Converting Predator Carcasses into Chick Feed

[BigBlueHen53]

Yes, please explain how this works in detail. We are in the market for a "critter gitter" and don't want to spend $300 or $400 on a .38 pistol we may only use once or twice a year. But we also need to know exactly how something as lightweight as a pellet gun would dispatch a raccoon with a single shot. We don't want to torture the poor thing if we catch one, we want to do a humane and immediate kill. Thanks. @cmom, can you help me out here? This is Sno.

 

[Chickassan]

.22 rated 850 fps are the specs you'd need in an airgun to dispatch something like a raccoon.
Not a kids toy for sure, fairly quiet and way cheaper ammo.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DG5W2FM/?tag=backy-20

Yes, please explain how this works in detail. We are in the market for a "critter gitter" and don't want to spend $300 or $400 on a .38 pistol we may only use once or twice a year. But we also need to know exactly how something as lightweight as a pellet gun would dispatch a raccoon with a single shot. We don't want to torture the poor thing if we catch one, we want to do a humane and immediate kill. Thanks. @cmom, can you help me out here? This is Sno.

 

[cmom]

I have a Ruger 10/22. I put the scope on to help me see the sight better. Now I aim and put the target in the middle of the cross hairs and shoot. I used a paper plate to zero in the scope. I was aiming at the black spot my hubby put in the middle of the paper plate.

 

[SueT]

Did he put the barrel into the crate..

That pellet gun is a Gamo model #1250 0.177 caliber. We knew nothing about pellet guns, but now want to get one.
He just put it close. He says it must hit the brain stem for a kill. These are tiny pellets. He was waiting for the coon to turn around so he could aim for the base of the skull. It took a couple of shots. We don't want to torture a raccoon either, but considering it tore up 4 chickens, ripped up a cage, etc., and came back for more, we were less sympathetic about its feelings.

 

[Helloworld]

Are the maggots more nutritious than the carrion meat itself? What I’m wondering is if it would be just as beneficial with less botulism risk to butcher the animal and feed the meat and organs directly, freezing portions for later consumption. And less stink of rotting meat so less generally unpleasant to humans as well as not luring in other predators/carrion eaters.

I don’t know anything about this so if this is a stupid question forgive me and still answer it - lol!

Why not just feed them eggs?

 

[centrarchid]

I shoot between eyes and about 3/4" up along forehead from directly in from face so projectile will take strait line to where skull attaches to neck. More than brain stem will be destroyed then.

Shot taken from range that scope is not useful.

 

[SueT]

I shoot between eyes and about 3/4" up along forehead from directly in from face so projectile will take strait line to where skull attaches to neck. More than brain stem will be destroyed then.

Shot taken from range that scope is not useful.

You mean with pellet gun?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I shoot between eyes and about 3/4" up along forehead from directly in from face so projectile will take strait line to where skull attaches to neck. More than brain stem will be destroyed then.

Shot taken from range that scope is not useful.

Your last sentence is a bit cryptic. I am assuming I will have live-trapped the varmint and am shooting from point-blank range. In that case, your first paragraph is very helpful. However, I will confess that once upon a time, many years ago, I could not kill a feral cat that had been decimating my homing pigeons from point-blank range with a .22 pistol using that method. I don't know what kind of ammo my then-husband had loaded. But I know one bullet actually ricocheted off the top of the poor cat's skull and ended up in the wall of the coop. It took way too many bullets to kill the poor thing. It was a horrible experience for me and the cat both. That's why I have my doubts about a pellet gun unless it is a very powerful and expensive one.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Thanks, @Chickassan , that looks promising!

That's some good shooting, @cmom!

 

[Woodyheight]

Yes, please explain how this works in detail. We are in the market for a "critter gitter" and don't want to spend $300 or $400 on a .38 pistol we may only use once or twice a year. But we also need to know exactly how something as lightweight as a pellet gun would dispatch a raccoon with a single shot. We don't want to torture the poor thing if we catch one, we want to do a humane and immediate kill. Thanks. @cmom, can you help me out here? This is Sno.

First of all Raccoons are MEAN and have very sharp teeth and claws! I doubt if a BB or pellet gun would kill them. I would choose a 22 rifle and use hollow point ammo. If you don't want to buy a gun try a livestock guardian dog. We own a Great Pyrinsee dog which protects our goats and also guards the chicken coop.