Shoot On Sight

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Pahoo
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Join Date: February 16, 2006
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Magpies would take control of our yard from even the dogs - and humans, I think.

OJ.
A lot of folks might not be all that familiar with Magpies and I only encountered them when I lived in Colorado and they do have an attitude as well as being raiders. Is there an open season on them and are they a big problems out there?
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We found out some years ago those attractive black/white birds we thought were friends suddenly decided our yard was theirs and proceeded to try to drive our Mastiffs out of the yard and were driving our poor dogs out of their minds with noise and swooping down on them. That was unacceptable so I got my Beeman P1 Magnum out and proceeded to convince them they weren't welcome in our 1/2 acre yard as well as our deck. Didn't kill any but smacked them hard.

Years passed and we all mellowed (I thought) and we co-existed again until last summer when one of the young out of a nest decided it was cute to squawk and even land on our Mastiff's butts - the poor dogs had no defense but me and my pistol and I went about convincing them again. We have a large yard and no close neighbors so it worked again and I'm shooting nearly as accurately as my wife again.

Truth be known, they were on the endangered list but, I think they are off it now and the pellets just convinced them without killing any (OK - one exception some 15 years ago).

We have about 20 acres of "open space" behind our yard that is wooded and can never be developed so we have more wild animals around than can be imagined. I bought this then 2 year old house in 1975 with two requirements - needed privacy and to not be more than 10 minutes from hospitals where I had patients I had operated on and I wanted to be instantly available. The north edge city limit was 3 blocks north of me.

Fast forward to now - C Springs can only grow north and east (geography as it is) and I am now informed the geographical center of town is less than 2 miles east of us.

We have the location and keep our abundant wildlife - only Magpies are limited to access our back yard - and you can see from my previous post - we have lots of wild critters we live in harmony with.

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Some days you're the dog - some days the hydrant. :D
 
I used to shoot rats with an air-pistol regularly, but that was years ago when I lived in a more ratty area. Haven't seen any to shoot the last few places I've lived, and that's fine with me.

I killed thousands of feral cats when I worked for animal control, so I figure I've done my part. I don't mess with them these days, and even took in one friendly stray instead of offing it. Its name is Jerky and it kills mice on sight.:)
 
I do specific hunting, If I am hunting deer, its deer, not coyotes, snakes, birds and such. If it coyotes, then coyotes. Marmots, then marmots. You get the idea. If it isnt attacking me or destroying property at the time, it gets a free pass from me.
 
Marmots are generally large ground squirrels. Those most often referred to as marmots tend to live in mountainous areas such as the Alps, northern Apennine Mountains, Eurasian steppes, Carpathians, Tatra, and Pyrenees in Europe, the Rockies, the Black Hills, and the Sierra Nevada in the United States, northern Canada, Deosai plateau in Pakistan, and Ladakh in India. The groundhog, however, is also properly called a marmot, while the similarly-sized but more social prairie dog is not classified in the genus Marmota but in the related genus Cynomys.
 
What the heck is a Marmot?
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I didn't see this before.

Marmots are dead, if I'm armed.

They are NOT native to my area, and my grandfather had a massive infestation about 20 years ago (yellow-bellied marmots). He had one mal-formed, mutant male that was absolutely, completely unafraid of humans. It was straight out of a horror movie... Huge, untrimmed claws; nasty, outrageously long teeth; massive body; and more than 4 times the normal size of the species. It would climb walls, charge humans, and kill cats for fun.

We didn't know what it was at the time, but it whistled when it was calling to others. As such... we started calling the whole species "Whistling Guinea Pigs" (something I've heard used for other creatures, in other parts of the country, since - and "Whistle Pig" is actually the official nick name for the species {who knew..?}). One day, the mutant tried to bite the horse my aunt was riding (ridiculous thought, I know). It bucked her off, and she ended up with a badly broken wrist.

My grandpa issued a no-holds-barred, kill-on-site order. It was time for a war. We summoned the available forces (uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, husbands, wives, and even some unrelated friends).

Within a six week period, we slaughtered more than 150 of the things, covered more than 500 acres (my grandpa's land, and adjacent farm property - with permission), and forced a localized extinction. ...We thought...

The final "pig" to die, was the mutant. Early one morning, we saw it on top of the horse barn. A 150gr Bronze Point struck it in the chest, launched from a .30-06. It tumbled off the roof, and ran into the grain field.

Some hours later, the posse was ready to move out. A 'Search and Destroy' mission located the offending party in an abandoned fox den. It took more than 40 rounds of .22 LR, .223 Rem, .270 Win, .30-06, .375 H&H, and 12ga to put that mal-formed mutant down.

Victory, at last.

In areas they are not native to, Marmots are incredibly destructive. They undermine roads, dig through foundations (concrete! how? it's concrete!?), eat desirable plants, chew fence posts, and breed like rabbits.

Like I said - When I am armed, Marmots are dead.
 
Magpies would take control of our yard from even the dogs - and humans, I think.

OJ.
A lot of folks might not be all that familiar with Magpies and I only encountered them when I lived in Colorado and they do have an attitude as well as being raiders. Is there an open season on them and are they a big problems out there?
Click to expand...

Magpies were still protected, last time I checked (here in Utah, at least). There are many days, I do research online - looking for a good air rifle. But... I live in a populated area. Even if 90% of shots don't do permanent damage to the birds, it's the other 10% that would get me in trouble. My neighbors love to keep tabs on everybody's current events. I can almost guarantee - some one shooting pellets at a Magpie would bring animal control out. (They have more authority to issue wildlife tickets, than the cops here.)

I want to give them a little persuasion to stay away from my bird feeders (filled with song bird and finch blends), but I'm afraid some of the paranoid neighbors will get me in trouble. I does get annoying, though; seeing the Magpies harass the beautiful song birds.... just to harass them.
 
Frankin Mauser,

I saw where you said you would shoot any dog Running Big Game.
Well I Coon Hunt with Hounds, and have several friends that hunt Feral Hog, With Dogs, and other friends in other States that hunt Bear and Mountain Lion with Dogs.

I just want you to know that IFANYONE EVER SHOOTS ONE OF MY HUNTING DOGS SOMETHING VERY BAD WILL HAPPEN TO THEM!!!!!!!

Here is a picture of my dog!!!!
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I guess it depends on where you lived, here (Wyoming) its illegal to hunt with dogs, and any dog seen chasing wild life can LEGALLY be shot.

I understand about hunting dogs, I use to hunt coon (in South Dakota) years ago.

I love hunting dogs, but I also like my horses, I don't relish the ideal of telling my granddaughter some dog ruined her horse. After (two weeks ago) one of my horses was crippled because it was ham strung by dogs, I no longer will put up with them.

There is a heck of a big difference between hunting dogs, and packs harassing animals for sport. Those I shoot.
 
MR Kraigway

I am a responsible houndsman, I have the propper license, and am respectfull of others, I only hunt on land I have permission, or state rights to hunt on. Take care of my hounds.
I have had no problem, with anyone, and am often asked to hunt the leases between Deer Seasons to remove unwanted Racoons from feeding areas.
But I am very protective of my hounds, and really cant stand people that brag about shooting dogs.

And by the Way, you can Hunt Bobcat, and Mountain Lion in Wyoming with Hounds, here are some links so you can book a hunt. Good Luck.
http://www.muleshoeoutfitters.com/http://www.huntwyoming.com/wy_mtlion.html
Being that it is Legal to hunt Mountain Lion in Wyoming, with Hounds, I would assume that you would be in trouble if you shot the hounds that belong to these outfitters.

Acording to the Wyoming Fish and Game Commission you can legaly hunt Mountain Lion with Hounds.
Dang here is another link, it seems that you can also hunt Racoon with Hounds in Wyoming,


http://www.ddoutfitterswyo.com/varmints_dd_outfitting.html
 
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Where legal and safe, nuisance birds. And raccoons, they're gettin bad here abouts 'cause people think they're sooo cute and feed 'em. Then they wonder what tore up their dog last night. One time though, I opened up on a centipede I almost sat on back in TX. I swear it 18" long and the most evil looking specimen of it's type I've seen, before or since. After I shot it in half, the front part crawled away.:eek:
 
Magpies are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. However, under the Code of Federal Regulations, “a Federal permit shall not be required to control . . . magpies, when found committing or about to commit depredations upon ornamental or shade trees, agricultural crops, livestock, or wildlife, or when concentrated in such numbers as to constitute a health hazard or other nuisance . . .”

My dogs qualify as livestock for me and I'm not about to allow Magpies to take my dog's home away from them -

Also, the pair of Robins nesting here (and their offspring) get protection from Magpies - Robins being much more desirable "resident guests" on our property.
 
Seems to me that almost every bird is protected except for game birds and feral birds. Good that they make exceptions for nuisance birds.
 
In Pennsylvania it is legal to shoot dogs, cats, and other animals after your live stock. It is legal to shoot dogs running deer and encouraged by the game commission.
 
MR Gunplummer

You can hunt various things with a dog in pennsylvania,
Walk up to a group of hunters with dogs and shoot one of their dogs and see what happens. You may be ok in Yankey Land But
I wouldnt recomend it around here. :D
 
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Best you keep your "hunting dogs" in Texas if they can't tell the difference between sheep,chickens,deer and a cat or coon. Lot of coon hunters up here and they won't tolerate a dog that runs something else. They are more worried about a hound on track getting hit by a car than getting in trouble with their neighbors. I used to Bowhunt in Maryland and some horse club used to train dogs with quail during bow season. It did not even disturb the deer because the dogs never chased them. If you have a bunch of junkyard dogs that you can't control that is not my problem, spend some money and get some good ones.
 
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