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Rat shooting


Royboy
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There's a farm local to me that has a bit of a rat problem, now I hate rats but I was thinking if I offer my services controlling these awful things he will likely give me the shooting on the rest of his land.

What's the best way to go about it and would I need a expensive air rifle ? Can rats be baited and lamped or will they just run off ??

As I say I've never bothered with ratting before becaus I hate the things !

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Hi Roy

as roadkill says nightvision is very effective. I shoot fair few on a local shoot. If you use a light try a low mellow one or you can buy a homemade nv kit that would be more than suitable on the air rifle for the job, try daveG on here he does them or the evilbay for around the £150 mark. Air rifle wise i use my airarms s410 .177 and does the job very well, excellent accuracy and penetration. .177 will fit all of your pest control jobs around barns and close field work, rabbits, maggies etc. Depends what you mean by expensive, what is your budget, springer or pre charged pneumatic? if you decide to try a pcp but do not have access to try one, if it helps i have a air arms as above i could come over at some stage and you could have a shot, look over it and it may help you in your decision if you do not already know someone with a pcp. No strings attached this is just a friendly offer. You not too far from me.

 

As for the job in hand try not to much movement if using a light, if they are coming to a food source (baited) you will only have a split second for a shot whilst they pick the food and they off again, they usually do not hang around. Night vision would be the most effective as they do not know you are there, however as said you can use a light, best options are to have a constant low light on in a yard when they come to a food source. Putting a strong light on and off them can be done but does not give the best chances. I used to shoot hundreds with 12 gauge shotgun and lamp walking ditches on the shoot, the sound did not bother them at all.

 

atb

7diaw

Edited by 7daysinaweek
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Hi Roy

as roadkill says nightvision is very effective. I shoot fair few on a local shoot. If you use a light try a low mellow one or you can buy a homemade nv kit that would be more than suitable on the air rifle for the job, try daveG on here he does them or the evilbay for around the £150 mark. Air rifle wise i use my airarms s410 .177 and does the job very well, excellent accuracy and penetration. .177 will fit all of your pest control jobs around barns and close field work, rabbits, maggies etc. Depends what you mean by expensive, what is your budget, springer or pre charged pneumatic? if you decide to try a pcp but do not have access to try one, if it helps i have a air arms as above i could come over at some stage and you could have a shot, look over it and it may help you in your decision if you do not already know someone with a pcp. No strings attached this is just a friendly offer. You not too far from me.

 

As for the job in hand try not to much movement if using a light, if they are coming to a food source (baited) you will only have a split second for a shot whilst they pick the food and they off again, they usually do not hang around. Night vision would be the most effective as they do not know you are there, however as said you can use a light, best options are to have a constant low light on in a yard when they come to a food source. Putting a strong light on and off them can be done but does not give the best chances. I used to shoot hundreds with 12 gauge shotgun and lamp walking ditches on the shoot, the sound did not bother them at all.

 

atb

7diaw

Some great information there mate, thank you very much, I've been speaking to a friend of mine this afternoon and he's got a s410 I can borrow but no night vision, maybe I'll keep a eye out on evilbay for a night vision kit 👍🏼
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Some great information there mate, thank you very much, I've been speaking to a friend of mine this afternoon and he's got a s410 I can borrow but no night vision, maybe I'll keep a eye out on evilbay for a night vision kit 👍🏼

Build one yourself, cost you about £120 or so all in. With mine I can see a good few hundred yards. Easy to build and make it work for you. Then you can use it on bunny's aswell 👍 EVO who used to be on here has a big thread about it, just search it

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Build one yourself, cost you about £120 or so all in. With mine I can see a good few hundred yards. Easy to build and make it work for you. Then you can use it on bunny's aswell 👍 EVO who used to be on here has a big thread about it, just search it

I'll have a butchers cheers

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Get some cheap chocolate spread from lidl or aldi and put on a brick or some wood they stop to lick it and give you time to have a shot , i used to have expensive night vision but sold it, i have now made my own for £30 works spot on to 30 to 40 yards but you need a ir torch of the bay about £30 Total cost £60 and away you go, atb Rob

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Get some cheap chocolate spread from lidl or aldi and put on a brick or some wood they stop to lick it and give you time to have a shot , i used to have expensive night vision but sold it, i have now made my own for £30 works spot on to 30 to 40 yards but you need a ir torch of the bay about £30 Total cost £60 and away you go, atb Rob

Good idea nice one Rob 👍🏻
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Borrow a smoker and a terrior.you will get the lot in 10 minutes this is the most effective after poisoning

Or

Put out traps.cheap and effective

Or

An old springer air rifle ideally in .25 if not then .22 and a red lensed torch. A t20 off the bay will do. Will take constant monitoring and you will never get rid of them all .if they are housed up

Or

A piece of white board and a barn with reflected light such as Street light from window .put board out and bait the front of it ..with reflected light on.. after a week watch for silhouette of the rats on the board and dispatch.

 

One thing to ask yourself is what are you going to do with the dead carcases..it may be you can put them on the floor of the cow sheds or you bury or you burn ..can't eat they are not that tasty.they taste a bit like slug...joke....

The thing is you have to be careful they can carry Weils disease which can KILLS YOU..

And finally if you are not used to ratting and one jumps on you or goes on your head ..I bet your reaction will be to runout the barn moving historically..it natural it's your built in fight or flight mode....then sanitise with dettol mixed with water in a pop bottle as I said they can kill you

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Get a good pair of Strong Gloves , and a pair of cooking "Tongs" from the supermarket. KEEP THEM AWAY FROM YOUR SKIN !

 

.22 Springer , is a good bet as trajectory shouldn't be an issue , and they can be tough little beggars.

I have a BSA Scorpion , and a Photon , but its "Way" over the top for the job in hand.

Good hunting. :good:

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Before you invest in anything might I suggest that you actually get permission first? If you do get the go ahead then just about anything will do the job - using an Air Rifle is unlikely to rid the farm of it's vermin cos they're not daft - there are daft Rats and there are Old Rats but you will not find any Old Daft Rats. If there is an abundance of the blighters then they will breed quicker than you can hope to shoot them so best you can hope for is a good bit of sport. Removing their source of food is the only answer but then any Farmer worth his Salt knows that. Good luck - if you do get the green light then a trip to your GP for a Tetanus Jab might be wise.

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I've known the farmer all my life but as I say I hate rats with a passion, I just thought it would be a good deed to help him out, I might give it a miss !

I do know a few terroir men but unsure if he'd allow other folk on, he's a very private kind of bloke

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Roy

give it a go anyroads, it helps the farmer out and he should see that, may well lead to other perms as you know farmers are a tight knit community. Get down to Mcavoys or Bamfords and plenty of springers and pcp to choose from. If I need to pick me rats up around yard/building I use a shovel or something similar, if I am out on the ditches the crows and their bretheren hoover them up and they are gone within a couple of days. I carry hand gel for good infection control.

 

Get Dem Dirty Rats!

 

atb

7diaw

Edited by 7daysinaweek
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Roy

give it a go anyroads, it helps the farmer out and he should see that, may well lead to other perms as you know farmers are a tight knit community. Get down to Mcavoys or Bamfords and plenty of springers and pcp to choose from. If I need to pick me rats up around yard/building I use a shovel or something similar, if I am out on the ditches the crows and their bretheren hoover them up and they are gone within a couple of days. I carry hand gel for good infection control.

 

Get Dem Dirty Rats!

 

atb

7diaw

I'll have a chat with him when I see him again and see what he thinks 👍
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Find out what they are feeding on, chocolate won't work if there gorging on cattle feed, it will take time but you can wipe them up with an aa410 and home made nv, I shot 87 the first night 60 the following week and so on, went on thurs for the first time in a while and managed 15, great fun if you get the nod!

 

Edit;

the smoker and terriers didn't work in my case the rat runs were cavernous and they wouldn't bolt!

Edited by Wilksy II
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Just been in this position myself.

Started with my 97K and a mini maglite, moved onto a Tracer Ledray 600 finally as the nights got longer I went for a tcp and a photon 4.6x42. With the ultra I can stand in a dark corner and have a handful before they realise what occurring.

With a springer and a good light you will have some success and it will be an experience. With a cheap tcp and a scope mounted screen you will have more success but the screen will illuminate your face. With a cheap tcp and summat like a photon your kill rate will improve but a tcp for me doesn't give the same sense of achievement or require the same skills.

My best run with the ultra and photon was 7 without moving other than to cycle the bolt.

Still prefer the 97K though.

Edited by manthing
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  • 5 weeks later...

I'd see what they're feeding on, my farm still has 5 tonne of wheat in a barn and a split bag of runner bean seed between two pallets. The rats actually are quite brazen and venture out more in daylight..! I've proved this using a trail cam set day and night. The s410 you have access to will be a great accurate tool for the job, batch yourself up no more than 20 yards from their source of food a couple of hours before sunset. You'll be surprised how many move when you monitor the same area for a few hours.

 

If they haven't been shot at for a while you might be in for a good time..! I target rats that have to run along a barn door for 6 feet or so to get in, they come out from some rubbish sacks. All I do is sprinkle some wheat along their route to stop them, that way I have a clear shot to the side of their head. Placement there drops them with a thud and occasional tail spin. Keep movement to a minimum and I watch for them to stick their heads out from the sacks before bolting to the grains.

 

I sat with my nv in the barn a few nights up to midnight and got nothing but cold..!

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I've always said a tin of cat food with screwdriver holes is great as the rats can't carry it away and spend hours at it. A low light on for a few days so you can see the rats and your in. Any old rifle capable of shooting half inch at 20 yards and your in.

Let's face it you need to really look for a rifle that can't do that these days.

My neighbors 15 year old hatsan did that and it hadn't been shot for 10 years, as does my hatsan let alone my old hw's.

I don't think a pcp with night vision is necessary (nice but expensive), maybe later of you do a lot of it.

Edited by GingerCat
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