Pest Work with the Western Rattler .357

[Ezana4CE]

These were pests to me since losing around 10 chickens this year. Neighbor called and said there were 3 outside their door. I asked, “Do you want me to kill them?” And I was initially told “no.” This is not the first time they told me this. I spotted a family of them around their house on a visit several weeks ago. So I’m sitting here thinking, “well why the hell did you tell me they were there if you didn’t want me to kill them?” Then she ask said they haven’t been a problem for them. I said, “well I’ve lost several chickens to them this year.” He was then given the green light to kill them at their place. Within 20 minutes they were killed and 2 of the 3 were recovered. I used my Burris BTH50 handheld scanner to locate them and setup on them. I used my Western Rattler .357 with Pulsar Thermion XQ50 Pro LRF to take them out shooting NSA 110 grain HPDB slugs.


I think I gut or rump shot one. All I found was a couple spots of blood. My assumption is that it fled beneath a structure. I spent a considerable amount of time on my hands and knees looking beneath the structure and didn’t find anything. I said I’d come back tomorrow to look again. They were saying they’d find it since I did the heavy lifting. I’ll still go and see if I can find it so it won’t stink up the place. The Western Rattler is my type of tool for this type of scenario.

 

[Billm]

These were pests to me since losing around 10 chickens this year. Neighbor called and said there were 3 outside their door. I asked, “Do you want me to kill them?” And I was initially told “no.” This is not the first time they told me this. I spotted a family of them around their house on a visit several weeks ago. So I’m sitting here thinking, “well why the hell did you tell me they were there if you didn’t want me to kill them?” Then she ask said they haven’t been a problem for them. I said, “well I’ve lost several chickens to them this year.” He was then given the green light to kill them at their place. Within 20 minutes they were killed and 2 of the 3 were recovered. I used my Burris BTH50 handheld scanner to locate them and setup on them. I used my Western Rattler .357 with Pulsar Thermion XQ50 Pro LRF to take them out shooting NSA 110 grain HPDB slugs.
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I think I gut or rump shot one. All I found was a couple spots of blood. My assumption is that it fled beneath a structure. I spent a considerable amount of time on my hands and knees looking beneath the structure and didn’t find anything. I said I’d come back tomorrow to look again. They were saying they’d find it since I did the heavy lifting. I’ll still go and see if I can find it so it won’t stink up the place. The Western Rattler is my type of tool for this type of scenario.

Nice shooting. I really enjoy reading your posts, I always seem to learn something new. I didn’t know raccoons ate chickens. Luckily, I haven’t seen any on my property. You have a very nice selection of hunting air rifles.

 

[Danman]

Nice shooting. I really enjoy reading your posts, I always seem to learn something new. I didn’t know raccoons ate chickens. Luckily, I haven’t seen any on my property. You have a very nice selection of hunting air rifles.

They sure do! My parents always had chickens (had a dozen or two layers and 100 meat birds at that time) and i went up in the barn loft and found half a dozen cleaned carcasses. The barn loft was fully closed from the inside but the run was open top and an open entrance to get to the barn loft. The coon climbed in at night grabbed em, climbed up into the loft with chicken in hand and feasted...Easy meal! Hard to miss a few birds when you have that many
Good shooting @Ezana4CE. I have three coons to date with my .22 Ghost/Mrds all 3 head shots; 2 caught in the act of destroying my property, and one was super deranged so i put him down, .... If taking body shots I'd want a hot .25/.30 or a .357 for sure.

 

[Ezana4CE]

Nice shooting. I really enjoy reading your posts, I always seem to learn something new. I didn’t know raccoons ate chickens. Luckily, I haven’t seen any on my property. You have a very nice selection of hunting air rifles.

@Billm They will tear into enclosures to kill and eat. They will also exploit structural flaws and weaknesses to break in. I built some doors on the rear of my hen house to collect eggs without entering the structure. The doors are fastened by an overlapping latch that can be turned and locked. When both doors are closed they can be pulled outward to create a 2” - 3” or so gap. I discovered this because I came out one morning to find a half eaten laying hen on the floor of an otherwise secure hen house. After investigating there were only two possible ways in which this could have occurred. The other would involve destroying part of the roof which involve a tough climb, would be noisy, and take time. After correcting the issue with the door there were no more break ins.

If you leave a door open, they’re coming eventually. Here it usually takes about 3 days for them to figure out that a door was left open. Once they know where to food is they generally will return. I have noticed that some do have patterns though. Ironically, I left a door open one night and lost 3 beautiful pullets on the same night. When I got this call, I was alerted to the presence of a family of 3 raccoons. I don’t think that’s coincidental. I thought it strange to lose 3 in one night. It now makes sense how this would have happened.

I have eliminated a few predators in the area and it usually halts the loss of animals for a time. The chickens mostly get killed outside of their run. I had hens that used to fly the coop. Those would get killed when I wasn’t around. Now I have some that can fly the coop, but they won’t. I also had some chickens that were 100% free-range. That didn’t last long. The longest one was able to make it on her own was around 2 months. I still don’t know what got her. When I tried bringing her some company, they’d usually get killed in a matter of days. I figured there was a chance they’d learn to survive outside and free by watching her. Nope.

 

[Billm]

@Billm They will tear into enclosures to kill and eat. They will also exploit structural flaws and weaknesses to break in. I built some doors on the rear of my hen house to collect eggs without entering the structure. The doors are fastened by an overlapping latch that can be turned and locked. When both doors are closed they can be pulled outward to create a 2” - 3” or so gap. I discovered this because I came out one morning to find a half eaten laying hen on the floor of an otherwise secure hen house. After investigating there were only two possible ways in which this could have occurred. The other would involve destroying part of the roof which involve a tough climb, would be noisy, and take time. After correcting the issue with the door there were no more break ins.

If you leave a door open, they’re coming eventually. Here it usually takes about 3 days for them to figure out that a door was left open. Once they know where to food is they generally will return. I have noticed that some do have patterns though. Ironically, I left a door open one night and lost 3 beautiful pullets on the same night. When I got this call, I was alerted to the presence of a family of 3 raccoons. I don’t think that’s coincidental. I thought it strange to lose 3 in one night. It now makes sense how this would have happened.

I have eliminated a few predators in the area and it usually halts the loss of animals for a time. The chickens mostly get killed outside of their run. I had hens that used to fly the coop. Those would get killed when I wasn’t around. Now I have some that can fly the coop, but they won’t. I also had some chickens that were 100% free-range. That didn’t last long. The longest one was able to make it on her own was around 2 months. I still don’t know what got her. When I tried bringing her some company, they’d usually get killed in a matter of days. I figured there was a chance they’d learn to survive outside and free by watching her. Nope.

That’s wild. My dad drummed into me that raccoons were nasty destructive critters. That carried rabies. I’m glad you got them quickly.

 

[FL22]

@Billm They will tear into enclosures to kill and eat. They will also exploit structural flaws and weaknesses to break in. I built some doors on the rear of my hen house to collect eggs without entering the structure. The doors are fastened by an overlapping latch that can be turned and locked. When both doors are closed they can be pulled outward to create a 2” - 3” or so gap. I discovered this because I came out one morning to find a half eaten laying hen on the floor of an otherwise secure hen house. After investigating there were only two possible ways in which this could have occurred. The other would involve destroying part of the roof which involve a tough climb, would be noisy, and take time. After correcting the issue with the door there were no more break ins.

If you leave a door open, they’re coming eventually. It usually takes about 3 days for them to figure out that a door was left open. Once they know where to food is they generally will return. I have noticed that some do have patterns though. Ironically, I left a door open one night and lost 3 beautiful pullets on the same night. When I got this call, I was alerted to the presence of a family of 3 raccoons. I don’t think that’s coincidental. I thought it strange to lose 3 in one night. It now makes sense how this would have happened.

I have eliminated a few predators in the area and it usually halts the loss of animals for a time. The chickens mostly get killed outside of their run. I had hens that used to fly the coop. Those would get killed when I wasn’t around. Now I have some that can fly the coop, but they won’t. I also had some chickens that were 100% free-range. That didn’t last long. The longest one was able to make it on her own was around 2 months. I still don’t know what got her. When I tried bringing her some company, they’d usually get killed in a matter of days. I figured there was a chance they’d learn to survive outside and free by watching her. Nope.

A trail cam or two, would be advantageous, I think. Especially one with the capability to send you a text photo or video in real time.

I only have one and found it to be an indispensable tool.

 

[Billm]

They sure do! My parents always had chickens (had a dozen or two layers and 100 meat birds at that time) and i went up in the barn loft and found half a dozen cleaned carcasses. The barn loft was fully closed from the inside but the run was open top and an open entrance to get to the barn loft. The coon climbed in at night grabbed em, climbed up into the loft with chicken in hand and feasted...Easy meal! Hard to miss a few birds when you have that many
Good shooting @Ezana4CE. I have three coons to date with my .22 Ghost/Mrds all 3 head shots; 2 caught in the act of destroying my property, and one was super deranged so i put him down, .... If taking body shots I'd want a hot .25/.30 or a .357 for sure.

I shot one once with a .243. I had been still hunting deer with my dad. It came out of a tree about 75 yds away and started hissing and growling at me. It was loud and aggressive and it was the end of the day so I shot it. A few seconds later a whole family of them came out of the same tree and started screaming at me. I’d try airgun hunting them, but it seems locally they’re mostly hunted at night with dogs.

 

[Billm]

A trail cam or two, would be advantageous, I think. Especially one with the capability to send you a text photo or video in real time.

I only have one and found it to be an indispensable tool.

I’m fed up with the Gardepro R1. I love the fact that it streams live etc. at long range. But, it keeps condensing inside and filling with water. It’s fine during the day. But, normally it produces great images and they’re instantaneous and free. I think they’d be great for watching over a coop.

 

[Ezana4CE]

A trail cam or two, would be advantageous, I think. Especially one with the capability to send you a text photo or video in real time.

I only have one and found it to be an indispensable tool.

@FL22 It would provide photographic evidence, but it’s pretty evident what occurred by the way the scene looks after an animal is injured or killed. I have had a couple of roosters survive raccoon attacks. The trail cameras aren’t a bad idea, but in this intense summer heat I don’t like how they drain expensive lithium batteries fast so I haven’t been worrying about them. Regular batteries can leak in this heat. I am not a fan of cleaning trail cam battery terminals.

 

[Ezana4CE]

I shot one once with a .243. I had been still hunting deer with my dad. It came out of a tree about 75 yds away and started hissing and growling at me. It was loud and aggressive and it was the end of the day so I shot it. A few seconds later a whole family of them came out of the same tree and started screaming at me. I’d try airgun hunting them, but it seems locally they’re mostly hunted at night with dogs.

@Billm I grew up hunting them with hounds with my father. Nowadays with thermal, they’re way too easy for me to hunt. It’s not even fun, so I rarely do it. It’s not fair to them. When it comes to pesting, thermal is a great tool, especially when you have food to protect. Many people think, “just go to the store and buy chicken and eggs.” I prefer to raise my own. It’s my lifestyle and I have a great opportunity and means to live this way. If the stores ever experience major interruptions, I should be fine as long as I can feed my birds. Thankfully they free range frequently and know how to hustle a little bit.

Predators will always be a part of the equation from hawks to possums and everything in between. Airguns fill a great niche for pest work. Less collateral damage. I shoot up stuff with pass throughs and misses so there’s a lot less property damage and liability than with firearms. There’s no concerns about powder, brass, primers, bullet shortages, etc. I’m pretty self-sufficient with my airgun setup.

 

[Chief55]

It's about 30+ yards out to my chicken pen and I have had good luck with the wireless security cameras. The ones I have will use each other as repeaters, so they do very well.

One year in a different location I tried raising a flock of Rhode Island Whites. I had raised the Reds in the past and from what I had read I want to try the Whites. I got the day-old chicks about a dozen and raised them in a pen with wire buried almost a foot. They started laying extra-large eggs. I was surprised that the first eggs were so large but after a week a coon dug a hole under the fence and tore a wing off one and carried her away. All of the rest of them were in a line toppled over like dominoes as if they all had heart attacks at the same time. I never saw anything like it.

The pen I have where we live now has the rolled roofing shingle material all around the perimeter going out about 3 feet and into the pen about 1 foot and that stuff is so thick and tuff with 2x8s for the bottom frame and I have not had any coons get in. I have had this pen for about 15-16 years. I have seen them walk around it in the security camera pictures, but they did not get in. I have had possums get in through the vinyl latus work under the shed that the pen is against, but they never bothered the chickens, and I would just catch them in live traps. The coons are too big to fit through the vinyl latus under the shed.

Coons can be called in during the daytime with electronic coon squallers. Females can be called in the spring and summer with pup distress calls and boars in the fall and winter with coon fights and distress calls. Sometimes they just come out of the den to see what is going on and sometimes they will come in fast for a fight. If you think you have found a den you would put the speaker towards the back side of the tree away from the den hole, so they have to come out of the den and move around the tree to see what is going on. So, when you shoot them, they don't fall back into the den. I would not use a hand call unless you want it in your lap.

If you make them like a BBQ pulled pork sandwich, they are melt in your mouth tender and delicious.