Rats.

[samboy]

Hi gang.

                 Over the years i have shot Rabbits, Squirrels, Magpies, Foxes, Cormorants ( On license ) but have never shot a Rat.

                  No reason not to but have never seen one when i've been out shooting. Am i the only one ?.

[strimmer_13]

Yes 😂

It gets you hooked once you start looking for them. Really good fun, maybe my favourite shooting. 

Edited July 15, 2020 by strimmer_13

[moondoggy]

Get one shot, there is nothing like plugging a scaly tale.

[washerboy]

Always hunted them with terriers, I have shot maybe 20 in 35yrs. 

[Walker570]

I have a few coming into the yard by the house, under the bird feeder. I can set a trap and I can use poison but nothing beats sitting in the Landie, window down with the moderated 410 sticking out of the window

[Mr.C]

Never shot a one despite the missus over filling bird feeders and sparrows chucking it everywhere. We used to get them in the garden when the water table rose enough but since I got the Patterdale they tend to stay away.

[bruno22rf]

Oddly enough I was in a similar position about 20 years ago (omg - how time flies), had read countless accounts in the Airgun rags about people having to Bulldoze heaps of dead Rats into pits and there was me - hardly ever seen a Rat. I was actually contemplating this sorry state of affairs on my way home when a big ugly Rat ran across the road in front of me! Anyhoo, couple of days later, returning from a Pigeon outing, my mate and I happened upon a Farm that was black with Crows - fortunately the owner was standing at the gate chatting.Brief introductions over we were given permission to shoot the crows but, as the owner explained, Rats were his main problem.

We were dubious to start with, a few nights later, when we turned up for our first sortie - I had a TX200 whilst my mate a Falcon PCP - nothing!! Then it started to get dark and Rats appeared like magic from every nook and cranny - so close that we couldn't focus the scopes on them and resorted to looking down the side of our barrels and lining up each Rat best we could.Talk about undergunned!! On the basis of this single visit the following w/end we returned armed with a 3 shot bolt action .22 shotgun and a 3 shot semi auto 9mm . Most nights we would shoot 150 + before retiring to our local watering hole then returning around an hour later for the rest. We had thought that we were doing an excellent  job but after a couple of months we bumped into the owner - he was really annoyed as the 25kg tub of poison he had had delivered the previous day, had been chewed open and the entire contents consumed. We never picked up many dead Rats at all - the Pigs used to eat then as they dropped!!

Edited July 15, 2020 by bruno22rf

[Graham M]

1 hour ago, Walker570 said:

I have a few coming into the yard by the house, under the bird feeder. I can set a trap and I can use poison but nothing beats sitting in the Landie, window down with the moderated 410 sticking out of the window

This is exactly what is happening in my garden at the moment. I have invested in a live catch trap. and have caught 4 over the last five days; one huge one and 3 smaller ones. I take the trap into my shed and use a .22 air rifle to finish them off.

I lost my little dog to liver cancer at the beginning of June and I always wondered why she was going ape every night and wanting to run up to the bird feeder......now I know.

 

[CharlieT]

I put a little corn down every evening on the grass at the front of my humble house to attract them and regularly shoot one or two from my bedroom window just before it gets dark with a rifle.

[LeedsZeppelin]

22 hours ago, Graham M said:

This is exactly what is happening in my garden at the moment. I have invested in a live catch trap. and have caught 4 over the last five days; one huge one and 3 smaller ones. 

Same here, and I have two live catch traps set up in the garden. I've not caught a single rat in them - what are you using as bait?

When I first spotted the rats I also noticed the doggo was sunning himself and watching the rats scurrying back and forth with very little interest! He would investigate and follow the trails occasionally.

I've noticed the rats look to have disappeared now. They seem to have depleted at a similar rate to my stock of .22 pellets. 😉

[JohnfromUK]

I think I have shot them (not many) with air rifle only - can't ever remember a shot with a shotgun.

[Stonepark]

Have had 6 about the bird feeder this year, 3 with .22 crosman tracker type air rifle (which is what I had to hand) at 10.5ftlbs which kills ok with H&N Sniper lights, and 3 with .25 BSA Lightning, 11.8 ftlbs which hits hard with H&N FTT and instant kill whether head or upper body.

[Graham M]

2 hours ago, LeedsZeppelin said:

Same here, and I have two live catch traps set up in the garden. I've not caught a single rat in them - what are you using as bait?

When I first spotted the rats I also noticed the doggo was sunning himself and watching the rats scurrying back and forth with very little interest! He would investigate and follow the trails occasionally.

I've noticed the rats look to have disappeared now. They seem to have depleted at a similar rate to my stock of .22 pellets. 😉

I'm using the bird seed itself.