What do you do when you have "pested" all of the pests?[haven't had any movement in a while/ no longer a hot spot]....
Please indulge me
View attachment 20220904_194501.heic
Please indulge me
View attachment 20220904_194501.heic
What to do...
- Thread starter iAMzehTOASTY1
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Switch to paper, get even better, and wait for the pests to forget their place and start coming back.
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SO Cal here and we will have near freezing weather tonight...have not seen a squirrel in weeks.....be jan before they appear I reckon.
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I will never ever disagree with Squirlfugger57, but I will add to his great advice. 
I say, get a hunting license. There is a satisfaction with protecting your property from damage from pest, and believe me, I do a mighty bit of pesting. But there is a whole other level of satisfaction when it comes to hunting for food, especially if you do so on public lands. I got my first squirrel on public lands this year, after having 3 years of several outings, but no success, and I have never been as satisfied in my adult life since the day I got married!
This achievement made me feel like a true hunter, and I can't wait until my vacation next week so I can get out and add some rabbits to the pot too!
I say, get a hunting license. There is a satisfaction with protecting your property from damage from pest, and believe me, I do a mighty bit of pesting. But there is a whole other level of satisfaction when it comes to hunting for food, especially if you do so on public lands. I got my first squirrel on public lands this year, after having 3 years of several outings, but no success, and I have never been as satisfied in my adult life since the day I got married!
This achievement made me feel like a true hunter, and I can't wait until my vacation next week so I can get out and add some rabbits to the pot too!
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work on the guns, its what all the cool kids do lol .. trust me, you havent pested all the pests .. the trick is having your game ironed out to the point you have a rapid and effective response when that really nasty pest does pop up .. i have chickens and garden occasionally, its not a game when something is after your stuff and costing you ..
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Do you set out any bait for the pests? Trust me, you get the right food, they will magically appear again.
I won't see a tree rat for weeks and then I start leaving out a pile of nuts on the shooting post, usually within an hour I have one show up. Definitely by the end of the day. They can smell fresh pecans and walnuts from a mile away!
Can also use peanut butter, that'll get regular rats sometimes too.
Birds, just gotta deal with it. During winter they migrate or hunker down to conserve body heat and energy.
I won't see a tree rat for weeks and then I start leaving out a pile of nuts on the shooting post, usually within an hour I have one show up. Definitely by the end of the day. They can smell fresh pecans and walnuts from a mile away!
Can also use peanut butter, that'll get regular rats sometimes too.
Birds, just gotta deal with it. During winter they migrate or hunker down to conserve body heat and energy.
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They'll return. I got back into airguns because of pest squirrels, chipmunks, and birds were destroying our yard and belongings. (it's amazing the damage a chipper can do when sucked into the turbo charger of your car) During the appropriate seasons, I shot them without mercy. The starlings I left in a pile for the others to learn from. There was a 2 year period when no starlings, squirrels, or chippers were to be seen in my yard. I took to driving an hour south to my sister's farm to eradicate the pigeons, starlings, and rats that were in the feed. Those targets also dried up after so many trips. That's when I put my old .22 Marlin 70 up and started hunting with my airguns. Two years later, the chipmunks returned with a vengeance, so did the squirrels. It wasn't unusual to see more than a dozen squirrels in the yard at the same time. The starlings returned, but only when the snow was deep and they needed our feeders to survive. Even then, the numbers were minimal.
The pic is a session of pesting in the backyard. I left them on the deck until the wife complained, but the others got the message.
The pic is a session of pesting in the backyard. I left them on the deck until the wife complained, but the others got the message.
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I feel your pain, same thing happened here. Last year I waited for re-population from the previous year of 75 or so squirrels and so left them alone last year. This year 5 and that was it. Paper it is till I find a new spot.
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If something is a pest and that’s how you justify killing it, how can you miss them? That’s like missing having cancer. If you don’t know what to do if you can’t be recreationally killing little things, I don’t know what to tell you. Punch paper like the rest of us do I guess. Test some stuff or settings.
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The only way I can see all the pest gone in the yard? Would be if I treated 95% of the critters in my yard as pests. I don’t eat squirrels, not yet anyway. So they get a pass, unless caught actually being pests. Same birds I kill without mercy at the farm? I give them a pass in my yard. Because of this I live in a target rich environment. I plink a lot on any given session I can easily bag a half dozen squirrels… lucky for them my Jack Russell actually keeps them safe by keeping them away from the house.
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I've been hunting my whole life. Just a few years ago got into pesting bc of my residency. Only able to "hunt" a few animals here with pellet slingers.I will never ever disagree with Squirlfugger57, but I will add to his great advice.
I say, get a hunting license. There is a satisfaction with protecting your property from damage from pest, and believe me, I do a mighty bit of pesting. But there is a whole other level of satisfaction when it comes to hunting for food, especially if you do so on public lands. I got my first squirrel on public lands this year, after having 3 years of several outings, but no success, and I have never been as satisfied in my adult life since the day I got married!
This achievement made me feel like a true hunter, and I can't wait until my vacation next week so I can get out and add some rabbits to the pot too!
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just wondering I test everyday. Paper targets, spinners, bottle caps, etc..... And I don't miss my cancer[yes I had it]
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Toasty,
I feel your agony.
Tough times we live in.
• No critters to kill.
• Add to that the coup d'état we just had an hour ago in Peru.
• And the fear that the gubermint will confiscate all weapons.... (nope, no 2A in country of the Inkas....).
• And since the pandemic a 500ct tin of JSB's costs $30 to $40....
Tough times....
(No kidding about killing critters: It gives me a depression to see my critter count following the economy's steep recession.)
Matthias
I feel your agony.
Tough times we live in.
• No critters to kill.
• Add to that the coup d'état we just had an hour ago in Peru.
• And the fear that the gubermint will confiscate all weapons.... (nope, no 2A in country of the Inkas....).
• And since the pandemic a 500ct tin of JSB's costs $30 to $40....
Tough times....
(No kidding about killing critters: It gives me a depression to see my critter count following the economy's steep recession.)
Matthias
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