on the deal except relatives and close friends. There are a few non-hunting ranchers and farmers around who are not opposed to hunting, most of them have discovered that the hunting rights to their property could possibly help pay the land taxes. You can't hardly blame them for using good economic sense by leasing out their property to a hunting club.
Full disclosure, I've run a hunting club for 33yrs, 2-3 different properties most of the time, 5500 to 8k acres, I have a waiting list but nobody's dropped out of the club in over 10yrs. I constantly have people approaching me wanting to hunt for free, letting them would be difficult to explain to a club member who pays 2500. a year to hunt.
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Many big game hunters in my area do it to get the meat. While doves and squirrels might be enjoyed as food by some hunters, the amount of meat yielded per shot is pretty darned small by comparison.
They use PB rifles, not airguns. There’s a long history of explorer/cowboy/frontiersman/anti-rustler “Old West ways” that developed around PBs and barbed wire. The old guard types resist change in many aspects of life. Doesn’t mean it won’t happen anyway, but there is that cultural pride thing that can’t be ignored in considering why hunters in the area prefer to shoot bigger animals. There IS a fair bit of PD eradication-by-22LR, though.
As for No Trespassing signs and fencing (which already existed long before the “city people” moved to the area), I am one of those owners who is neither antigun nor antihunting, but hell, no, I don’t want some stranger traipsing in my property—especially when armed—that my spouse and I walk every day. Other owners don’t want people shooting near their livestock or pets. The only way I’d want someone else shooting here is by explicit invitation from one of us, and that would only be offered to someone we trust to do the job legally, safely, and ethically. We’ve seen far too many dumped carcass remnants that poachers hauled from elsewhere on their trucks or ATVs and then left either on road rights-of-way or cut into parts and tossed INSIDE private properties, but not their OWN private properties.
Rats and mice tend to be picked off in the natural balance of predator and prey here. Some might hunt foxes, but “ours” do an excellent job of pest control without being too numerous themselves...because another wild predator controls their numbers as well as that of deer (which I consider vermin when too numerous).
In other places and specific situations, rodents are a serious infestation. What constitutes balance varies, and pesting is (to me) a suitable human activity—with advance permission of the property owner. It sound like many posters on this board are asked by their neighbors to shoot pests; seems that getting to know the owner first as, you know, just a neighbor would open a lot of doors.
They use PB rifles, not airguns. There’s a long history of explorer/cowboy/frontiersman/anti-rustler “Old West ways” that developed around PBs and barbed wire. The old guard types resist change in many aspects of life. Doesn’t mean it won’t happen anyway, but there is that cultural pride thing that can’t be ignored in considering why hunters in the area prefer to shoot bigger animals. There IS a fair bit of PD eradication-by-22LR, though.
As for No Trespassing signs and fencing (which already existed long before the “city people” moved to the area), I am one of those owners who is neither antigun nor antihunting, but hell, no, I don’t want some stranger traipsing in my property—especially when armed—that my spouse and I walk every day. Other owners don’t want people shooting near their livestock or pets. The only way I’d want someone else shooting here is by explicit invitation from one of us, and that would only be offered to someone we trust to do the job legally, safely, and ethically. We’ve seen far too many dumped carcass remnants that poachers hauled from elsewhere on their trucks or ATVs and then left either on road rights-of-way or cut into parts and tossed INSIDE private properties, but not their OWN private properties.
Rats and mice tend to be picked off in the natural balance of predator and prey here. Some might hunt foxes, but “ours” do an excellent job of pest control without being too numerous themselves...because another wild predator controls their numbers as well as that of deer (which I consider vermin when too numerous).
In other places and specific situations, rodents are a serious infestation. What constitutes balance varies, and pesting is (to me) a suitable human activity—with advance permission of the property owner. It sound like many posters on this board are asked by their neighbors to shoot pests; seems that getting to know the owner first as, you know, just a neighbor would open a lot of doors.
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In my family, in Canada, shooting pests was the kids' job. You get to be around 10 years old and your uncle gives you a box of 1000 .22 LR rounds and grandpa's Cooey, and you spend all day out in the fields with the dogs, hunting gophers. This is on the family farm, which was a few tens of thousands of acres. So no worries about hitting other people.
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