luckytrigger Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 The farm i shoot on has an infestation of rats even though there is a lot of poison put down. After a chat with the farmer and informing him im still waiting for my airrifle to arrive he agreed to let me use my 22lr (overkill iknow but im still waiting for my pcp to arrive). After a bit of observation i found that the main run used by the rats was in an area used for the storage of cattle feed which is surrounded on three sides by a 20ft earthen embankment providing a very good backstop the floor consisted of very muddy earth which minimised the danger of richochets. The feed is stored against one side of of the embankment and the rats make their way over around 15yds of flat open ground to the grain. I positioned my 4x4 25 yds away from the mound of cattle feed. The illumination provided by a floodlight on one of the farm buildings meant that i didnt even have to use my lamp there was just enough light to spot the scalys through the WTC on my ruger. Within minutes of turning the engine off i saw a couple of rats bolt across the piece of open ground straight towards the feed Two quick shots and two dead rats.. This seemed to make the rats a little more cautious making them bolt over to the feed at top speed but i managed to pick off five more that paused as they ran across the open ground. Some of the rats seemed huge and as i identified many runs that the rats were using im going back wed night and intend on baiting with some cat food to hopefully make them pause long enough to shoot them. There are many, many more rats in and around the farm buildings which im looking forward to tackling as soon as my bsa ultra arrives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dougy Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 good shooting specialy as you say they were shifting a bit, try slowing them down with some mashed potato half way across the run, to add a bit more attractant whatever you call it mix some "brasem" with it its a ground bait addative in liquid form or powder they love it, i mean love it you should attract loads i used to use it ,worked a treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tikkamark Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Great write up l.t Do the rats not pause to feed once they reach the cattle feed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Elvis Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Why use the air gun....youre making a mess of em without it lol.....they look humanely dispatched to me lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckytrigger Posted October 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2007 Great write up l.t Do the rats not pause to feed once they reach the cattle feed? The rats did pause slightly at the start of the 'shoot' but got a bit wise as i shot a few of their pals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckytrigger Posted October 18, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 18, 2007 Great write up l.t Do the rats not pause to feed once they reach the cattle feed? Most of the cattle feed is covered in polythene which the rats dart under to feed which made for some awkward shooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AIRARMSTX200 Posted October 18, 2007 Report Share Posted October 18, 2007 The farm i shoot on has an infestation of rats even though there is a lot of poison put down. After a chat with the farmer and informing him im still waiting for my airrifle to arrive he agreed to let me use my 22lr (overkill iknow but im still waiting for my pcp to arrive). After a bit of observation i found that the main run used by the rats was in an area used for the storage of cattle feed which is surrounded on three sides by a 20ft earthen embankment providing a very good backstop the floor consisted of very muddy earth which minimised the danger of richochets. The feed is stored against one side of of the embankment and the rats make their way over around 15yds of flat open ground to the grain. I positioned my 4x4 25 yds away from the mound of cattle feed. The illumination provided by a floodlight on one of the farm buildings meant that i didnt even have to use my lamp there was just enough light to spot the scalys through the WTC on my ruger. Within minutes of turning the engine off i saw a couple of rats bolt across the piece of open ground straight towards the feed Two quick shots and two dead rats.. This seemed to make the rats a little more cautious making them bolt over to the feed at top speed but i managed to pick off five more that paused as they ran across the open ground. Some of the rats seemed huge and as i identified many runs that the rats were using im going back wed night and intend on baiting with some cat food to hopefully make them pause long enough to shoot them. There are many, many more rats in and around the farm buildings which im looking forward to tackling as soon as my bsa ultra arrives i love the holes in them rats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuu Posted October 18, 2007 Report Share Posted October 18, 2007 Check out them AT-1's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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