Ghost predator is wiping out my flock. Help!

[centrarchid]

This is better than a dog......

When using a firearm on small predators, I use a single shot .22 rifle. One shot, one kill. No scope used since I like to get clean and close shot and have no need to impress. Dog, or even trap preferred, since both can operate without my presence. Rifle employed only with targets of opportunity.

 

[chickortreat]

"...no need to impress..." Now where the heck did that come from? I can kill a coyote at 250 yards and farther, without trying to sneak up on him. I have a .22 single shot too, but when it comes to varmint control, I'll use something better. I've killed more critters with a .22 magnum than any other caliber. More power/range than a .22 long rifle, but no recoil.

 

[wvtim]

I have a video camera on my chicken coop 24/7. At night I put it on ALARM, so that if it detects motion it sends me an email of what is causing the motion. It actually takes a series of pics. The whole set up only cost like $50.

Wireless IP Pan/Tilt/ Night Vision Internet Surveillance Camera Built-in Microphone With Phone remote monitoring support

 

[Jungleexplorer]

I have a video camera on my chicken coop 24/7. At night I put it on ALARM, so that if it detects motion it sends me an email of what is causing the motion. It actually takes a series of pics. The whole set up only cost like $50.

Wireless IP Pan/Tilt/ Night Vision Internet Surveillance Camera Built-in Microphone With Phone remote monitoring support

I have looked at these. What kind of range do you get, 100 feet or more? I had a motion detector light on my coop and had it wired to turn on a radio full blast when it was activated, but the predators got use to it after a while. I started working on building an automatic door system from and old garage door opener that would open the coop door in the morning and close after dark, but I never completed it. Maybe one day.

 

[Jungleexplorer]

"...no need to impress..." Now where the heck did that come from? I can kill a coyote at 250 yards and farther, without trying to sneak up on him. I have a .22 single shot too, but when it comes to varmint control, I'll use something better. I've killed more critters with a .22 magnum than any other caliber. More power/range than a .22 long rifle, but no recoil.

I have a Savage Model 93 FVSS .22 Magnum for predator control. It has the Accu Trigger that Savage designed for the military and and it is awesome. Anything up to 150 yards is toast. But you got to see the animal before you can shoot it.

 

[chickortreat]

I have a Savage Model 93 FVSS .22 Magnum for predator control. It has the Accu Trigger that Savage designed for the military and and it is awesome. Anything up to 150 yards is toast. But you got to see the animal before you can shoot it.

That's the model I'd like to have. Mine looks near identical, but it's a Marlin, which I like fine, but Savage's scope mounts are far better. Marlin dropped the ball on their scope mounts.

 

[chickortreat]

I have a video camera on my chicken coop 24/7. At night I put it on ALARM, so that if it detects motion it sends me an email of what is causing the motion. It actually takes a series of pics. The whole set up only cost like $50.

Wireless IP Pan/Tilt/ Night Vision Internet Surveillance Camera Built-in Microphone With Phone remote monitoring support

Do you have a link for your model? I did a search and came up with a bunch of different cameras.

 

[Jungleexplorer]

That's the model I'd like to have. Mine looks near identical, but it's a Marlin, which I like fine, but Savage's scope mounts are far better. Marlin dropped the ball on their scope mounts.

I really like my 93, but there are couple of problems with it. First, the model 93 is difficult to find in the .22 magnum. You will never find it in a brick and mortar store because Savage produces twenty model 93s in .17 HMR caliber to ever one they make in the .22 WMR caliber. I had to order mine online. To this day I have never seen one in a B&M store. The second problem is kind of related. Savage only produces one model of magazine to be used with both the .17 HMR and the .22 WMR. I personally believe that the magazine it primarily designed for the .17 because that is what Savage produced the model 93 for, and then later they adapted it for the .22 WMR. At least on my gun, I have a lot of problems with jacking the second, third and fourth rounds in. I bought three more clips to see if was just a faulty clip, but they all have problems. No one that has the .17 complains of having this problem, so it seems related just to the .22 WMR caliber. It does not bother me that much because I am a one shot one kill guy, but it is still irritating. Even though it has this problem, I still love the gun. The Accu-Triiger system is amazing! I have mine adjusted to about 2 pounds. I can get a one inch pattern at 100 yards on a good day. I use Fiocchi JSP ammo which you can get off of cheaperthandirt for under $8 a box. It shoots pretty flat out to about 125 yards and then starts to drop. My gun is sighted in at 100 yards and I am 1/2 inch high at 50 and 1/2 inch low at 125, but 1 1/2 inches low at 150. It drops five inches from 150 to 175 yards. The bullet starts to wobble after 125 yards and patter goes from 2 inches at 125 to 4 inches at 150 to 7 inches at 175. I have never really tried any other ammo in it. I did try some CCI Maxi Mags in but they shot 4 inches low and an inch the the right at 100 yards compared to the Fiocchi ammo (which the gun was sighted in with). I did not want to sight the gun in with the CCI ammo so I just stuck with the Fiocchi ammo.

I bought the SS with the nylon stock because I wanted the lightest and the lowest maintenance gun I could get. It is all I hoped for except for the clip problem. I would still buy it though.

 

[kjo]

You have a skunk my friend. Weasle family, leave no tracks..very light. AND they can get in and out of a standard trap unharmed.
Tie your bait in the back of the trap....
They are ruthless...kill many chickens at once and dont even eat them..they pick at them and dimember them.
I unfortunalty know from experince.
Karen-Utah

 

[Jungleexplorer]

I have bigger problems now. Sunday morning (while was out of town) my son awoke to find a chocolate lab massacring my flock. In his effort to run and get a gun he tripped and broke two toes. He did manage get a pistol (my rifle was locked up because I was out of town) and even with two broken toes he was able to get a couple shots off and wound the dog. I had to drive 150 miles to get home to take care of my son and found 13 dead chickens, one of which was half a mile away down the road in the front yard of a another house. After thinking it over it guessed that there must have been more then one dog, the one who stayed and kept on killing and the one who carried that one rooster off down the road. I was not sure, but last night I caught video of two large dogs attacking one of my poultry pens on my trail cam. The two dogs belong to the house down the road where I found that one chicken. Now I am in a quandary about what to do. My relationship with my neighbors is very important to me and I do not want to jeopardize it. I could just wait for the dogs to come back, shoot them and bury the bodies and nobody would know the difference. But if it were my dogs doing this, I would appreciate it if I were given the chance to save their lives. But if I go down and show them the video proof of their what their dogs are doing and photos of the pile of dead chickens, they are bound to know that it was me that shot their other dog. Now if it were me, I would be completely understanding if a person shot my dog while he was killing their chickens. Heck, I have even terminated some my own dogs for chicken killing. But some people love their dogs more then their own children these days and who knows what they would do if they found out my son shot their dog.

This is a hard one because, if handled wrongly, it could create a life long feud with my neighbor and that can make life really miserable. People use to be really understanding of these things, but now day you never know.