Help / tips with Possum shooting

True what you say about scope magnification Ultimitsu, I also use more powerful scopes than most for possum, rabbit and pest birds. I’ve never got on with fixed power scopes and definitely not open sights in poor light. A good scope with a nice smooth and lightweight turn on the magnification ring is what’s required, so you can hold the possum in the field of view with your left hand controlling the rifle and right hand adjusting the scope (assuming you’re a rightie). Increase the magnification too early and you’ll never find the possum!

go after em when theres a horny breeding doe about -the bucks make a hell of a racket as they scrap for her favours-shine a torch on em and theyllsnarl right back!.22delivers a nice terminal blowjob.me old landlord had a dairy farm and manys the night me and the corgi on willows patrol did just that.he hsaid his wife complained the kids wouldnt sleep due to the jackos racket -seems evewrtime i saw her she was pregnant so i wonder.
actually shot 4 one afternoon cause of the horny doe.all within 20 mof the cowshed.broad daylight -doe horny 3 bucks wanting to get end away -me party pooper!
fruit trees -the buggers luv em-old orchards are another site to explore.
yup shot one up a pine tree once -5x.22 under the chin-wouldnt come down till.303 chainsaw was deployed-skull like an empty eggshell-the nervous system in response to fataltrauma locked his claws to the branch.

killing -when bro and i trapped we had a lump of rimu with a knot in it -studded with lead head nails.didnt stop one old doe from opening up my hand with a slashing rear leg
those claws are letha.
our other weapon-the trusty tomahawk- smack between the ears usually instant death.

12g shotty-saw one shot in mum&dads washhouse with a 12g at less than a foot range-both barrells(uncle a little pissed)roareds -massive hole in roof .dad shot a few who ventured into the garage whilst he was cutting kindling .
me i want to line a snarling buck up and let loose with a 3"no2 34gm steel load-its the ultimate contraceptive.

Using Thermal Hand held and finishing off with Maxtoch or Olight torch mounted a top of scope with quick release weaver rail
Amazing how many Possums you see that you wont see with light, and Rats - bloody little beggars are everywhere up in the trees

What .22 ammo you chaps find best
I using the CCI hollow - getting a lot of ricochet and most Possums need a couple as I am to blind and poor a shot now to go for head shots :-(

Angus uses segmented sub. But you could try Winchester power points or see if there is a higher grain 22 bullet than 42 grains I commonly see

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Originally Posted by kotuku

12g shotty-saw one shot in mum&dads washhouse with a 12g at less than a foot range-both barrells(uncle a little pissed)roareds -massive hole in roof .dad shot a few who ventured into the garage whilst he was cutting kindling .
me i want to line a snarling buck up and let loose with a 3"no2 34gm steel load-its the ultimate contraceptive.

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Yup shotguns work well.
What else works well is a rossi 357 L/A 16" barrel with 125gr hollowpoints.
Love that little gun and carried it everywhere. Nailed a possum one night looking down on me from not very far (open sights so a PITA).
Aimed just under his chin, Boom, cloud of smoke and fluff and possum gone with the patter of falling bits in the trees.
Mate went back the next day to get all the shot ones for dog tucker. He found this one its ears were about 8 inches apart.

I'm amazed that a CCI sub HP to the chest doesn't always cause a possum to fall out of a tree. You would have thought that 80 - 100ftlb energy would do the trick.

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Originally Posted by Sarvo

Using Thermal Hand held

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Which one do you use Sarvo?

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Originally Posted by MightyBoosh

I'm amazed that a CCI sub HP to the chest doesn't always cause a possum to fall out of a tree. You would have thought that 80 - 100ftlb energy would do the trick.

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It kills eventually which is good enough pest control but it has to be head or neck for my subs to do a quick kill.

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winchester dyna point was always the pill I used for possums.one blew a hole in a bucks ribcage almost half as big as palm of my hand .getting showered in guts&blood earned neither dog nor me brownie points with missus.rabitammo wasanother bloody lethal load in me old stirling and me toz.
avoid remington subs at all costs -i found em inconsistent and almost ballerina like the way the skipped to meet the possum.
CCIs would sometimes blow up spectacularly others go right through like a getaway driver on a chch motorway!!

Thank you for all the input / tips and stories guys, my young fella and I have had a few laughs over these. We have bought a proper spot light and are heading out again this weekend so I will report back and try to remember to take a photo.

In regards to open sights, he seems to manage just fine and from a standing position off hand he can head shot them no problem (the advange of being 12 years old I guess). He wears a head torch and we have painted white dots with nail varnish on the sights to help. The advantage over a scope is that he doesnt need to take his eye off them. We are using CCi sub sonics.

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Originally Posted by MightyBoosh

Which one do you use Sarvo?

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XP28
Magnification starts on 1.4x which is good for close range finding

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Originally Posted by Sarvo

What .22 ammo you chaps find best
I using the CCI hollow - getting a lot of ricochet and most Possums need a couple as I am to blind and poor a shot now to go for head shots :-(

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I only use CCI Hollow point sub-sonic. It has the same accuracy and trajectory as CCI standard velocity, which I shoot all the time. it is reasonably accurate, and reliable. I tried CCI mini-mag, it works excellently, but it is too loud being supersonic, even with a suppressor. If I am to put up with noise, I simply go with 17HMR, which gives me more range, flatter shot, and more killing power. Cost difference for hunting is negligible.

I have used various round-noised target bullets like CCI standard velocity and SK standard plus, they just do not kill as well as Hollow Point.

I have tried some other hollow point subs likes of Kilwell etc, they do not perform better than CCI and usually more expensive.

I have a brick of PMX which is not accurate enough, therefore to me it is a waste of a trip if I used them.

All other supersonic hollow points are not accurate enough to warrant use and too loud anyway.

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Originally Posted by Ultimitsu

I only use CCI Hollow point sub-sonic. It has the same accuracy and trajectory as CCI standard velocity, which I shoot all the time. it is reasonably accurate, and reliable. I tried CCI mini-mag, it works excellently, but it is too loud being supersonic, even with a suppressor. If I am to put up with noise, I simply go with 17HMR, which gives me more range, flatter shot, and more killing power. Cost difference for hunting is negligible.

I have used various round-noised target bullets like CCI standard velocity and SK standard plus, they just do not kill as well as Hollow Point.

I have tried some other hollow point subs likes of Kilwell etc, they do not perform better than CCI and usually more expensive.

I have a brick of PMX which is not accurate enough, therefore to me it is a waste of a trip if I used them.

All other supersonic hollow points are not accurate enough to warrant use and too loud anyway.

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Thats good to hear becuase the CCi hollow point is the only ammo we have tried so we will stick with that.

Out of interest do peple wear hearing protection with sub sonic ? I am normally very strict with the young fella and the rifle is NOT suppressed but it shoots them very quiet, might be something to do with the 24 inch barrel ? It would'nt be the same walking around at night with ear plugs !

winchester power point are my go to loads...in subsonics always liked the 40grn till tried the 42s...they even more emphatic.... re open sights they are great if your eyes are up to it,what I used to do was sit possums nose on top of bead with eyes inside the v and 90% of them copped it between the eyes....chest shooting works fine too with decent hollow points,try for the ginger spot between front legs up to throat ... man on light should stand BEHIND shooter if using open sights so light is on possum but perifial light is on sights (holy smoke batman thats 2 big wheelbarrow words so far) dont be afraid to fire 2nd shot into head of supposedly dead possum if you think its not dead when you pick it up and does will scratch for ages if the joey is still in pouch..take them out and stomp on them to ensure they dead....with 2 people one holds rear legs of doe and other can remove joey the doe stops clawing...dont know how this works with a animal that should be dead but seen it often enough to believe it.
forget hearing protection..24" barrel with subs will be quiet enough and long barrel puts it away out there anyway. suppressors for .22 are cheap and $60 to thread isnt much fur to pluck.

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Originally Posted by Pete_D

Thats good to hear becuase the CCi hollow point is the only ammo we have tried so we will stick with that.

Out of interest do peple wear hearing protection with sub sonic ? I am normally very strict with the young fella and the rifle is NOT suppressed but it shoots them very quiet, might be something to do with the 24 inch barrel ? It would'nt be the same walking around at night with ear plugs !

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If I am using sub sonics with a suppressor then not really. Sometimes if the possum stays in the light I'll put ear plugs in.

But with shotgun always ear plugs at the very least.

As mentioned above. A 22 suppressor is very cheap. 90 bucks or less. Threading 1/2 x 20 is cheap too. It's worth it as it won't scare possums or other pests too




Anyone tried eley subs? My CCI are ok. I haven't tried a group with them so will next time I am at the range.

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

winchester power point are my go to loads...in subsonics always liked the 40grn till tried the 42s

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@Micky Duck
I was going to ask the same thing tonight. My goto ammo was Winchester subs-always awesome and worked-they just worked-interchangeable with the kilwell stuff
high velocity was Winchester power points in the red packet-funnily enough interchangeable with PMC zappers. They didn't look the same but they shot the same to the same point of impact and killed just the same.
My question: so the 42gr Max HP subs in the black box are better than the originals (also in the black box)?
What about the power points? The max HP load in the black box a little faster so should hit harder than the standard load (also in a black box)?

As an aside what the feck is it with Winchester putting 4 different loads in the same colour box?
Ok I get it for the same type as in HV or subs, but in the old days it was red packet power-points, white packet subs- easy peasy lemon squeezy.
NOW you could stuff it up big time if you weren't paying attention. Not massive in the scheme of things but a bugger none the less.
@berg243 I had one of those slip on silencers years ago-think its at the uncles. they are a bit bulky and not as quiet as a proper jobbie but if you cant or don't want to thread you rifle (some lose the front sight by threading) then they are about it really.
they don't always like having HV ammo fired through them either.
I know because.........

yip the 42s take it to whole new level...they are shaped like a power point so big hollow vs the little one we used to get in the 40grn white box type.....hard to find it around these parts and on trade me its $20ish more for a brick compared to the 40grm.

I buy CCI hollow point subs from reloaders for 19 bucks per 100. Winchester power points were 12 or something for 50. Never seemed to notice the difference.

Next time I will try a chest shot or neck shot and see if they're worth it.

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@Micky Duck they have all 4 at GC here in CHCH and that's why I was asking. They are a bit dearer.
Not getting out so ammo is lasting ok so no great rush lol. I still have 5 or so packets of old powerpoint so I wont be trying the new ones anytime soon especially as its more expensive
Only got a packet (I thought I had two) of the old white stuff so I would buy a couple of the new heavier ones for a go.

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Originally Posted by Russian 22.

I buy CCI hollow point subs from reloaders for 19 bucks per 100. Winchester power points were 12 or something for 50. Never seemed to notice the difference.

Next time I will try a chest shot or neck shot and see if they're worth it.

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I always liked the side on shots from a way away maybe 60-70m. I'd aim smack on the neck.
Either side you got the head or shoulder if you were a bit off.
The neck shot would wreck them well and if anything I reckoned better than a head shot.
The shoulder anchored them and gave you another shot but not ideal, but it did work ok for what I was trying. That 2" circle on the neck was great
Moreso with the HV stuff but I did the same with subs too

Go to Google Maps and print out a map of the farm, taking particular note of where people live and where you may end up shooting, and the areas where your projectiles could land.

I also like using subs, as they are lower powered, and don't travel quite as far.

The young fella shot a couple more on the weekend - thanks for all the help guys. Happy days.

Good stuff.

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Well done, how many has he plucked so far?

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Originally Posted by Husky1600

Well done, how many has he plucked so far?

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I think 4 or 5. He's shot a few more and they have either been stuck in trees too high to climb or vaished into darkness.

Tell him they're averaging about $8 each at present, needs about 50 to make it worthwhile to take to the buyer, and then see if he can climb trees.

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Originally Posted by Husky1600

Tell him they're averaging about $8 each at present, needs about 50 to make it worthwhile to take to the buyer, and then see if he can climb trees.

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Whats the latest kg Fur price ??

BB $115.Buying skins as well,dont know price.

BB $120 update.