Gardening Frustrations__ The season of the Varmint

[fpweeks]

I had a major problem with chipmunks this year........killed 26 of them in a week with a "death bucket"

 

[Owly055]

Oh here is some pics of rest of garden:

Beautiful garden!!

 

[TX_Brewing]

I had a major problem with chipmunks this year........killed 26 of them in a week with a "death bucket"

What is this "death bucket" of which you speak?

 

[kpr121]

Beautiful garden!!

Thanks... We built the fence this year but were too lazy (and excited to start planting) to chicken wire the bottom. Hence our groundhog dilemma.

It's 12x24 and we are already kicking ourselves for not making it bigger. I think next year we are going to do some veggies along the outside (maybe corn, pumpkin, some potted herbs, etc) to give us a little more room inside.

 

[smurfjuice]

If you use chicken wire, i would trench around the fence first and bury the
bottom of the wire or they just dig right under the fence.

 

[unionrdr]

I've even seen people pound stakes around the perimeter a couple inches apart & a foot deep to keep critters from tunneling.

 

[kpr121]

Yea we plan to put a planting bed around the entire fence so the chicken wire will be dug in about a foot down and folded/laid outward.

Got a bunny and another groundhog on camera the past two days but neither stepped into the trap. Bunny (I think) took the tops off of all my parsley....

 

[unionrdr]

Then he should taste pretty good when you get'em?:rockin:

 

[unionrdr]

I was watching videos on YouTube, & stumbled onto modern air rifle vids. I came to wonder how well my old Crossman 760 Powermaster stacks up against these Modern Crossman PCP rifles? Anyone know off-hand? Like to use an air rifle for these damned starlings & rabbits.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I have an issue with Rats in my yard, and they've tried eating my Serrano peppers and hops so far. They are burrowing under my garage, wrecking my landscaping, and running a muck everywhere.

I set some bait stations a while back, which didn't work until just this past week for some reason. Saturday morning I found 4.5 dead ones.

The ".5" was in it's final hours, but needed a nudge. Enter: Shovel blade. And it squealed with each jab.

 

[unionrdr]

Well, found 50 pages of these new-style air rifles on Walmart website. Sheez, these things have 2-3 times the power my old 760 did! Better prices then Crosman site too. Bought this Winchester 1400CS with shoulder strap, 3-9X32mm scope, bipod, muzzle break & 1400FPS! New-era varmint bad-assery here in Ohio, where 12 gauge is now illegal.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/35715947?ref=myacct

 

[Homercidal]

A 12 gauge is now illegal in Ohio??

 

[Owly055]

Well, found 50 pages of these new-style air rifles on Walmart website. Sheez, these things have 2-3 times the power my old 760 did! Better prices then Crosman site too. Bought this Winchester 1400CS with shoulder strap, 3-9X32mm scope, bipod, muzzle break & 1400FPS! New-era varmint bad-assery here in Ohio, where 12 gauge is now illegal.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/35715947?ref=myacct

Hopefully the 12 gauge is only illegal within city limits?? Living in the country we used to be over run with deer hunters every year.......... Unfortunately there are not many anymore for some reason, and we have too many deer by far. The automobile is the main predator these days. I always disliked hunting season for the fact that I had no idea who was hunting and how cautious they were or weren't. One year 3 hunters chased a doe right through the school yard during recess...... which didn't go over very well, and I've had people shooting within a few hundred feet of my house. I've long advocated a hunting season within Helena city limits to deal with the urban deer problem they have there.......... give people a taste of what we have to put up with out here ;-)

H.W.

 

[unionrdr]

10 gauge or less the regs say that I just looked at? Some hunting/shooting sites say stuff, then you look it up & do the WTF routine. Just picked up an ammo pen & 2 different weights of pellets/designs. Boy do they have a pellet for every situation now?! Varmints to birds to squirrels. Guys have killed fox & grindhogs with these things. Idk? gotta read some more? Anyway, these magnum air rifles have an " FPE"- Foot Pounds of Energy of 12 to 30 for the expensive ones. Mine's 18FPE, 1400 FPS with a 5gr-5.56gr pellet. Hopefully the 9.6gr rocket hunting pellets will be at least 1100-1200 FPS? So these 12-18 FPE rifles have an effective range of up to about 75 yds. Most small game is about half that range in my experiences. & air guns are legal in Ohio, & many other states. So they'd be great for urban special get-rid-of'em shoots. They did one of those in the Cleveland Metro parks last year or so.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I always had the hardest time killing groundhogs. Even with a 12 Guage and full Choke at 15 feet it could take 3 plus shots. Those things tick me off.

Where I live now is all peace and love so no guns to solve my problems. Instead I have to whack them with a shovel.

 

[unionrdr]

lol. Go troglodyte on'em! ORG, hurt, hurt, smash smash! ha. And them dang groundhogs must be related to them golf critters? After ya give'em both barrels, ya gotta take that funny-lookin' club & beat'em ta death! I've shot them things with my long-barreled antique 22 semi with CCI mini-mag jacketed hollow points...in the head, twice, no less. Lil somebitch crawled back into his bolt hole!

 

[Dimax]

This will do the trick very nicely www.gamousa.com
I have successfully reduced the squirrel population every few years 1000FPs drops'em dead.

 

[unionrdr]

Some of them are expensive, like $560+. But some impressive numbers just the same. I figured 1400 FPS to be enough. Dang rabbits & starlings around here are annoying. Too many of'em...we'll see now! Click, click, boom!

 

[Maylar]

A buddy of mine solved his garden varmint problem with an electric fence. Got the controller from Agway. Puts out about 9000 volts. He hears zapping at night and has dead critters in the morning.

 

[Homercidal]

Check local ordinances. Many municipalities consider air-powered rifles to be firearms for all intents and purposes if they surpass a certain FPS rating.

I think Reed City's limit is like 500 or 700 FPS.

I still shoot them sometimes, and encourage the kids to if they want, but that doesn't mean we can't be charged with unlawful discharge if the city wants to be dicks. I think they simply have those statutes on the books in case there is a problem.

 

[unionrdr]

Or, perhaps, someone they don't like? At any rate, here's me, my new tee & new Winchester 1400CS in .177 caliber. A 9lb gun, but feels steady & with a 3-9X32 duplex scope.

$213 out the door for pick up from Walmart.com.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Or, perhaps, someone they don't like? At any rate, here's me, my new tee & new Winchester 1400CS in .177 caliber. A 9lb gun, but feels steady & with a 3-9X32 duplex scope.

$213 out the door for pick up from Walmart.com.

We play with this one.

1250fps. $159.

 

[unionrdr]

Mine's rated @ 1400FPS with 5gr alloy pellet in .177 caliber. A guy on YouTube shot a young wild pig with a .177 @ 21yds in the head & dropped it like a bad habit! I got some Lethals by Gamo in 5.56gr to try. Amazon botched my order & sent me same in .22, rather than the dome head lead 8.3gr I ordered. I like speed & distance these days. Had my fill of carbines & such. Those would likely be considered assault rifles around here? Wasn't sure, so I got the long rifle.

 

[casualbrewer]

In my experience with air guns is to keep the pellet speed below 1000fps. Actually near 850fps is just about ideal. Shoot heavier pellets to achieve this and shoot many kinds to see what groups best. I know my basic break barrel .177 would hold a dime size group at 30 yards with a cheap scope. I even did testing out to 100 yards and was able to get clean pass through shots on a dog food can which tells me there was still a ton of energy. So armed with that bit of info, take aim on all those pests!

 

[unionrdr]

thanks for posting that. I'll keep it in mind when I get the ammo in & find a range to start testing my theories with the Winchester.

 

[casualbrewer]

No problem. Honestly probably best to order some online. Look into rws or diabolo pellets. Very consistent.

 

[unionrdr]

I did, from amazon, but they botched the order with one I took off the order for one I still wanted. Found a duplex 3-9X40 mil dot center scope, but 145 bucks online.

 

[casualbrewer]

Got to be careful with some scopes as they can't take the beating a "springer" gun exerts. Actually much more detrimental than a high powered rifle.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, I read that recently. Recoil goes back then forward. The first time I read that I thought that can't possibly be good?...
Downloaded two free Books in PDF form from https://www.airrifle.co.za/library/Practical_Guide_To_Airgun_Hunting_PT_2_Jim_Chapman.pdf

 

[fpweeks]

What is this "death bucket" of which you speak?

Fill a bucket with water about 1/3 full, cover the surface with a few handfuls of sunflower seeds, add a ramp with a scrap of wood, and sit back and watch......

i freshened up the seeds every morning, and emptied them every 2-3 days, mostly out of curiosity. Best bucket had 8!