For those that believe if you hit skunks in the lungs they don't spray
- Thread starter BlackICE
- Start date
I've seemed to average about 50/50 with head shots and they have always sprayed with anything else. I have heard from an old time trapper that if you shoot them in the spine they won't spray but that does not sound like an ethical clean kill.
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My best luck is the back base of the head where the motor nerve is located, also known as the T.
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OOOOOOOO!!! stinky!!!
Mental note: when shooting a skunk from behind, go for the spine right between the shoulder blades OR brain stem at base of skull.
Mental note: when shooting a skunk from behind, go for the spine right between the shoulder blades OR brain stem at base of skull.
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I'm going Yogi Berra on this one: It is always a 50/50 proposition, wherever you hit it. Either it does or it doesn't. My experience is...it does.
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Oh SNAP! Dude...I would have used a few cans of Febreeze! LOL! Was that a clip from a team America!?..perfect!
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Only those who've experienced vomiting from skunk spray know how bad it really is. Happened to me twice in the summer of 2018. Its somehing I wouldn't wish on anyone.
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The golden rule is to not upset the central nervous system. Punch a hole in the heart and or lungs, and the critter will pass quickly and calmly. Hit a skunk with a cannon ball sized projectile and there will be trauma to the CNS. Not 100% in any hunt situation, but better chance of no spray than a brain/spine injury.
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Uurrpp... Oh dude that’s nasty. I can smell that from here.if you want to kill skunks at a bait station you need to get a piece of 8” pvc pipe about 3’ long. Put heavy wire mesh over one end and face that towards your shooting position. Place you bait in the pipe towards the screened in side. They crawl in and you got a perfect head shot. They can’t raise their tail and spray when they’re inside the pipe. Have your bucket and lid ready and pour them out into your bucket and seal the lid right quick before they start leaking out when their muscles start relaxing. Don’t have pvc pipe? make a square “tube” out of plywood or something. Key is get them in position in a small confined space where you can shoot them in the head but they can’t raise their tail and spray. Not sure if that’d be 100% guaranteed but it’s got to be way better than a 50/50 chance.
never had a skunk problem but that’s my plan if I did. no chance I’d shoot a skunk in my backyard unless I tried something like that in hopes it wouldn’t spray.
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One thing seems to work AFTER they die is to leave them till the morning so they stiffen up then they won’t leak when you move the body for disposal. I got 3 skunks with the heart and Lung shots and non of them sprayed so I got lucky. Saw the tip about letting the body stiffen up a while back somewhere on the inter web and no issues with leaking at all.
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if you want to kill skunks at a bait station you need to get a piece of 8” pvc pipe about 3’ long. Put heavy wire mesh over one end and face that towards your shooting position. Place you bait in the pipe towards the screened in side. They crawl in and you got a perfect head shot. They can’t raise their tail and spray when they’re inside the pipe. Have your bucket and lid ready and pour them out into your bucket and seal the lid right quick before they start leaking out when their muscles start relaxing. Don’t have pvc pipe? make a square “tube” out of plywood or something. Key is get them in position in a small confined space where you can shoot them in the head but they can’t raise their tail and spray. Not sure if that’d be 100% guaranteed but it’s got to be way better than a 50/50 chance.
never had a skunk problem but that’s my plan if I did. no chance I’d shoot a skunk in my backyard unless I tried something like that in hopes it wouldn’t spray.
That's pretty ingenious.
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My dad is the skunk killing master. No spray. The recipe? A high speed non expanding .177 through the liver. Best part, the skunk generally wonders off. Remember, behind the lungs, in front of the gut. You definitely don’t want to hit a skunk with your pride and joy thumper. You want them to not know they are hit.
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Unless someone has tried this multiple times it would not make the assumption that just because they skunk can't raise his tail and can't spray. That may be true when it's fully conscious and controlling its own muscles. But I doubt of this true for a headshot where the animal losses complete control of all their muscles. The muscles necessary to spray can still contract while the tails is down. But it probably would work very well for a lung shot.
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if it is somewhere i can shoot and leave it alone i’ll shoot. otherwise i let it go. i will never shoot one in my yard. they will wander off .
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