Thread: Bird Predator Control

Originally Posted by Kiwi-Hunter

Wind made it hard going! missing standing shots last night, so went bipod which helps, but after up and down a few times the body new it wasn't young. The night vision from ground shooting wasn't the best because the eye relief wasn't the same.
Nevertheless manage to bag up something for the effort.
KH

@stug showed me a neat idea for standing shots the other day, hopefully will chime in here shortly to share

Originally Posted by StrikerNZ

Grab yourself some shooting sticks. Quick and easy to drop to a knee behind them, and very stable for short and mid ranges.

Yes, thanks for the thought, I have a mono and another type as well, still not stable in the wind for me.
Thought the sleathpodx might be ago, but hands are full with stick,monocular and rifle which is slung around the neck now, still find I am chopping and changing in the dark for comfort and position.
I was finding it hard to judge distance and wind rocking me last night and needed a good platform to shoot from and even then! just getting by.
I do okay for the amount of body damage but it gives limitations and sometimes more than others.
I was happy enough with the out come! but can I find something that will help? It's the season of life I am in. Whatever will work only has a limited time with me at the end of the day, as they say! Whoever they are.
KH

Make yourself a set of quad sticks. Really steady for standing shots. Plenty of vids on YouTube about them. One vid shows the difference between different types of sticks. I’ll try and find it.

Here is the vid

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zj3cLEP74FM

Originally Posted by stug

Here is the vid

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zj3cLEP74FM

Thanks stug.
What they don't show is lugging them and setup and the rabbit at 50 to 75yrds in the dark is difficult shoot with no light.
Second is my hold is about the even with trigger guard or mag which doesn't help to stabilize the rifle the best.
I'll take a look to find what weight they are and other videos on them to see how they go ! going down a bank that sort of thing.
I perfect conditions I can still do some fair shooting off a bench, but that's not what we find in most hunting.
KH

yes the ping pong ball is purely a visual thing....but Ive caught enough hedgehogs and mustilids to proove they work...particularly for a lazy bugger who doesnt check traps often enough.

2 for the week 1 to a cage the other the Steve Allen and a few hedgehogs to various things all to freshish rabbit

Yes, for the rabbit.
KH

Originally Posted by Kiwi-Hunter

Thanks stug.
What they don't show is lugging them and setup and the rabbit at 50 to 75yrds in the dark is difficult shoot with no light.
Second is my hold is about the even with trigger guard or mag which doesn't help to stabilize the rifle the best.
I'll take a look to find what weight they are and other videos on them to see how they go ! going down a bank that sort of thing.
I perfect conditions I can still do some fair shooting off a bench, but that's not what we find in most hunting.
KH

@Kiwi-Hunter yep carry the sticks around is a bit of a pain but they are solid to shot of.
There’s one with a foot loop that you put your right foot and then pull back this gives you a very steady shot (for right handlers left foot for left handlers) but once you start useing them you will find them great as you can take longer shots. Also less misses. Yes you do need to practice with them but once you get the hang of them (15 to 30 minutes) you won’t leave them at home.

Hopefully someone is always going to work.
Some days you ask the question how long do I do this for? well the answer seems to be !enjoy the season your in.
That's it ! the season isn't a natural season! it's worked out in the course of ones life.
One day,the wind blows or the tide brings change and the season is over and something new begins to unfold.
To all who work at predator control. Cheers for making an effort.
KH

Great work on the cats Guys - I don’t know how cats get into a doc250 - this one at the Park was a real mess to get out - next victim was a hog - same messy problem
Good size family groups of Quail around the Park now - 45 less hogs has made a big difference - I saw one family of about sixty and one of about 20 this morning while driving up the main track
I did a small line today - couple of juvenile rats and a large hog - the rats will be back soon

Timeout, you should know how a cat gets into a doc box, someone left the door open.
KH

If its hungry or inquisitive it's going to poke around and you just end up with results.
KH

Nothing scientific here just my observations...
I cleared my high country traps today and thankfully the Christmas rush of stoats into the traps has subsided. Whenever i have got a fresh stoat i have always sqeezed its back end to get a bit of wee on the trap, chucked the stoat away and carried on. Today i carried it further so to speak. My process is now..reset the trap, cut the tail off on the trap lid, stoat goes into a strong heavy walled plastic bag nose to the bottom of the bag and bum end just out of the bag. Squeeze with the flat of your knife between the stoats legs until a bit of wee spills on the trap lid. Next trap, replace bait trap lid down and knife between Sammy stoats legs and press until a bit of wee comes out, wipe his butt around on lid, repeat next traps until Sam runs out of liquid. I reckon i got 4 or 5 traps done that way per stoat. My mantra is nothing attracts a stoat like another stoat. When i have stayed overnight in the high country and have checked my traps the first day and have caught a stoat and squeezed the stoat that day so many times i have caught a stoat the next night in that same trap. I have always just squeezed the stoat the once but never carried it to the next few traps.. will be interesting to see if it ups my catch rate ? Thoughts please...

Great work SHS - we all learn heaps of good stuff by sharing experiences with each other - that is how this thread started with help from @Kiwi-Hunter
The dead body, body parts and the last few pees from a predator is a powerful lure to the next predator whether it be the same or different animal type
If I am free mounting traps in the bush or around the farm - I like to use a ramp or fence post stay - the dead rat pee runs down the ramp to attract the next predator
Rats seem to love chewing out or dragging off the last rat in a trap - but they can’t always get the head and trap past the mesh - so many rats are cannibals and stoats seem to check out rat pee or the scent of his family members caught in a trap box - I so often hear people say they got a stoat then got the rest of the family
I always leave a dead rat on a trap box or near the trap - it is a powerful lure to get the next one
Some pics below of a rat infested site - started with chewed out body parts so wasn’t sure if it was a stoat or rat - but it turned out to be a large rat that couldn’t quite get his head out of a trap - but he was still alive
These pics are from 2017 so have been on here earlier