rats

[45-70.gov]

is  any  one  here  like shooting rats?

and  do  you hunt  them  more than any thing  else?

what  do you hunt  them with?

what kind of rats do you shoot?

i  live in a residential neighbor hood
so  i am  limited  to 22 rat shot  or  a pellet gun

they  are  always  there any time  i want  to hunt....but  now  cats are  competing with me for targets

i  now  have  a SMOOTHBORE  22  shot gun

the  method that works  best  is  at sunset
they cross srteets and creeks in the tree limbs
just  siluette  them against the  sky......some times  use  lights
rats  are creatures  of habit  they  will do the same thing every day  within 15  minutes
so  if  you see  one  leave  him alone  and  most of the time  he will  return tomorrow and do the same  thing
just  look  at  the  ime when  you see  him
 just get  there with  your gun  15minutes sooner the next  day


you  wil not be the first  to laugh at me for being  so  obbsessed with hunting rats
but  if their are other admitted rat  hunters  tell  us how you do  it

i   took  2 rats to the  taxatermy
he  laughed  at  me and  ask ''you  want  them  mounted''
i  told  him  NO..........''but  holding  hands might be a good  touch''

most   of  my rats  are  ''ratus ratus''  with  an  occasional  ''ratus norwigus''  i think

[spruce]

Haven't heard anybody talk about shooting rats for years!  Great sport and good service to society to eliminate an obvious health hazard.

Way back when we used to have "dumps" instead of landfills we used to shoot a lot of them.  Most dumps were in somewhat secluded settings (nobody wanted to live close to them!) and most of the owners were happy to have someone eliminate some rats - about the only restrictions were to stop shooting when someone came to unload their trash.

We always used .22LR's and just sat quietly and wait for them to show themselves.  Quite often could get a couple before they all scurried under cover, then wait a few minutes and they would begin to show themselves again.  This was all in the daylight and was really a blast, but sadly there are no more dumps and even if there were they wouldn't allow any firearms around.

Anyway, thanks for bringing back some fun memories!!

[45-70.gov]

my  dad  always  tlaked  of  going  to  the ''RATTERY''   too   like  you described

his  rat  gun has  been passed  down  to me....and it  was  his fathers rat  gun  too

and  my  kids  and grand  kids  will have  this rat  gun


it  is an  old savage 22lr bolt ...clip fed.....he  wouldn't hunt dangerous game with a single shot

[Silvertp]

Ahhhhh....bringing back old memories.  A night time a good dump would come alive with rats.  A buddy and I used to go at night w/ a spotlight and blast away with .22 rifles.  His choice was a Nylon 66 and I used a Marlin lever action M57.  Both with straight 4 power scopes.

There were two methods we used.  I way was for the spotter to keep scanning the garbage til he found eyes.  Then the shooter could line up and pop that sucker. 

The most exciting way was to wait until all the rats were active...they probably thought we'd gone home for the night, and you could hear what sounded like the entire garbage pile being rooted.  Then the flood light would come on and 100's of rats would be running all over.  The spotter would find one of the escape routes and just keep the light there.  The shooter would have plenty of shooting at rats running thru the light as they were using the escape route...back into the deep dark garbage. 

There were a few times the rats were so thick we left the .22's in the truck and pulled out the 12ga auto's full of 7 1/2 shot.  We've left piles of those suckers dead for the rest to snack on.

Ahhh...those were the days.

Silvertp

[MrJames680]

I shoot them all the time in my backyard. I use a .223Rem with 'special bullets' a buddy of mine loads for me. He go the idea from ammosmith.com. What he does is bore out the primer pocket of 223 so that it will accept a large magnum rifle primer. He then seats a .22cal pellet for pellet guns and hes done. I am new to reloading so i havent tried it yet.

The pellet flys with some good force. It takes out rats cleanly. Fun and most of all it is real quite. Goes thru about 300 pages of phonebook with pointed pellets. 

Most of the time I dont have those rounds to fire as they are a pain to make so I hear. So we just bait them with corncobs and wait for them to run along the fence or on the power lines and use a bb gun.

[Skunk]

Way back when we used to have "dumps" instead of landfills we used to shoot a lot of them.  Most dumps were in somewhat secluded settings (nobody wanted to live close to them!) and most of the owners were happy to have someone eliminate some rats - about the only restrictions were to stop shooting when someone came to unload their trash. Anyway, thanks for bringing back some fun memories!!

Yes Sir, that does indeed bring back some fun memories for me too. My dad used to take us kids to the "dump" and let us go wild with .22s on the rats. Heck, sometimes my mom would come along and bring a book to read while us "guys" cleaned the dump up of those pesky little varmints. Then after our work was finished at the dump, we often went fishing. Those were the days my friends.

[theoldarcher]

What a riot of a topic!!     I grew up in the era prior to land fills as well, and around our towns of French Lick and West Baden, IN, we had a few dumps up in some 'hollers' that housed monster rats.  Our favorite thing was to hunt them at night with carbide head lights and bows.  Many, many a trip over the 'edge' was made to retreive either arrows or arrows with rats attached!  One of my friends from the '50s and '60s was given the nick name of 'Cleaver' because he developed small broadheads that looked like miniture meat cleavers for our arrows (today he still works blades but in custom knives).  When you shot and missed, or shot and hit a rat, the design kept the arrow from burrying in the trash.  I am not sure of our 'record rat' but we often had them in the 10 to 11 pound range--the same fellow kept an old bath room scale in his pick up for rats and fish!     One way to tell if a girl was interested in you, and just not in your fancy pick up, was to invite her to go with you to shoot rats.  If she accepted, probably she liked more than just your truck!!   

Thanks, guys!  I hadn't thought of those 'exploits' for many years: fun memories!

Arch

[guzzijohn]

When I was a kid on the farm we had an old wooden grain bin that was up on concrete stilts so a truck bed would be flush with the door. The bin was to rotted to use any more but had mice in it. Our farm tomcat and myself would check it out after school. We would sneak up to the door and quickly open it flooding the inside with sun light. I would use a Ruger Mark I pistol. I could usually empty a magazine before all the mice made it to cover. The cat would not move until I put the gun barrel up in a 12 o'clock position and then he would jump in and finish off the wounded and feast.
GuzziJohn

[woodchukhntr]

Ahhh, the gold old days of open dumps and unlimited rat shooting!  I really miss those days, I've got really good memories of them.  I was just telling  someone yesterday of the time that I was shooting rats at night with a flashlight held under the rifle.  Since I was looking where the light was pointing, I didn't see what was directly in front of me until I heard a squeal and felt something moving under my right foot.  I looked down and saw that I was standing on a skunk!  I was standing on the base of the tail and had it pinned down where it couldn't spray or turn around and bite or claw me.  What to do?  Well, I planned out a path, jumped off and ran like crazy!  I didn't get sprayed and the last I saw of the skunk, it was waddling off rather indignently in the opposite direction.  My buddy was laughing like crazy!

[Skunk]

I looked down and saw that I was standing on a skunk!  I was standing on the base of the tail and had it pinned down where it couldn't spray or turn around and bite or claw me.

 

[gofish]

Way back when shooting rats was the thing at the city dump and befor old enuf to get drivers license ( southeastern MN.)  Ely brand long rifels shells were .50 cents a box ,winchesters/ remintons were .99cents a box. Took all week to scroung the .50 cents. City fathers never had a problem , doing a service to the city I guess. Would spend all saturday morning doing it. Ow! don' forget the pigones.

Can't spell very well but shoot OK

Had to have a note from mother to get the shells!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[snakeman]

I remember going out to my budies uncles ranch in western kansas. His uncle would pay us and buy the shells for us to shoot the rats that were out by the grain bins he had. One of us would use a .22 and the other would carry a .410 shotgun. We would sit out there for hours and shoot rats. Unfortunately I didn't get to grow up in the era of open dumps. Sounds like I would have been in heaven.


snakeman

[S.S.]

mostly just barn rats. Air rifles are my gun of choice.
Pour out a pile of sweet feed about 10 yards out from the barn
and a couple of cans of sardines poured on it for "stink"
and just wait till dusk. the security light makes them easy to spot.
I did have a "Grand Daddy" rat startle me pretty bad when moving things
around one day, and my 1911 .45ACP took care of him. Major overkill
but quite gratifying.

[Hodr]

Got an invitaition to shoot rats when I was on duty at Ft Benning.  Farmer had a rat hill out in a small woods clearing that was humongous.  Took shotguns and stood in circle out from the hill.  Farmer put two ferretts into the hill and we shot rats running past us for more the 1 1/2 hours.  Farmer had planted poison bait to get the ones that got past us.  He supplied the shells and threw a pit barbcue.  Long ago and far away;
blindhari

[streak]

Started hunting rats when I was around 10-11 years old.First  experience was with my cousin. My uncle owned a farm and had a lot of corn storage cribs. Early in the morning we slip up to the corn crib and I would quitely ease the door to the crib open and my cousin was ready with his .22 with ratshot cartridges. As it was single shot he made the first shot count!We got some pretty good size ones.
Later on when my wife and I were in our freshman year in college,we rented a small duplex by the railroad tracks. One night while I was studying, I thought I saw a tail go around the corner of the kitchen door frame. I kept studying and this time I saw a rat at the same place. As my wife was in the bedroom I went back and told her what I saw. That probably was not a great idea! Any way after she settled down, I told her to stay in the bed and I wuld take care of the rats. I went to the kitchen and saw the hole underneath the sink cabinet. All wood underneath in this area. Well!! It is 'safari" time!
I went and got some large cushions from the couch and put them in the hallway in front of one of the doors that led into the kitchen. I got behind the cushions with my .22 loaded with .22 shorts. I had my wife to come an turn out the lights in the kitchen.Waited for about 5 min. and my wife flip the light on! I was ready and five targets of opportunity were on the kitchen floor. The first victim was fat one and as the crosshairs were on him I fired and down he went! Immediately I shot the second one
as he was heading for the escape hole I nailed him and his body blocked up the hole. The third rat tried to get through the hole but to no avail !Got him! The other two escaped through the other door.
I got them with traps later on!! That was the end of those pesky vermin. Found only one small bullet hole next to the escape hole.   Many years ago!!

[rex6666]

I thought i was all alone in rat hunting. Started out shooting them with BB
gun but they can be a might tough for a RED RIDER.
shot them for years withe 22 shorts. most fun was with a pair of rat terrier
dogs i had i would move stuff like tin, lumber anything on the ground and the dogs
were all over them. I remember being at a party with this LADY once when
i was about 30 and mentioned rat hunting, some laughed, some white eyed me
she said i had embarassed her, knew right then she and i would not work.
nothing better than a good rat hunt.

[jamaldog87]

i hunt rats all the time with my slingshots or airguns but most places were rats are there is lots of people so no hunting.  there was one place were you could hunt/shoot and on the weekends it sounded like a gun range cuase lots of people like to shoot there.