Hunting, pest control, animal culling

[Badungus Kabungus]

Gotta love the 10/22. Used to build those with all sorts of odd setups. The Volquartsen stuff was big way back when. Great lightweight tensioned barrels and drop in trigger groups.

I just sighted in the Bergara the day before our squirrel hunt, so I've not shot anything other than the Federal Match. I've got a variety of subsonic to test, including some of that odd Aguila SSS stuff.

That 10/22 build is such a fun little rig, I'm definitely building one more sometime this year. While this one is a small game build, next one is going to be an exercise at how light I can get it. Crazy Ivan chassis with carbon fiber EVERYTHING.

Good luck with those SSS, I had a hard time finding anything that would properly stabilize them, they'd just tumble and keyhole no matter what I used. Also there's a distinct smell to the Aguilas, can smell whenever someone nearby is shooting them.

 

[Some JERK]

Venison itself is a bit too gamey for me,

Deer fat tastes awful and is usually responsible for a gamey taste. If you have a butcher in your area that knows how to process deer find out what their rates are and give that a try. (Also it's worth a shot to ask if you can watch and learn how to do it.) I've tasted a lot of terrible deer that was butchered by people who were great at processing other animals but didn't know how to cut a deer up correctly. (This includes myself at one point.)

 

[XYZpdq]

View attachment 2864141I posted this on a different thread but these are some squirrel tendies I made when I started to get into self sufficiency. Shot with a daisy .177 pump pellet gun.

Squirrel are a lot tougher to skin than you would think. There's a lot of the furry little fuckers so plenty of practice. I would recommend getting game shears since getting through bone can be a bitch with a knife.

There's not much meat so I just do the legs and back straps. Used my special bread crumb recipe (add Kraft parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, and a pinch of dill weed) to coat them and cooked in an air frier.

I'll power level a little. I'm from the US in what can be considered Appalachian hill country. What can I say, stereotypes exist for a reason.

my mom grew up next to a family that would roast squirrel brains
have a younger cousin who went after wild boars for a while, I assume he stopped as he got into his 30s but never really cared enough to find out
I sporadically declare jihad on the local wasps. Small arms super soaker with a mix of wasp spray, water, and hand dishwashing liquid for ranged along with the main wasp spray can as an alternate for the nests, spray bottle with water diluted hand liquid for melee.

 

[Some JERK]

I've never actually hunted deer myself (I live in a 'shogun only' deer hunting state, and I don't even own a shotgun. I only hunt with rifles, and I have to go out of state for it), but had a couple friends who brought their kills to a butcher who I guess did a terrible job and that taste has never left me.

In general I think I am a wuss when it comes to eating game meat, I've done multiple hog hunts in Georgia and Texas and never ate any of my kills. I've just given it away.

I feel you on that one. I had a buddy give me some feral hog meat a while back. It smelled and tasted like he pissed on it. I can only guess at what kind of fuckery happened during the cleaning/butchering process, but it's going to be a long time before I try feral hog again. I wouldn't even feed that shit to my dog. It went straight into the trash.

 

[Badungus Kabungus]

I feel you on that one. I had a buddy give me some feral hog meat a while back. It smelled and tasted like he pissed on it. I can only guess at what kind of fuckery happened during the cleaning/butchering process, but it's going to be a long time before I try feral hog again. I wouldn't even feed that shit to my dog. It went straight into the trash.

Sounds like the bladder was pierced during cleaning. Gotta be super careful with cutting it out, or it will spray piss everywhere. I found that the larger the animal, the less complicated it is to clean. Just takes a bit more time for the skinning. With bear I just had to bleed it out, very carefully cut out the urine bladder, remove the guts and various organs, then skin it. Should just smell like raw meat if nothing was pierced.

 

[Some JERK]

Sounds like the bladder was pierced during cleaning. Gotta be super careful with cutting it out, or it will spray piss everywhere. I found that the larger the animal, the less complicated it is to clean. Just takes a bit more time for the skinning. With bear I just had to bleed it out, very carefully cut out the urine bladder, remove the guts and various organs, then skin it. Should just smell like raw meat if nothing was pierced.

That was my guess, but since I've never done that while cleaning a kill I wasn't sure. I thought it could also have been an unlucky shot that peirced the bladder. Feral hogs have some weird anatomical oddities and it's not to hard to imagine a round bouncing off to God only knows where.

 

[Badungus Kabungus]

That was my guess, but since I've never done that while cleaning a kill I wasn't sure. I thought it could also have been an unlucky shot that peirced the bladder. Feral hogs have some weird anatomical oddities and it's not to hard to imagine a round bouncing off to God only knows where.

Yeah, exactly. And some of the faster rounds like .270 cause severe hydrostatic shock and can burst the bladder even without having to pierce it.

 

[Kuchipatchi]

As far as invasive species, wipe the damn things out. As far as species that have lost their dominant predator due to man, they are our responsibility to control now. Anyone that thinks otherwise is a moron.

Don't get me started on how hard us Brits have to fight to keep animal populations under control because, "Aww, it's a cute, little animal, why you're killing it?"

Ever since the Plymouth Incel went on his killing spree, legal firearm owners have been targeted for harassment and intimidation. The anti gun sentiment is so strong here, it's unfathomable. Americans, protect your second amendment with your life!
I hate city dwelling rats so much for failing to understand how life in the countryside works.

 

[kcbbq]

Develop a netting system to catch them. It should be easy enough with how tight they school, I think crabs or lobsters are trapped off the ocean floors when they move in schools. They could look at how that's done. Legalize a catching season that happens BEFORE the egg laying season. Get some chef to create a recipe for that fish, maybe hold a contest and publish a book of recipes. Then find vendors to clean and sell the netted fish as a gourmet protein. If you live in the area, go grab a bunch of them and find out if there's a way to make them tasty. You could get rich if you can.

Eradicating in invasive fish that burrows into the mud and breathes air is pretty much impossible. As long as they stay damp in their burrow they will survive a long time even if you drain the lake or river. They're mostly armor plating, too.

At least the species that ended up as invasive are smaller ones. Some fish in this family get to be a meter long. One genus of the big ones only eats wood. Imagine how much damage a bunch of those could do.

 

[BootlegPopeye]

Don't get me started on how hard us Brits have to fight to keep animal populations under control because, "Aww, it's a cute, little animal, why you're killing it?"

Ever since the Plymouth Incel went on his killing spree, legal firearm owners have been targeted for harassment and intimidation. The anti gun sentiment is so strong here, it's unfathomable. Americans, protect your second amendment with your life!
I hate city dwelling rats so much for failing to understand how life in the countryside works.

I've had britbongs tell me it was made easier because over there, hunting is more of a class thing - it isn't the English version of rednecks in orange vests doing most of the hunting, its aristocrats doing simulated (lol) fox hunts. Made it alot easier to eliminate since it wasn't normies doing it, which is the complete opposite here.

 

[Clint Torez]

Speaking of invasive species fucking up ecosystems and needing people to cull their numbers is the notorious Lion Fish. Much like other invasive species these fuckers came from the Indonesian seas to American waters and have no natural predators so that means they can eat and fuck like crazy which is ruining local reefs. This video does a good job showcasing how to hunt, skin, and cook these bastards as they are apparently quite tasty when prepared properly.

Potentially fun pastime to anyone living near a coastal region.

 

[InteracialBowelSyndrome]

Used to live in a small city that had a major blacktail deer problem because the city refused to do anything about it. "They look cute and aren't hurting anybody!" they'd say. Until it's rutting season and someone's poor dog gets gored.

And of course any natural predator like bears or cougars comes anywhere near they get shot, so the deer just multiply.

Well recently someone in the town decided to take matters into his own hands, and over a few months, several deer have turned up dead, shot with a rifle or crossbow. May even be multiple people.

Course, if I was gonna do it, I wouldn't just leave em where they fall. I'd haul em away and make jerky or something.

 

[Kuchipatchi]

Course, if I was gonna do it, I wouldn't just leave em where they fall. I'd haul em away and make jerky or something.

Isn't that the whole purpose of hunting? Just simply killing them validates vegans' grift.

I'd definitely like to try deer meat one day.

 

[BelUwUga]

You really don't need *that* much of a fence to stop feral hogs, unless there's something they really want right on the other side. Standard hog wire will make them choose to go through the neighbor's barbed wire, instead.

They are awful, though, and culling does no more than at best make them scared of the area their friends got shot. Macedonian boys had to kill a wild boar singlehandedly up close before they were allowed to eat at the men's table. Maybe schools should make it a prerequisite for a high school diploma.

I've heard of people capturing them in traps, loading them onto trailers, and dropping them off at the sale barn for lods emone. I don't know if that's true, and it's definitely harder than just rigging the creek bed each night with claymores.

Culls can work but it's no time for half measures. If a single boar or pregnant sow survives the entire effort is for naught. When we've had particular issues we set up traps with the doors fixed open for a few weeks. They get used to going into the trap and we're able to get a pretty good pattern of their activity. We'll call people we know with dogs and they'll make a night of running down any hogs we don't get when we finally let the door close. I quit feeling bad for them after they destroyed a septic drain field nearby,

Part of our hunting land was part of government forestry programs and that means we did a lot of quantitative work as far as tracking local animal populations. While there are general geographic trends for large areas the small scale management really helps you build sustainable habitats and populations. Outside of feral hogs our next biggest local problem are feral dogs that shitheads turn out. They're essentially discarded in the woods as puppies and they don't so much live as prolong starving to death. Unfortunately by the time we encounter them they are beyond rehabilitation. It's made me hate backyard breeders and dog fighters more than I can express in words.

If I were down in FL I'd give BBQd gator a try. Looks tasty.

You're going to want to batter and deep fry those. Get an experienced cook to do it up right. Done right it's like a mild fish/chicken mix. Done wrong it's like tire rubber.

 

[Manul Otocolobus]

Used to live in a small city that had a major blacktail deer problem because the city refused to do anything about it. "They look cute and aren't hurting anybody!" they'd say. Until it's rutting season and someone's poor dog gets gored.

And of course any natural predator like bears or cougars comes anywhere near they get shot, so the deer just multiply.

Well recently someone in the town decided to take matters into his own hands, and over a few months, several deer have turned up dead, shot with a rifle or crossbow. May even be multiple people.

Course, if I was gonna do it, I wouldn't just leave em where they fall. I'd haul em away and make jerky or something.

Solution: Get some cougars, let them loose. Then when people complain, ask them which they'd rather have, skilled hunters or feral cougars roaming around killing deer?

 

[InteracialBowelSyndrome]

I feel you on that one. I had a buddy give me some feral hog meat a while back. It smelled and tasted like he pissed on it. I can only guess at what kind of fuckery happened during the cleaning/butchering process, but it's going to be a long time before I try feral hog again. I wouldn't even feed that shit to my dog. It went straight into the trash.

That's such a great point. I admit I'm guilty of this too, but we forget that sometimes we get so caught up in hunting the animal that we forget that butchering and preparing it is just as important.

Got a buddy who's one of the best elk hunters I've ever seen. Just a crack shot. Wind, rain, snow, he can take it out from hundreds of yards.

But the way he filets and cooks it afterwards is garbage. The jerky he made was definitley one of the worst ever. Don't know how he cured it or what he basted it with, but it just had the weirdest damn tang to it.

Now, I fully admit I'm not the best at it either, so I won't brag.

 

[Badungus Kabungus]

It's that time again, spring bear hunt is coming up. Anyone else going for black bear this season?

 

[Some JERK]

It's that time again, spring bear hunt is coming up. Anyone else going for black bear this season?

Man, I want to but I'll probably skip it. One of my deep freezers died and I don't think I'll get my shit together and get a new one in time. Good luck!

 

[Badungus Kabungus]

Man, I want to but I'll probably skip it. One of my deep freezers died and I don't think I'll get my shit together and get a new one in time. Good luck!

Thanks! Here's hoping the bears cooperate.

 

[Kuchipatchi]

Thanks! Here's hoping the bears cooperate.

Good luck, mate! Sounds like a fun day out.