Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Air Guns Shooting feral krats with a pellet gun....

I am four for four on feral krats using my Beeman R9 .20 cal., but I am nervous. I've got two more feral field lions coming onto the porch stealing food from and rerrorizing my wife's two domestic pussies (no pun intended ). I can't afford to have these next two victims make it off the property wounded. The other four that I capped, I shot right behind the shoulder, pretty much mid-heighth in the chest cavity. Is there a better aim point for a 100% sure kill on krats? I could go for a head shot, but I am worried about getting precise placement in forehad or ear and also worried about a deflection off the skull that only wounds.

Any reassurances from you professional krat killers is appeciated.


Jordan

Head shot is the only sure thing. Works for me. But then I have a 700 fps .177

I like a full frontal chest shot when I can get it. Alot of it depends on what the krat is giving you. Other thing is, I think I need to paper my rifle at the distance I'll be shooting so I know my exact point of aim (I am planning an elaborate ambush so I will be shooting from a known distance---at least on one krat).

Jordan

Drop the pellet gun. Get a Winchester model 67 and CCI CB Shorts. Quieter too.

I went the other way with this "problem". Using an HW30 and CPHP .177 pellets I'm trying to train the krats to stay the hell out of my yard. I try to stick with body shots whenever possible. Most of the culprits only take one hit to get the message but I have one critter that is either really brave or really stupid and I'm afraid the HW95 is going to be the only thing he understands.

Get a live trap and take it for a ride.

Krats can be tough, whenever you have doubts in hunting, head shots at close range are the best bet. I would look at using heavy grained pointed pellets or domes, although I have had good luck with shock value using flat heads on small birds.

I second the live trap.
No pellet rifle is 100% for killing them quick enough to prevent their running off

I used a 22 cal pellet gun to send some not-feral-enough skunks to skunk heaven. Single shot to the head and they died about as quickly as could be expected. Can't imagine cat skull more difficult.

Cats eye orbits in skull very large, bone behind them relatively delicate.

The rod and gun club I belong to has a cat. Booger, she is called. A few of the neighboring barn cats have tried to move in on Booger and have needed dealing with. One got into the kitchen. This was a tiger looking cat a good 50% bigger than our kitty and it was in a full bore hissing fight. My friend got a .22 out of his truck with these little Aguila rounds. Small, subsonic bullets and he took aim and bounced one off the cat. He fired #2 and #3 and bounced both off the cat as it ran around the building after Booger. I went to my truck and got a .22 short CB round and gave it to him. He loaded it, shot the cat in the shoulder, and it rolled over dead. Stone dead. That was an eye opener to me! I killed a big possum when I was a kid with a CB. I forgot how powerful they really are up close!

I beg to differ here, Benjamim 25cal Marauder is a sure thing with head or body shots, also took many down with my 22 Maurauder too. Im fact with about 37 taken so far this year non ran off, flipped around a little but never went anywhere. I prefer the 25cal over the 22cal but either will do just fine.

used live traps too but the only ride they got was to the pool, after about 10 mins just throw them onto the highway and look mom road kill

My pellet gun shoots a small handful of #2s. Works like a charm.

Sorry, TLee. They bees eatin on my game birds.

As long as they run off & don't return, I don't care. I've tried the "live trap" method & the local cats ain't having nothing to do with them...I think they've been trapped & dumped before...damn "cat lady" three houses down from me, leaves food out on her back porch, which attracts not only all the cats in the area, but coons, skunks & opossums as well. I actually like cats but I don't like them crapping in my flower beds & garden or marking territory in my yard. I don't let my dogs run the neighborhood & neither should my neighbors with cats....

It almost sounds like we live in the same neighborhood!

The cat lady had so many running around the neighborhood that these feral cats actually started attracting natural predators. We had a couple of black bear sightings. Coyote's walking down the street in broad daylight. Within a year these predators (with the help of a couple of motor vehicles) have nearly depleted the colony of cats. I'll never look at a coyote with disdain again.

Dan

I have 100% score on swimming lessons in the luxurious confines of my live trap.

If they make it home and the owner has an idea who shot it, you could end up with huge Vet bills and possible animal cruelty charges.

With a trap that can't happen, and it works 27/7

Snyder...interesting point. How would they prove it was you if your are not seen or heard? The level of evidence can be easier to process in civil court, but again if you are a good liar and they don't have the rifle to match bullet to the rifling how would they know?

We had some cases here in Texas of guys shooting their neighbor's dogs and got convicted, but they were seen and heard doing it. Another option is to use a pellet rifle that will use BB's, as this will not leave rifling marks for use as evidence, unlike a lead pellet. I have had good luck with slingshots, but I don't recall those actually hurting anything, just annoying the target and making them move on.

In NY shooting a dog is a felony. You can't even destroy you're old sick dog. Feral cats are more of a gray area. If the cat lady claims them as her's because she was feeding them then those cats may be considered a felony. Either way not worth shooting in NY anymore.

A tape recorded coyote call is a different story though...

Dan

Rob,

You will be wasting your time for shooting feral cats. This is not an effective and lasting solution for the "problem" that some have with ferals. In our area and in several others across the United States, there are groups [one that I was personally involved with] that will come out to your place of residence and deal with the cats for you. This is not quick, but it will be the only lasting solution.

We would set traps in the area and eventually catch all the cats of that particular feral colony. We then took them in to be spayed or neutered at one of the low cost clinics set up for this type of thing [the group often foots the bill if the vet charges anything]. The cats are tatooed or otherwise marked on their ears so we know which ones have been done. From there, we establish one individual who will feed the colony and take ownership. The best is for the colony to stay where it is, but there are some times when they need to be moved. I have printed material on this, statistics, and I am happy to share it. It has been proven over and over that shooting is not an effective way to deal with the "problem" long term due to the rate that cats multiply.

I hope this helps. ~sherri