No more stupid Tree Rats?

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BackStop

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Oct 10, 2020
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North Alabama
Well, I guess I have been too efficient in pesting the Chipmunks, rats and Tree Rats on my property.

The last 6 shots, before this afternoon, were good kill heart shots on tree rats. All males. About one per day and that was the only shot I took that day.

However, there are 2 or 3 young tree rats that keep getting away from me. I suspect they are females and are definitely young(er), well, smaller anyway. So, I guess my pesting has helped to create smarter tree rats by eliminating the stupid ones from the gene pool. Today, one of the young females showed and I missed. I would like to be able to say that she dodged the shot, but I can only put it down to lack of trigger control and follow through (I have a bad habit of wanting to see the target outside of the scope after the shot is taken...).

The Chipmunks are mostly gone (torpor I suspect) and I haven't seen a rat in a while (thankfully!).

I guess what makes me most sad about missing the shot today (~27 yards) is that there are at least 2 stray cats and maybe still one Possum (haven't seen it in a while, so the cats may have run it off) that depend on me dropping pests for them to eat.

Oh well, just a sad lament from a shooter/pester without many targets lately and I only shoot paper when I mount a new scope or need to zero or check zero. (smile)

I miss the stupid pests, but I guess these smarter ones will simply make me a better shot and a better pester. 

p.s.

On the flip side, I guess I should be very happy and proud that my pest population is down so much from my efforts since I don't have any rodents in my attic, crawl space, out building or garage. However, I still miss having targets. (grin)
 
I would bait the perimeter daily. Set up bait stations everywhere. Force them to come.
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That is already done. I didn't even start pesting seriously on my property until about ~2 years ago or so (been in this house nearly 3.5 years), and my take is over 550 tree rats in +/- 2 years! Up until that point all I had was a Crosman Fire/F4 and I could not hit much of anything accurately/consistently with it. When I bought my first PCP (Freedom) was when I really started to make a difference in the pest population around my property. For anyone reading this I don't recommend the Freedom because of all of the fail points. It is, however a tack driver with the cheap Crosman CPUM 10.5 pellets!

Until this last spring/summer (when their population exploded here) I didn't have many shots at Chipmunks, but probably put down over 100 since then. Thankfully, I haven't had many rats and have only shot one which I posted about on AGN, however I did put out poison bait for the rats. There was some collateral damage to the numerous rabbits (down from a few dozen to now only about 3 or 4 individual rabbits and I have never shot the rabbits because they aren't a problem/nuisance) and Chipmunks, but I doubt the tree rats were affected much as they don't eat rodent bait like the chippers, rats and rabbits do.

I also have large Oak trees on my property and a large Pecan tree that overhangs my property from the neighboring property. I collect as many acorns and pecans as I can and place then in my kill zone. About a 5 gallon bucket of acorns and half that in pecans that fell on my property, plus putting out "chicken scratch" (cracked corn, wheat and barley) and a bird seed feeder, all in the kill zone at about 22-25 yards.

Mostly all I see at the feed area are Mourning Doves in the day time and a few wild birds. Rabbits at night with the occasional Possum (rarely a Skunk or a Racoon) and I won't shoot a Possum as they are not pests and are actually helpful. I also won't shoot a Racoon or Skunk because they don't present as pests, at least for now and at least for me.

I don't kill anything without good reason.

There are Coyotes that pass nearby, but I have never seen one in my yard and with only ~13fpe in .177, I would not try to shoot one anyway. Not a good chance of a clean kill.


 
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I know how you feel! I started shooting tree rats in March this year and once I got my impact 25 it's down right unfair. Then they simply don't come around anymore after #19 for 5+ months. Then 2 weeks ago 1 showed up and stared at me at 15 yards and got a real close look at a 177 CPHP pellet, I was stoked but now I'm back to NO tree rats. One of my neighbor is complaining that they are in their yard but they don't seem to come around to my yard. 
 
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I know your feeling! I started shooting tree rats in March this year and once I got my impact 25 it's down right now fair. Then they simply don't come around anymore for 5+ months. Then 2 weeks ago 1 showed up and stared at me at 15 yards and got a really close look at a 177 CPHP pellet, I was stoked but now I'm back to NO tree rats. One of my neighbor is complaining that they are in their yard but they don't seem to come around to my yard.
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I can tell the ones that I have missed from the new ones because I have to open a window, set up my rest (a step ladder... chuckle) and usually (these days anyway) lay on the floor (or nearly) so that I can shoot out the window usually at about a 60-65 degree angle up into the tree. The ones that have been around for a while (or I have already shot at and missed) are gone by the time I get setup, even though I can do it in less than about 20-30 seconds (maybe much less as I have never timed it...) . The "new" ones are sometimes still sitting there after all that, usually looking right at me and quartering for a perfect heart shot. I stopped trying for head shots. Too many times I had to do a follow up kill shot and that doesn't happen nearly as often with heart shots in .177/~12-13fpe.

My neighbor across the alley also has lots of Oak trees and I can usually see them in his trees even when they are not in mine. But lately, I don't even see them there. As I said, I think I have been very successful at eliminating a large number of the population in my area.

However, that does leave me (and the stray cats) with few targets. If I could sit at the window from dawn until dusk, I am sure I would have more chances, but that is impossible and ridiculous. I mean, I do have a life outside of AG pesting. Right? (chuckle)
 
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Sparrows are my prey, 10 Years ago I could shot 30 to 40 a day easy, Now there is just as many but a lot smarter , I am lucky to get 3 to 5 a day...

Mike
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I didn't realize that Sparrows were pests until I got into AGs. However, now that I know they are non-native pests, I simply don't see many of them on my property. I know I have seen a LOT of them in my life, but I am not sure where because now, I don't see many, if any, in my yard.

The only birds I have pested in the last 3 years are Starlings and Grackles... and that was purely out of boredom and the knowledge that both of them are pests. The number I have taken is insignificant... maybe 5 Starlings and about as many Grackles. They simply don't show up in my yard (my viable safe shooting/kill zone) in many numbers where I can shoot them as I have to be VERY aware of the possibility of pass-through, ricochet and general backstop should I miss.

Many is the time that I have waited over an hour for a pest to present itself with a safe shot, only to have it finally scurry away without ever presenting a safe shot. However, I am guilty of taking a fast shot that was not perfect simply because I had the backstop to prevent collateral damage to my neighbors. Shame on me, but I do make a clean kill on those shots over 70% of the time and eliminating the pests is actually the main goal. Dead is dead.
 
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https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2083201846
 
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Squirrels will make babies elsewhere and they will return if you have bird seed out. I popped 40+ one year and hardly saw another for the rest of that year. Next year they started coming back. I shot 30+ earlier this year then put the airguns away all summer as I turned to fishing. Recently I noticed 6 on my bird feeder so it is game on again.



I wouldn't shoot every single one. Leave a few for seed.
 
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Squirrels will make babies elsewhere and they will return if you have bird seed out. I popped 40+ one year and hardly saw another for the rest of that year. Next year they started coming back. I shot 30+ earlier this year then put the airguns away all summer as I turned to fishing. Recently I noticed 6 on my bird feeder so it is game on again.



I wouldn't shoot every single one. Leave a few for seed.
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I would like to do that except they do massive damage to roofs and I just installed solar panel(gonna walk funny for a while) so my yard is strictly no squirrel zone. 
 
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I know your feeling! I started shooting tree rats in March this year and once I got my impact 25 it's down right now fair. Then they simply don't come around anymore for 5+ months. Then 2 weeks ago 1 showed up and stared at me at 15 yards and got a really close look at a 177 CPHP pellet, I was stoked but now I'm back to NO tree rats. One of my neighbor is complaining that they are in their yard but they don't seem to come around to my yard.
Click to expand...


I can tell the ones that I have missed from the new ones because I have to open a window, set up my rest (a step ladder... chuckle) and usually (these days anyway) lay on the floor (or nearly) so that I can shoot out the window usually at about a 60-65 degree angle up into the tree.
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Sounds a little like me. I go into the bathroom and flip up the lid and seat, and stand on the toilet to shoot out the window.
 
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I know your feeling! I started shooting tree rats in March this year and once I got my impact 25 it's down right now fair. Then they simply don't come around anymore for 5+ months. Then 2 weeks ago 1 showed up and stared at me at 15 yards and got a really close look at a 177 CPHP pellet, I was stoked but now I'm back to NO tree rats. One of my neighbor is complaining that they are in their yard but they don't seem to come around to my yard.
Click to expand...


I can tell the ones that I have missed from the new ones because I have to open a window, set up my rest (a step ladder... chuckle) and usually (these days anyway) lay on the floor (or nearly) so that I can shoot out the window usually at about a 60-65 degree angle up into the tree.
Click to expand...

Sounds a little like me. I go into the bathroom and flip up the lid and seat, and stand on the toilet to shoot out the window.
Click to expand...


If I had to do that I am sure I would end up with at least one foot in the toilet! LOL! My bathroom "snipers nest" is not usable anymore as my new neighbor put up a privacy fence and eliminated that area for pesting along with my access to shooting more than ~35 yards.
 
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Oh well, at least you'll always have your range pretty close to zeroed in.

My bathroom shooting deal was awkward as heck to get going. I draped a camo cloth over the window I'd crouch down under while I slowly pulled the window sideways so an animal couldn't see the sound and motion was coming from a human, and then I had to craftily sneaky the long barrel up through the cloth and just barely enough of me to maneuver ... a big pain but it did seem to work very well.
 
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Over 3 years ago at a garage sale I purchased a Crosman 66 PumpMaster .177 for $5 bucks and put a $30 sniper scope on it. It sat the garage unused for 2 years. Squirrels had been an on going problem ruining our bird feeders. I got out the Crosman and my wife and I starting shooting the pests ( Range 10 yrds). We were tied a 7 each. Then I purchased a Gamo Urban .22 and a Bug Buster scope from AGD and an Ebay 4500psi pump. The last Pest was dispatched with the Gamo at 30 yrds, That is the last Squirrel we've seen in 6 mos.


 
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