Varmint/rat problems/ .22 funtime

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7duce swinger

7duce swinger

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So we have a bad rat problem here. Well.. Not just here, my sisters house is loaded with rats everywhere!! Coons, n possums too ( she lives next to a canal).. Those possums are damn ugly as well lol.. The rats mostly run through our fig tree and lines and make their way to our pecan tree. so far ive got three with an old marlin glenfield .22lr. Pretty fun actually, ive used the winchester 333 boxes,36 gr.1280 fps hollow points. Anyone go plinking, target shooting or jus shoot rats, squirrels, possums etc. outta trees lol? Or just go out to shoot? I wanna hear what people do to their tree invaders lol. Or do you all jus use poison n traps? Thanks for any replies. P.s. My boxer wont go near a dead rat. He smells, then runs away lol is that normal for a dog?
 
Done some, 22 action.Fun as hell.A friend of mine,uses a Grindel shell(cannot recall,what caliber,.270?).Went out,to a mid Cali valley,with permission to shoot on private property.He had over a hundred hits on sqirrels alone.
 
I do alot of squirrel hunting.I use a Savage 17hmr,and love the hell out of it.Walking through the woods, getting plenty of exersize on a nice cool fall day.It's pretty relaxing and quiet, being still listening for the squirrels to bark and then tracking them down.Can't wait for the weekend now.
 
Sounds cool.. Mopardads so how do you like your .17 hmr? I was thinking of maybe getting a 10/22 as they got a lot of aftermarket backup, but was thinking of a .17.. My brother uses a .410 hehehe theres nothing left to look at. Oh come on guys.. No youtube idiots here lol, anyone else had any fun ? By the way i dont eat the rats lol... I like doing it at night with an led headlamp so i have my hands free.. It stops them for a moment jus long enough for me to catch him in the face lol. Sometimes a big white owl stops by on the electric lines, to help out or jus get free food i guess.
 
Done a unhealthy share of target practice, got a Ruger 10/22 with 2x 30 round banana clips. Comes in handy for varmints too, sure more entertaining than waiting for rat poison to work... And safer, having dogs around and all.
 
The little rats running along cables and in trees are "roof rats", which I understand are a native species. They live in the fanciest neighborhoods in Sac. You might damage an expensive cable if shooting at them on lines. I don't think shooting will do much since they can out-breed your bullets. If a food source, they exist. You should see the monster Norway rats that live in rock jetties on the FL coast. They might survive on just what the ocean washes up. I knew kids who shot at them w/ 22's, but not smart unless you can dodge ricochets. I have a 22 magnum w/ scope that is amazingly accurate. The bullet travels much faster than a 22 LR, but 22 WMR cartridges are 4x the price and hard to find.
 
Well we dont use poison, and i dont shoot at the lines lol. Just hp's and sometimes cci shotshells(birdshot,ratshot, whatever) you should see the rats here i dont know how they get so damn big? Foot long rats(without the tail) I think theyre mutated rats. I once seen an all white rat in the oak tree.. Scared the crap outta me, i thought it was a ghost lol.. Sometimes i hear them fighting at night in the vines.
 
First off lets start with this disclaimer: Don't do it!
but, back in the day when I was growing up on the farm, we had rats in the cow barn.
They would get into the cows feed and gorge themselves. At first it was easy to pick them off with a sling shot or decent BB gun. Then they wised up and started to hide on us.
We wised up too. In the summer it was great fun to be had to turn the lights off in the barn, get a couple of buddy's with .22lr's sit in the dark and wait. Get someone to flip the switch and blast the rats when the light come back on. A "good ol' fashioned rat killin" was what we called it. The adults didn't seem to care as long as we didn't hurt anything and the cattle were always out in the paddock during the summer.
Looking back, I think the adults were trying to kill us, bullets would be flying all over the place when the lights come on and the rats would scatter. Everyone would be blinded by the lights, I'm surprised we didn't shot one another. Do that now and your a dirt bag parent of the year and PETA would be up your butt.
Oh, the good ol' days.
 
Does your terrier eat em or just tear em up? My dads boss has about 10 rat terriers. Those things are fierce. My boxer wont go near em once theyre dead he smells then runs off about 30 feet and watches.. I try not to use cci stinger rounds, I cant find the darn rat after i pop em, onyl a stain lol.
 
I don't shoot rats, but I do shoot targets, using a .223 savage axis, and really like my .22 Benjaman Titan "nitro piston". Both are scoped with cheap scopes that work well.

Dave
AKA Grandpa
 
Never have done it, just heard from a friend of a friends girlfriends brothers cousin --- .22 sub-sonics, old russian brand with a pop bottle.
 
7duce swinger said:
Does your terrier eat em or just tear em up? My dads boss has about 10 rat terriers. Those things are fierce. My boxer wont go near em once theyre dead he smells then runs off about 30 feet and watches.. I try not to use cci stinger rounds, I cant find the darn rat after i pop em, onyl a stain lol.
Click to expand...
he just tears them up hes very determined
 
Lol... Theres some determination. I have mini-dobies that kill a few now and then when the rats try n steal their food lol.. I have a cheap scope, and foregrip on my glenfield just to make it a little more menacing. (they do help some)
 
between our barn cats ... border collie's running around the farm .. there are suprisingly not too many rats ..

Then again there are not a lot of open sources of feed to get to anymore. Gone are the corn cribs with ears of corn, which was the major source for them. Now its possums that have invaded this area ... they seem to like to get in the silo's and **** all over the place inside spreading their diseases .... but our dogs like to tear into them ...

Skunks ... well they have learned the hard way.. cept the pup ... he has yet to figure out what a skunk is :)
 
Lol hope the pup doesnt find out the hard way.. Theres a bunch of cats around here about 12 of them a while back... they took care of the rat problem...sort of, then the kitties started getting run over in the street.... Mia n such.. Now the rats run the trees its disgusting, we have a lot of citrus trees n pecan trees so thats their major food source i guess.
 
If you can get within 20' try 22 cal rat shot. It was made for shooting rats inside buildings. For longer shots use a air rifle. Shoot safe and ware eye protection.
 
Yea i use it sometimes, i get the cci chot shells. Work great but From farther away i use .22 shorts, and sometimes 22lr hp's if i dont have anything else. Oh yeah eye protection is a must you never know what could happen.
 
Well, I have not seen a rat out here, but have seen a couple moles and some mice in my truck and shop and jensen.

I only have my Saiga which is pretty accurate but I would have to have at least a rat sized target I figure.

My neighbor has a 270 and years ago they had wild cats all over hell and back, so he would explode them at 300 yards or so, off trees and out in the field

The other day I walked over to his place and he was standing over a mole hole with a pocket knife pointed into the hole, just a waiting.. I had to leave it was so boring. 15 minutes of shhhh! hold on he's a comming!

I would like to blow up a rat or two with my 7.62x39 though.
 
I had rats down in my garage basement with my chickens. I used traps and my Gamo Whisper airgun.
 
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