Thread: Humane dispatch of possums

Just something i'll have to get over then i suppose.
As for the shooting, look i'm new ish okay? I'm well aware i'm not a marksman yet but the vast majority of time when i aim for the head i hit it. But sometimes i don't, we all have slip ups. Telling me to shoot better isn't helpful. I'm working on it, can't make it go any faster.

It’s ok Angus fairly sure that comment was tongue in cheek.
Keep practicing you will be fine.

A few years back we had trailer issues and needed to change our 1 7/8" tow ball to a 50mm one, but it was stuck hard and the leatherman was missing the correct attachment, anyway I was standing on the back of the ute when my mate had a bright idea and grabbed the nearest possum by the tail and started swinging it in large circles as he walked towards the ute.
He suggested "a few hits should free up the tow ball" when the furry little hammer started to impact the 1 7/8" steel ball a strange sticky red liquid landed on me shortly after each swing.
Sadly the possum must have eaten some 1080 or something as he appeared quite sick afterwards.
Unfortunately that tow ball must have been dipped in the tide every weekend, as even a half dozen solid whacks and it still would not budge!

We tried a few other questionable techniques but were unable to change tow balls, the poor possum didn't recover from his sickness either. RIP.

If you know a possum that really is suffering and wants to end it all then suggest they try a little green carrot or two, it seemed to work quite quick from what we saw.

Originally Posted by dannyb

You wanna try stickng them rather than putting another slug in em or knocking them over the head, bugger that if there still kicking they can do some damage I'd rather not put my hand anywhere near em

Yes, there is the expression. "Playing possum". ...

A 1 foot long nylon hammer won't weigh you down. Smash to the skull anaesthetises and kills. Good way to go when it's your time.

Good thread to start.

And if you can shoot a springer airgun well, then you can shoot.

Angus, two things. 1) when you shoot do you allow for the distance that the scope is above the barrel ?? - If they are close the bullet will strike around 35 to 40 mm below where you put the crosshairs, so brushing the top of the head with the crosshairs puts the bullet between the eyes. If you don't allow for this but put the cross between the eyes the bullet will strike the throat / neck
2) The only possum donger to have is a 450mm length of steel electrical conduit pipe with a bolt or piece of rod 100 mm long slipped inside one end and welded there. Make a PVC scabbard to hang off your belt. The donger is light but very weight forward meaning it can hit much faster than a hammer. Grab them by the tail and give them a quick whack across the base of the ear - curtains everytime

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Angus, two things. 1) when you shoot do you allow for the distance that the scope is above the barrel ?? - If they are close the bullet will strike around 35 to 40 mm below where you put the crosshairs, so brushing the top of the head with the crosshairs puts the bullet between the eyes. If you don't allow for this but put the cross between the eyes the bullet will strike the throat / neck
2) The only possum donger to have is a 450mm length of steel electrical conduit pipe with a bolt or piece of rod 100 mm long slipped inside one end and welded there. Make a PVC scabbard to hang off your belt. The donger is light but very weight forward meaning it can hit much faster than a hammer. Grab them by the tail and give them a quick whack across the base of the ear - curtains everytime

I have been allowing for that yep. Trigger control is my enemy at the mo, when i mess up a shot it's generally me pulling it left or right. I have an old table leg i filled with lead shot in one end which does the job, just don't enjoy it. Might give your pipe idea a go, need some welding practice anyways.

Originally Posted by Angus_A

Just something i'll have to get over then i suppose.
As for the shooting, look i'm new ish okay? I'm well aware i'm not a marksman yet but the vast majority of time when i aim for the head i hit it. But sometimes i don't, we all have slip ups. Telling me to shoot better isn't helpful. I'm working on it, can't make it go any faster.

@Angus_A my remarks were made in jest mate.

I am however a big advocate of practice, a simple steel walking target or resettable can be purchased from trademe and offers hours of fun if you aim small and have somewhere to shoot.

The other thing to try is moving up in cal. The 17M2 offers substantially more power and the terminal ballistics are pretty impressive.

Good luck.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/sports/hun...69a9efe38ed958

You can buy a nice " priest" from the fishing shop or make one as above, I keep one in my boat for trout, hurts like hell if you hit your finger, so be careful, I use a second shot for the wounded, just make sure it ain't lying on something like a rock! Cost of a second shot is your penalty for not killing outright. When I was about your age I shot a hare and decided to kick it out of its misery, it was extremely cruel and I've remembered all these years, make it quick and final!

twigs and branches can mess up a .22 I moved up to buck shot for a laugh once.... pruned the tree and the possum in one shot!
made for an expensive night though....

My MAE suppressor has teeth marks in it, I like keeping my fingers. Another round in the head is my solution if they (rarely) make it to the ground alive.

Angus, I'm assuming you're using an air rifle for all the previously mentioned/discussed reasons.

It occurs to me that the choice of pellet for hunting might be a factor. I don't know enough about what's available to comment, but it might pay to take a close look at what you're zapping your tree rats with.

Two Staffordshire Bull Terriers waiting at the bottom of the tree is an effective method to ensure minimal suffering... Tends to result in partially pucked possums though.

Sorry. Now Angus I get what you’re saying, the cosh / priest is a standard issue tool for this kind of work and you shouldn’t really be operating without one. But as we know possums are nasty critters, and a welding glove or similar is an advisable item to wear when handling wounded and angry possums, see below. Grab ‘em under the shoulders around the rib cage, hold them upside down, one sharp thwack to the back of the head with the cosh, job done.

Now there is an alternative to this and that is to spear them. Sounds OTT I know but it works. You can make a stabbing spear out of all sorts of material, trick is to ensure you have a decent handle with which to control the positioning of the point and to apply adequate pressure. I have an electric fence pigtail post here with a very sharp end, it is perfect for the job.

All the user has to do is press firmly on the handle end and push the point through the possums’s neck all the way through the spine and into the ground. It is all over in a second. No handling, no yukkie noises, no struggling, quick and easy.

Having been bitten by a possum and ended up in Thames A&E with a nasty finger infection that started to move down through the hand into the wrist with accompanying pain and bad smell, it is strongly advised not to get bitten in the first place.

Ball-peen hammer.

Wouldn't want to get scratched or bitten by the dirty little feckers...

Originally Posted by Flyblown

Two Staffordshire Bull Terriers waiting at the bottom of the tree is an effective method to ensure minimal suffering... Tends to result in partially pucked possums though.

Sorry. Now Angus I get what you’re saying, the cosh / priest is a standard issue tool for this kind of work and you shouldn’t really be operating without one. But as we know possums are nasty critters, and a welding glove or similar is an advisable item to wear when handling wounded and angry possums, see below. Grab ‘em under the shoulders around the rib cage, hold them upside down, one sharp thwack to the back of the head with the cosh, job done.

Now there is an alternative to this and that is to spear them. Sounds OTT I know but it works. You can make a stabbing spear out of all sorts of material, trick is to ensure you have a decent handle with which to control the positioning of the point and to apply adequate pressure. I have an electric fence pigtail post here with a very sharp end, it is perfect for the job.

All the user has to do is press firmly on the handle end and push the point through the possums’s neck all the way through the spine and into the ground. It is all over in a second. No handling, no yukkie noises, no struggling, quick and easy.

Having been bitten by a possum and ended up in Thames A&E with a nasty finger infection that started to move down through the hand into the wrist with accompanying pain and bad smell, it is strongly advised not to get bitten in the first place.

One Andy McNab novel the main character arms himself with a rubber mallet and takes on a group of thugs. He makes a note the mallet is better than a hammer ... does not get stuck in skulls so immediately available for reapplication to the next thug in line. Not sure how that applies to opossum dispatches, but just throwing it in.

Use a knife. It need not be large. Put your foot on the poor thing and slit it from the sternum (push the knife in where you would stick a pig) up to the "V" in the jaw. Its very quick and easy. Don't muck around - slam your hoof on it and thrust and slit deeply in one movement.

This method severs main arteries and is very quick and easy. Its based on where the arteries run, which I understand are at an angle across the neck rather than up and down it.

Its an old time trappers method - shown to me 60 years ago - and I've done it all my life.