Q&A VLOG #1 -What Do You Do With The Varmints That You Shoot

[Timber Butte Outdoors]

VARMINTER ONLINE MAGAZINE

This is VLOG #1 of our new Questions and Answers series, where we will be asking one, or more, questions and answering them in a video format, once a month.

One of the most frequent questions we get from viewers, or on social media, is "What do you do with the varmints that you shoot?" Most of the time, this is not a loaded question, but a serious one, that leads to folks wanting to know why we are not eating the varmints we kill. This video answers those questions, and also gives more information on the reasons for varmint hunting.


Q&A VLOG #1 - What Do You Do With The Varmints That You Shoot?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg_qFXeUUn0

[idaho220hunter]

Back in the 80's we traveled to South Dakota for a pheasant hunt....in the area we were in there were numerous prairie dog "towns". We found out from the locals that the prairie dogs were so numerous that the poison control folks would try to eliminate these varmints. We saw a golden eagle swoop down and pick up one of these poisoned critters. I wonder to this day if that raptor had survived his meal. The rancher told us that one of the most significant problems is that the cattle have to compete with the rodents for grazing territory. He said that it didn't take very long for pastures to be stripped by the dogs....
Eric, nice job of explaining this in your video....looking forward to meeting you when you complete your move to Idaho...Welcome.


George

[Eric Mayer]

Thanks George!

I completely missed this post (thanks for posting it Gary). Bad news is, one of the main ranches we hunt up in NE California has started poisoning the ground squirrels with cabbage laced with poison. Apparently, this particular mode of delivery, and poison, is very effective and has a 78%+ success rate. They are trying to wipe them out long before they do their first cut.

As a hunter, and a conservationist, this is understandable, but mirror George's concerns, and fear what the ramifications will be on the prey animals and raptors. We also lost one of the best spots we had for hunting.

Since our plan was to swing through Boise before heading back down for our next hunt, we will probably spend more time in the Boise area looking for ground squirrels and rockchucks. I wish I could be up there this weekend for the WP Tournament!

Eric

[rocketdoctor]

I don't think I've ever even picked up a carcass after shooting it. I've also never seen a carcass that I shot still there the next day, being taken by coyotes, badgers, hawks, owls, eagles....and sometimes other gophers and critters. WAAAAAY back in the 70's, I shot thousands and thousands of jack rabbits, and never made a dent in them in our area, mostly on the desert between Moreland and Atomic City. We were running in the vicinity of 85% on the things with .22 LR, and it was no problem at all to burn up a brick a day with a bolt action repeater. There were times when the raptors didn't wait but a second or two after we'd got out of their comfort zone before swoopin' in on the things.
We watched them, over the course of a few days, eat the bottom out of a hay stack until it toppled, then they were all over the bales. After the jacks had been on it, it was useless, as the cattle would NOT eat it after the jacks had urinated and crapped on it. Can't blame 'em, the stench sometimes got unbearable.