Baiting For Rats, am I asking for trouble?

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N2 Shooter

N2 Shooter

Member
Oct 14, 2018
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Youngstown,OH, United States
Since I'm kinda bored, I was thinking about putting down some feed corn so I can do some rat shooting at my empty rental property at night. Is this a bad idea, or a nice way to have fun in the without having to go on public hunting grounds? I don't wanna have the rats get comfortable and try and set up residence! 😂

I am about to pull the trigger on an AEA HP Bullpup .25cal, and I'd like to turn the power all the way down and see how it performs for a ratting task?
 
I’ve been doing this for the last two years. 
I actually leave about a tea spoon full of bird seed in a specific spot in my basement. If it disappears. I know I’ll be hunting down there for the next few nights. 
I also have multiple locations around my yard that I regularly bait. 
The first year. I was having lots of fun with all the activity. But now. The nights are quite. 
Haha. The mice and rats never get a chance to get established. 

 
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Just make sure to put a light (IR or not) on the bait. That way you can see them and they are not spooked by it. The other thing is to aim a security camera on the spot so you don't have to constantly go look at it and possibly spook what is out there. That way you can record and find out when the rats actually go out there and go to your spot when you see them on your phone app. I use a wyze v3 only $29 plus the cost of a 32gb memory card. Then you load the app on your phone and click it when you want to see when and if they are out there.

Screenshot_20210414-212359_Wyze.1618460772.jpg

 
Upvote 0
Since I'm kinda bored, I was thinking about putting down some feed corn so I can do some rat shooting at my empty rental property at night. Is this a bad idea, or a nice way to have fun in the without having to go on public hunting grounds? I don't wanna have the rats get comfortable and try and set up residence! 😂

I am about to pull the trigger on an AEA HP Bullpup .25cal, and I'd like to turn the power all the way down and see how it performs for a ratting task?
Click to expand...

IMO be careful what you ask for. More than just rats are going to come to corn, and are you prepared to shoot everything that you baited in once it starts frequenting your property? Coons, squirrels, chipmunks, etc? If nothing is causing damage now, inviting so you can shoot it is kind of an ethical decision. Obviously nobody cares with rats/mice, kill them all!!! But chances are more than just that are going to come then you will have a real decision to make. 


 
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I’ve been doing this for the last two years. 
I actually leave about a tea spoon full of bird seed in a specific spot in my basement. If it disappears. I know I’ll be hunting down there for the next few nights. 
I also have multiple locations around my yard that I regularly bait. 
The first year. I was having lots of fun with all the activity. But now. The nights are quite. 
Haha. The mice and rats never get a chance to get established. 
Click to expand...

Good idea! Thanks!
 
Upvote 0
In my experience, the rats are already there (Just a matter of you coaxing them out). Problem with corn is they will grab a piece and scurry off to eat it out of view. Birdseed, canned cat food (shreds), or peanut butter will keep them at the bait station. An adjustable flashlight that gives just enough light to see the silhouette works well. Leave it on to get them used to the light. And make sure you have a good backstop. 
 
Upvote 0
Just make sure to put a light (IR or not) on the bait. That way you can see them and they are not spooked by it. The other thing is to aim a security camera on the spot so you don't have to constantly go look at it and possibly spook what is out there. That way you can record and find out when the rats actually go out there and go to your spot when you see them on your phone app. I use a wyze v3 only $29 plus the cost of a 32gb memory card. Then you load the app on your phone and click it when you want to see when and if they are out there.

Screenshot_20210414-212359_Wyze.1618460772.jpg
Click to expand...

I was gonna use my thermal scope, so no worries about spooking them. I have electricity at the property, but no internet, so I can't put a trail-cam that I can monitor remotely.😢
 
Upvote 0
In my experience, the rats are already there (Just a matter of you coaxing them out). Problem with corn is they will grab a piece and scurry off to eat it out of view. Birdseed, canned cat food (shreds), or peanut butter will keep them at the bait station. An adjustable flashlight that gives just enough light to see the silhouette works well. Leave it on to get them used to the light. And make sure you have a good backstop.
Click to expand...

That's a great tip for bait, thanks! I'm going to be shooting from a second floor window into my backyard, so it should be fairly easy to setup a few bait stations and backstops. I'll be using my thermal scope, so I can hunt them in absolute darkness.
 
Upvote 0
Since I'm kinda bored, I was thinking about putting down some feed corn so I can do some rat shooting at my empty rental property at night. Is this a bad idea, or a nice way to have fun in the without having to go on public hunting grounds? I don't wanna have the rats get comfortable and try and set up residence! 😂

I am about to pull the trigger on an AEA HP Bullpup .25cal, and I'd like to turn the power all the way down and see how it performs for a ratting task?
Click to expand...

IMO be careful what you ask for. More than just rats are going to come to corn, and are you prepared to shoot everything that you baited in once it starts frequenting your property? Coons, squirrels, chipmunks, etc? If nothing is causing damage now, inviting so you can shoot it is kind of an ethical decision. Obviously nobody cares with rats/mice, kill them all!!! But chances are more than just that are going to come then you will have a real decision to make. 

Click to expand...

That is a good point.

I hope a racoon comes, because I have a particular distain for those bandits. I do have to figure out what to do about other critters (like groundhogs and squirrels) showing up and clearing out my bait station before nightfall. 😧
 
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One thing to remember about rats is they will test food before really eating. In other words, a rat will come to the food( bait) grab a quick taste and return if it is ok. The other rats will smell the food on their breath and will come to feed on whatever you put out. If you want to have more rats to shoot, let the first one eat and return, then start shooting. It will alert the other rats that the food or bait is good to go and others will follow. Also you may even see other rats feeding on the dead ones! Gnarly but true. Peanut butter is gold btw.
 
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Here's a shocking example of how some rats are cannibalistic carnivores! Don't worry I got even for the abusive mutilation that big rat did to the corpse. Notice how it stalked its prey and then viciously pounced. I have a lot of experience on the proper bait, use bird seed for outdoor rats. It is readily eaten, more so than all other baits I have tried. If you want a lot of them let them eat for 3 or more days. They will tell their friends where the banquet is.

download.png



 
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As stated above by 5n23..."In my experience, the rats are already there (Just a matter of you coaxing them out)."

Definitely true here.

I bait with creamy peanut butter and chocolate syrup drizzled on top, it works. Also have a red LED overhead, you have thermal, and a doorbell camera that sends alerts to my phone...... live streaming, video on demand. Easy.

Here's one I got a few months back.

The creamy and gooey bait is best as they HAVE TO STAY for a bit versus running off with "To-Go" food... it has to be a 'sit-down' meal. I do it differently than BlackICE but still effective. If I were to use bird seed it would be in a vegetable oil soup and will try that soon. Thanks BlackICE!





https://youtu.be/Vz2HboQ-tU8




 
Upvote 0
Here's a shocking example of how some rats are cannibalistic carnivores! Don't worry I got even for the abusive mutilation that big rat did to the corpse. Notice how it stalked its prey and then viciously pounced. I have a lot of experience on the proper bait, use bird seed for outdoor rats. It is readily eaten, more so than all other baits I have tried. If you want a lot of them let them eat for 3 or more days. They will tell their friends where the banquet is.

download.png


Click to expand...

Dude, that's a really good video! It pounced, then I think chewed through the neck and kept eating. Wow. I've seen them be cannibals here too and have occassionally left a body there for bait.
 
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I didn't have much luck with peanut butter they avoided it on the traps. I only caught one with peanut butter. It's 100% with bird seeds they always eat it upon first sight. Also with peanut butter and other sugary baits attract more ants than rats and they spoil quickly. Seeds you can leave out there for weeks or months and they're still good. 
 
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