Hunting feral cats, what weapon? [YES THIS IS A SERIOUS QUESTION]

Status
Not open for further replies.
I live in town and have a cat problem the city brings me a trap and I put tuna fish in the trap and I have caught over 12 I actually think I am close to 18. They come and get them and I don't have to worry about them. A neighbor feeds them, she pores out a bag of food on the porch and lets who ever shows up eat for free. So I put out traps and get them.

Now when I lived in the county and it was legal to shoot, I used every thing from a bow and arrow (they are quite and a Broad head makes one heck of a mess of one) to a 20g shot gun, hard to miss even a fast one with that. I am a firm believer in the fact that if it is your pet you keep it on your property and under control. I would not tolerate a cat on my car leaving its prints. If I lived where you did I would be trapping them and sending them to either the humane society or city pound or what ever. Its not worth getting in that kind of trouble over because some bleeding hart idiot thinks it mean to kill a cat.
 
I put tuna fish in the trap
Click to expand...
When I started trapping them in a HavaHeart, I would place an open can of sardines. Later I could not stand to share these with the cats, so I ate the sardines and placed the empty can in the trap and caught just as many... :)



Be Safe !!!
 
They make various poisons for various pests and critters that you leave out. If a feral cat just happened to ingest some.......well, accidents can happen......
 
When all of the native song birds are gone (Hawaii has the biggest problem) and the woods fall silent.And there is only feral cats then the "progressives" will still be protecting the cats. I like Hog Dogs idea, if it has a collar and it's outside, shoot them, all of them.Dog owners are not allowed to let their dogs run loose, so why do we allow cats ?.My Daughter has a cat that at night will go into the trees and take birds off their roost,the damage they do is untold.
 
the feral cats have all but wiped out the ruffed grouse im southern ohio.

ive passed on shooting deer to shoot cats(12ga slug, and .50 black powder).

if you have no pets buy your self a good supply of decon and cheap tuna/sardines/anchovies.

mix a tablespoon of decon per can of fish. mix it up real well into a paste.

put it out on paper plates around your property(where only a cat can get to).

keep the plates filled for about a week and your cat problem will soon vanish.
 
Friend has a farm in Northern Kentucky,we weren't finding any rabbits like we used to.His dad ,whose the county vet, pointed out a huge brush pile in between two hills on the property that was overrun by feral cats.One afternoon we took a cooler,sandbags,and some AR's and made a afternoon out of it.Now an ex and his wife asked how we could shoot a poor cat?I said easy just put the cross hairs on it and squeeze.I also told them to go check out the ones with the mange and inbreed birth defects.
To answer your question in an open area .223 is nice,.300 Win Mag with 125gr. hollow-point is also spectacular but grossly overkill,as we found out.
 
G'day. Of course you know the best place to keep a cat?
.
.
.
In a crab pot.

A .22 would be OK up close. The .223 would do a good job at any distance you could hit them.

I have and will continue to kill feral cats.
 
Get a cat killing dog and make sure he/she is able to protect your property without getting out - you may need a fence. BTW, I like my .17 HMR for cats.
 
hunting feral cats

Anything will do BUT do not let the animal rights guys know. Don't want to violate pussies rights! They went thru the roof in Iowa when it came up with DNR. Remember "What happens in the woods...Stays in the woods" Myself? I prefer a shotgun as those cats move fast in the brush.
 
When I worked for animal control we used injections of "Fatal Plus" pentobarbital sodium, a bright blue liquid that puts them down pretty fast. But it's a controlled substance, and you still have to catch the mean little buggers. Not the best option unless you have some traps and a vet willing to supply you with a bottle. Doesn't hurt to ask, but probably unlikely.

So I guess just use enough gun to make it relatively quick and painless. I would probably go with .223 or maybe a shotgun with large birdshot.
 
I have a yellow lab who is about 75-85lbs, she ate a whole brick of decon and she is just fine. When I saw that she ate the whole brick I thought I had a dead dog and she did not know it yet. Well that was two years ago. Again around people I would trap and give them to animal control that way they can spend more tax money to kill them. but it saves you from jail and court and every thing.
 
I can clearly remember.......

a line from a college wildlife class that stated that the #1 predator of small game and song birds, in the areas that would support it was the common/feral housecat.

Parks/rural areas are typically dumping grounds for unwanted animals. I have been off in middle of nowhere in a deer stand and had a feral cat slip through, it got away too, saw me draw (bow) and split like lightning.

What ever you do, be darn discreet. I too have known several guys who got themselves in a real mess for shooting strays and ferals, and the wrong people either heard about it or witnessed same.

A .22 Cricket and a hot hollowpoint works pretty good. Stores easy and takes up zero room in veh/pack, etc.
 
I usually use a 22 magnum. A .22 LR will do the job (as would a 17 HMR with solid hits) but the .22 mag seems to be a more consistent performer- even putting down larger cats with humanity and consistency.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top